Traverse City Area Public Schools (TCAPS) spokesperson and Executive Director of Communications Christine Guitar is leaving the district for a new position as director of development and marketing for the City Opera House.

Guitar's last day with TCAPS will be June 1, she tells The Ticker, after which she will join the City Opera House team in mid-June. “Growing up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, I had the pleasure of performing at the Calumet Theater, which along with the City Opera House, is one of the seven remaining jewel box theaters in the state, so I know the awe it inspires in both the young and the young at heart to walk into a Victorian era theater to see a show,” Guitar said in a statement. “I look forward to being part of the team responsible for stewarding this Traverse City treasure into the future, to partnering to create engaging and inspiring programing for the region and beyond, and to advancing COH as a regional hub for connecting people to the arts and each other.”

Guitar was selected in a search process that generated more than 40 applicants from across the country. City Opera House Executive Director Diana Baribeau says that Guitar's "passion for the arts and for the City Opera House became clear" when COH and TCAPS partnered together in 2020 to provide a children's program called "Live from the Opera House: It's Storytime." The program will run for a second season beginning in June. 

“Christine’s love for the stage, along with her experience and understanding of marketing, fundraising, project management, and facility use, all make her a great fit to help us meet the needs of today and to support the vision for COH into the future,” Baribeau says.