Pittsburgh Ballet Theater announced Thursday it had named Nicholas Dragga its new executive director.
Dragga is currently executive director of Ballet Lubbock, in Texas, a post he's held since 2011. In a press release, Pittsburgh Ballet credits him with growing the group’s student academy and community programming, and more than quintupling its budget, to $2.5 million. He also grew its net assets from $700,000 to $12 million.
Dragga holds a bachelor's degree in music from Texas Tech University and a master's degree in arts administration from Drexel University. He has served as a grant evaluator for the National Endowment for the Arts, Texas Commission on the Arts, Houston Arts Alliance and is a Texans for the Arts Certified State Arts Advocate.
He will be the sixth executive director for the PBT, which was founded in 1969. The group, whose 2021-22 budget was about $12.4 million, employs about 30 dancers and several apprentices. It presents a full season of dance works, including its signature annual production of The Nutcracker, at the Benedum Center. It also runs the PBT School, in the Strip District, for children and pre-professional dancers.
Dragga succeeds Harris Ferris, who served as executive director from 2006 until June 2022. Dragga will join a team that includes artistic director Adam W. McKinney, who was hired early this year.
Dragga starts work Nov. 1.
The PBT also announced that its new board chair will be Ayana Teter. Teter is a longtime board member and an associate dean of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.
