Legendary tenor George Shirley has been voted the new chairman of the board of ArtSmart. The vote was unanimous.

“It is a privilege to be named Chairman of the Board to the ArtSmart Foundation. From the beginning, the mission of offering free year round musical instruction to America’s youth has deeply resonated with me as my first job as an adult was teaching music to teenagers in the Detroit public schools. Now, more than ever, we need ArtSmart, and I look forward to assisting a very competent team lead this organization to further success,” Shirley told OperaWire.

Shirley had a legendary career as a tenor, singing on such stages as the Metropolitan Opera, The Royal Opera House, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, the Michigan Opera Theatre, the San Francisco Opera, the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, the Dutch National Opera, and Glyndebourne Festival, among others.

He is also a Grammy Award winner for his performance in a recording of “Così fan tutte” and has been a faculty member at such institutions as the University of Marlyand and the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance.

ArtSmart also announced that internationally renowned soprano Latonia Moore, who recently opened the 2021-22 season for the Metropolitan Opera in “Fire Shut Up in My Bones, has also joined the board.