Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) announced that Sonja Kostich has been appointed Executive Director of BAC, subject to Board approval. She will assume the role in mid-October 2022. Ms. Kostich succeeds Cora Cahan, who has served as the organization's President and CEO from October 2019. During her tenure, Ms. Cahan, working in tandem with Founder and Artistic Director Mikhail Baryshnikov, ushered BAC through the organization’s 2020 pivot to exclusively online programming, the advent of the Virtual Artist Commissions initiative (providing space and resources to artists to create new works in the medium of film to be presented on BAC Digital, BAC’s streaming platform), and the organization’s first hybrid season in Spring 2022, including the successful reinstatement of in-person public programming.
Ms. Kostich will join BAC from Kaatsbaan Cultural Park, where she is Chief Executive and Artistic Officer, a position she has held since December 2018. In just under four years, Ms. Kostich brought the multidisciplinary artist sanctuary and presenting and commissioning venue to robust fiscal health and grew the organization into a multi-award-winning arts and cultural center. Prior to her appointment at Kaatsbaan, Ms. Kostich began her career as a professional ballet dancer, performing with the American Ballet Theatre, the San Francisco Ballet, and the Zurich Ballet before moving into contemporary dance, where she worked with Mikhail Baryshnikov’s White Oak Dance Project and co-founded and co-directed OtherShore, a NYC-based dance company. Upon retiring from dancing, Ms. Kostich pursued a BBA in Accounting and Business Communications from CUNY Baruch College, Zicklin School of Business. Following a stint at Goldman Sachs in the Finance Division, she went on to pursue a MA from CUNY Baruch College in arts administration and served as finance manager at Mark Morris Dance Group and as program manager at New York City Center.
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