A New Chief Artistic Administrator at Lyric Opera of Chicago

The Lyric Opera of Chicago has appointed Matthew Ozawa to the newly created position of chief artistic administration officer. He starts April 12. No stranger to the company, Ozawa has previously served as interim head of Lyric Unlimited, the company’s learning and creative engagement division, as well as director and associate director.

His new portfolio includes oversight of casting and artistic planning, music administration, The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center, and Lyric’s company management department. As a member of the Lyric’s executive leadership team, Ozawa will also participate in formulating and implementing strategies for the company as a whole.

Committed to collaborative, interdisciplinary performance and new work as well as the reinterpretation of operatic classics, Ozawa has staged works at the Lyric as well as at San Francisco Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Wolf Trap, and companies in Minnesota, Colorado, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Arizona.

Ozawa was also an assistant professor of music at the University of Michigan, School of Music, Theatre & Dance for three years and is a frequent lecturer at for various national artist training programs.  Raised in California and Singapore, he is a graduate of United World College of South East Asia and Oberlin Conservatory.