Charlottesville Opera Welcomes New General Director

The Charlottesville Opera (CO) Board of Directors is pleased to welcome Christina Deaton DeMarea to the role of General Director.

​“Christina’s significant non-profit leadership experience in Chicago, where she built relationships with the private and public sectors: artistic, corporate, philanthropic, community-based and educational institutions, make her a strong fit for this position”, says David Newkirk, CO Board President. “We are excited by Christina’s passion for excellent artistic production and her track record in leading endeavors that unify and enrich communities. We believe the company will be stronger than ever as we emerge from the pandemic. We are looking forward to envisioning a bright future for Charlottesville Opera with Christina.”
Most recently Christina served as Chief Operating Officer (2016-2019) and Executive Director (1997-2007) at Chicago Children's Choir (CCC) which serves 5,000 youth each year. CCC sets the standard for artistic excellence and ingenuity in youth arts and regularly appears with a wide spectrum of artists from Chance the Rapper to Lyric Opera of Chicago. During Christina’s collective leadership, she worked with artistic leadership to set new standards of excellence, substantially expand programs, increase revenue generation, and deepen financial sustainability through the establishment of the organization's first reserves and endowment fund. Additionally, she has worked with best-in-class institutions such as University of Chicago’s Cultural Policy Center, Common Threads, Wynnchurch Capital, and Jackson Foundation.

Christina is respected for both her artistic and administrative acumen, serving on Chicago’s City Arts Panel, as a member of the Economic Club of Chicago, and as president of the Musician’s Club of Women of Chicago. Christina earned a Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music and Non-Profit Executive Management training from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management.