TRG Arts, an international arts and cultural consulting firm, in partnership with Black Opera Alliance (BOA), released a study measuring progress toward eight areas of needed transformation as defined in the September 2020 Pledge for Racial Equity and Systemic Change in Opera.

The Pledge for Racial Equity and Systemic Change in Opera provides concrete steps for companies to follow, along with timelines, for achieving true equity, inclusion, and racial justice.

According to the Executive Summary, the study, “US Opera Company Responses to ‘Pledge for Racial Equity and Systemic Change in Opera,’” is one of several TRG and BOA surveys commissioned to forward BOA’s mission to uncover inequity and under-representation of the African diaspora throughout the industry and to push for reform.

Here are some key findings on the impact and progress of The Pledge, as outlined in the Summary.

Of the 113 US-based opera companies who received the pledge, 48 percent have responded “Yes.” 35 percent stated they were “In Progress,” meaning they had responded but not committed. 16 percent did not respond, and one percent responded “No.”

For companies that received data workbooks in which artistic hires by type, role, and race were recorded, 23 percent returned information, yet 59 percent of the data was incomplete.

Where companies provided race data, the numbers foregrounded ongoing representation issues. Black artists accounted for only 3 precent of production roles and 10 percent of all principal roles.