by Jeroslyn JoVonn
March 22, 2026
After 9 months serving because the interim CEO, McCaw has been named the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s new president.
After serving as interim CEO throughout a interval of transition, Tamara McCaw has been formally named president of the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
The announcement got here on March 20, 9 months after McCaw assumed the interim CEO position in June 2025, in keeping with Broadway World. As president, she’s going to collaborate with the Board of Trustees and senior management to form the establishment’s strategic path and lead it into its subsequent chapter.
McCaw, 49, was unanimously chosen by the board of trustees from a pool of 60 candidates, in keeping with Board Chair Diane L. Max. She turns into BAM’s third president previously decade, following Gina Duncan’s departure in 2025 and Katy Clark’s exit in 2021.
A collaborative chief with deep ties to BAM, McCaw beforehand led its authorities and neighborhood affairs efforts earlier than becoming a member of The Shed as its inaugural Chief Civic Program Officer, the place she helped launch Open Name. In 2023, she based Public Meeting, a follow centered on advancing work on the intersection of tradition and social affect.
“We’re centered on stability,” McCaw mentioned of her new position as president. “Should you have a look at who I’m, I’m undoubtedly a lifer. It’s my community-based roots. It takes time to do something.”
BAM, she mentioned, “made me,” including, “It’s the place I discovered my buddies and my spouse.”
McCaw takes the helm as BAM works to rebuild attendance, which declined earlier than the pandemic and worsened throughout it amid rising competitors from venues like The Shed and the Park Avenue Armory. In 2025, BAM reported a rebound, welcoming 700,000 guests as attendance returned to pre-pandemic ranges, with ticket income reaching $15.5 million, its second-highest in a decade.
“The struggles on the market are actual,” McCaw mentioned. “However we’re resilient. We’re structured to satisfy these challenges.”
McCaw and Max mentioned upcoming programming throughout dance, music, movie, and theater—together with a manufacturing of “Hamlet” from England’s Nationwide Theatre directed by Robert Hastie—will assist maintain the establishment’s enchantment shifting ahead.
“We’re very pleased with our strategic plan,” Max mentioned.
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