Palm Beach Opera has announced that James Barbato will be its new General Director.

He assumed the role of Acting General Director in February, during which he helped the company work through last-minute casting changes (he brought in Kathryn Lewek for “The Tales of Hoffmann” and Angela Meade for “Norma”) and took a major part in raising funds for a $200,000 matching campaign.

For the previous five years, Barbato has been the Director of Artistic Administration, which included casting and artistic planning for the company. In an official press release, the organization credits him with being the “architect” of its new outdoor festival at the tail-end of the COVID-19 lockdown.

He joined the organization in 2015 as an Artistic and Production Assistant before eventually taking on the role of Assistant Director of Artistic Operations. Prior to that, he was a singer who performed with such companies as Central City Opera and Florida Grand Opera, among many others.

“The entire Board is thrilled that James Barbato will be leading Palm Beach Opera into the future,” said Board Chairman David Genser. “He brings a wealth of experience to the role, impressive business acumen, and a deep understanding of the art form and this community. Over the past decade at Palm Beach Opera, Jim has been instrumental to our successes, and it was obvious that there would be no need for an extended search because we already had the ideal candidate in house.”

Additionally, the company announced two new board members: Erika Franke Brown, an architect in New York City, and Marsha Laufer, a speech-language pathologist and political and social activist who was previously a Palm Beach Opera board member from 2014-20.