Teatro dell'Opera di Roma Names New Artistic Director

Paolo Arcà, who was artistic director at La Scala from 1997 to 2003, will step into the role

Italy's Teatro dell'Opera di Roma recently announced that composer, conductor, and pianist Paolo Arcà has been appointed as its new Artistic Director. He will succeed Alessio Vlad, who has taken a new post at the Teatro Regio di Parma following his resignation last year.

A native of Rome, Arcà studied at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory, the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome.

As well as being a composer, pianist, and conductor, Arcà has held artistic director roles at theaters such as La Scala in Milan, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Carlo Felice in Genoa, the Teatro Regio, and the Festival Verdi in Parma.

Arcà is particularly known for his tenure at La Scala between 1997 and 2003. He devoted the 1999/00 season exclusively to twentieth-century opera, and in the Verdi centenary year of 2001, he spearheaded celebrations of the composer's life.

In the present day, Arcà is the artistic director of the renowned and historic Milan Quartet Society.

"We are happy to welcome Paolo Arcà to our team, who from today is the new Artistic Director of the Rome Opera," the company wrote in a statement "The Superintendent of the Rome Opera, Francesco Giambrone, and the Musical Director, Michele Mariotti, send Paolo Arcà their best wishes, in anticipation of fruitful and constructive work together."