San Francisco Ballet Executive Director Glenn McCoy to Retire After 31 Years

Glenn McCoy, executive director of the San Francisco Ballet, will retire following the 2019 season, the company announced Tuesday.

McCoy is credited with guiding the company through the recession and into a new era of fiscal health. He’s been with the ballet for 31 years, the past 16 years as executive director.

In a statement, McCoy said simply of his departure, “The time has come for me to step aside.” He plans to move to Sonoma.

San Francisco Ballet Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson, who’s led the esteemed company creatively since 1985, said of McCoy in a statement, “His talent for financial and operational management has enabled me to focus on the company’s repertory and provided the freedom to implement my artistic vision for the Ballet.”

Carl Pascarella, chair of the ballet’s board of trustees, also commended McCoy’s leadership. “The company is organizationally stronger than ever and just finished its best year financially and artistically in its 85-year history,” he said in a statement.

McCoy joined the San Francisco Ballet, known as the country’s oldest professional company, in 1987 and held posts including company manager, general manager, and managing director before becoming executive director in 2002. He will remain director through the 2019 season while the ballet seeks a replacement.