this ballerina knows business

Houston Ballet names new executive director with deep ties to its past

Houston Ballet appoints Sonja Kostich as the organization’s next Executive Director.

Photo courtesy of the Houston Ballet.

Dance lovers who saw Houston Ballet artistic director Stanton Welch’s beautiful and fierce Maninyas back in February probably didn’t realize they were witnessing a dance with significant hidden history. Maninyas was the Australian-born Welch’s first American commissioned work when it had its 1996 world premiere in San Francisco. Seeing that premiere inspired Ben Stevenson, Houston Ballet's artistic director at the time, to invite Welch to create a piece for the company, eventually paving the way for Welch to serve as the company's artistic director.

Photo by Bre Johnson

Houston Ballet appoints Sonja Kostich as the organization’s next Executive Director.

It seems those dance waves from Maninyas continue to reverberate, for on stage for that 1996 world premiere performance was acclaimed ballerina Sonja Kostich. And today Houston Ballet announced Kostich will leap into the role of Houston Ballet executive director beginning in August.

Kostich assumes the directorship after major triumphs in roles onstage, backstage, and behind executive desks across the dance world. As a young dancer, Kostich trained at the prestigious School of Classical Ballet, a program created by Mikhail Baryshnikov. Then at 17 she was chosen by Baryshnikov himself to join the American Ballet Theatre. Such began a impressive career dancing with the San Francisco Ballet, Zurich Ballet, Baryshnikov’s White Oak Dance Project, and collaborations with renowned director Peter Sellars. One of Kostich’s big endeavor mixing dance and entrepreneurship came in 2008, when she co-founded the contemporary dance company OtherShore in New York. She also served as co-director for six years.

After hanging up her ballet slippers, at least professionally, Kostich pursued a career in business, earning a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from the Zicklin School of Business at CUNY Baruch College, where she graduated Salutatorian at age 42. She also completed a master's degree in arts administration.

Kostich's professional experience includes roles at Goldman Sachs, Mark Morris Dance Group, and New York City Center. From 2018 to 2022, she was Chief Executive and Artistic Officer of Kaatsbaan Cultural Park, leading a successful rebranding and revitalization of the organization.

Since 2022, Kostich has served as president and executive director of Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York City. Her work at the Center likely caught the HB board’s eye, as her tenure helped to achieve financial stability, expand opportunities for artists, and increase both earned and contributed income to record-breaking levels while engaging new, diverse audiences.

“We are thrilled to welcome Sonja Kostich to Houston Ballet,” said Kristy Bradshaw, Houston Ballet board chair, in a statement. “Our board has worked diligently to ensure the continued financial strength and operational excellence of our company, building on the legacy of our retiring executive director, Jim Nelson. It is through this solid foundation — marked by fiscal stewardship, exceptional senior leadership, and a highly capable organizational structure that we have been able to attract such remarkable talent in Kostich. We are confident that her vision, creativity, and leadership will further elevate our company on the global stage. We look forward to this exciting new chapter for Houston Ballet.”

Kostich has as many good things to say about the company as the board does about welcoming her.

“Houston Ballet is an exemplary company with exceptional artists, dedicated employees, and a robust history of supporters and audience goers,” said Kostich. “I am deeply humbled and honored to build upon the company's remarkable legacy and look forward to developing thoughtful and valuable long-term relationships within the community. Ballet as an art form has a phenomenal capacity to generate real inspiration and engagement in all ages."

Along with collaborating with Welch in the past, Kostich also has ties to the company’s co-artistic director, Julie Kent. Kent and Kostich overlapped during their dance careers at the American Ballet Theatre.

Both Welch and Kent also sing Kostich’s praises.

“I am thrilled that Sonja will be joining Houston Ballet as executive director. She will be an excellent partner to bring Houston Ballet into our next chapter,” said Welch. “Along with her exceptional leadership capabilities, Sonja will also bring a level of unique dance expertise that will enhance our Company.”

Julie Kent added, “I very much look forward to what will be a highly collaborative experience that will only elevate what Houston Ballet can achieve, both artistically and as an organization. Sonja’s extraordinary talents and drive are a perfect match for our future goals.”

The feelings are mutuals from Kostich who ended her statement saying, “I am thrilled by this opportunity to work with Stanton and Julie, truly accomplished and respected artistic leaders, as we work together on a firm vision for the limitless potential for the future of Houston Ballet.”

James Nelson, the retiring executive director, will assume the title of executive advisor, supporting Kostich during her transition.

houston ballet sonja kostich

A Roman Holiday (Season)

All roads lead to Houston museum's blockbuster exhibit of Imperial Rome

Photo courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

The Museum of Fine Arts Houston presents "Art and Life in Imperial Rome: Trajan and His Times" ("Statue of Trajan" Minturno, Italy, 2nd century, marble, National Archaeological Museum, Naples)

Houston's holiday season will have a distinctly Roman feeling this year, as the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is bringing the glory of the Gladiator era to Texas. On November 2, 2025 through January 25, 2026 the MFAH presents the monumental new exhibition “Art and Life in Imperial Rome: Trajan and His Times.”

Featuring 160 objects of antiquity, including marble sculptures, frescoes, mosaics, delicate glass vessels, and exquisite bronze artifacts, the exhibition will transport visitors back in time to the Roman Empire during a flowering of art and architecture. The MFAH partnered with the Saint Louis Art Museum to organize the exhibition, which will showcase many pieces that have never been on view in the U.S.

While Emperor Trajan might not be the most famous — or in some cases, most infamous — of the Roman emperors, he ruled between 98 and 117 C.E. during the empire’s height and was the second of the so-called “Five Good Emperors” of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty. He was also the first emperor born outside of present-day Italy, in what is now Andalusia, Spain. During his reign, he granted citizenship and rights to some peoples from conquered lands. The exhibition will explore how this time period expanded what it meant to be a Roman and how art reflected Rome’s power and promoted the empire’s values and ideals.

$\u200bThe Museum of Fine Arts Houston presents "Art and Life in Imperial Rome: Trajan and His Times"$

Photo courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

The Museum of Fine Arts Houston presents "Art and Life in Imperial Rome: Trajan and His Times" ("Statue of Trajan" Minturno, Italy, 2nd century, marble, National Archaeological Museum, Naples)

From statues of prominent men and women of the era, including Trajan, to vivid frescoes and furnishing from the villas of Pompeii, the objects in the exhibition will tell fascinating cultural and political stories of life in imperial Rome. To add context to the artworks and objects of antiquity, the MFAH will recreate a section of Trajan’s Column, which was a towering pillar with a spiraling narrative frieze, one of the few monumental sculptures to have survived the fall of Rome.

“Art and Life in Imperial Rome: Trajan and His Times” brings such a wealth of objects to Houston thanks to unprecedented loans from the renowned antiquities collections of Italian museums including Museo Nazionale Romano, the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, the Parco Archeologico di Ostia, and the Musei Vaticani. It would would likely take months of travel across Italy to see this much art.

“This is truly a rare opportunity for U.S. audiences to experience spectacular objects from this glorious era of the Roman Empire,” said Gary Tinterow, director and Margaret Alkek Williams chair of the MFAH, in a statement. “We are enormously grateful to our colleagues in Rome, Naples, and Vatican City for lending these treasures to us and broadening the appreciation of Italy’s cultural heritage.”

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