Barry Hughson has served the performing arts field for 32 years as a professional arts executive.  In March of 2024, it was announced that he would become the next Executive Director of American Ballet Theatre in New York City, partnering with Artistic Director Susan Jaffe in leading America’s National Ballet Company.

From 2014-2024, Hughson served as Executive Director of The National Ballet of Canada and the President of the National Ballet of Canada Endowment Foundation, based in Toronto, Ontario. Over the course of his tenure, in partnership with Artistic Director Karen Kain (2014-2022) and Hope Muir (2022-2024), the company accelerated its trajectory of artistic growth, fiscal responsibility, community engagement and international presence, including landmark tours to London, Paris, Hamburg, Moscow, St. Petersburg, New York, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Ottawa and Montréal. He built a network of strong community partnerships and expanded education and outreach initiatives, collaborated with national arts leaders in government advocacy on behalf of The National Ballet of Canada and the arts sector, implemented and led important new company-wide EDI initiatives, navigated the COVID-19 pandemic, keeping every dancer, orchestra member and full-time staff member employed during multiple shutdowns.  In addition, over his decade of leadership, the Endowment Foundation grew from $64 million to $115 million, making it the largest performing arts endowment in Canada, and the institution achieved a ten-year cumulative budget surplus inclusive of the pandemic years.

From 2009-2014, Hughson served as Executive Director of Boston Ballet in Boston, Massachusetts.  In partnership with Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen, Hughson managed the fourth largest ballet company in the US, with a $31 million dollar annual budget, 700 employees, a world-class professional ballet company and North America’s largest ballet academy.  Over his tenure, Boston Ballet achieved several key milestones, including the development and execution of the organization’s Case for Giving and $10 million dollar Clean Slate Fund; completing a $3 million dollar renovation of the Ballet’s headquarters; establishing the Company’s first operating cash reserve; international tours to Canada, Spain, Finland, and England; building Mikko Nissinen’s new Nutcracker; and producing the Ballet’s first large scale outdoor performance, Night of Stars on Boston Common, attended by more than 55,000 people.  From 2009 through 2014, the organization raised more than $60 million dollars in contributed revenue through annual fund contributions and special funding initiatives.  In addition, total earned revenue, including ticket sales and school tuition, increased by more than 20% over the same period.

Hughson’s distinguished career in arts administration began at the historic Warner Theatre in Torrington, CT. There, Hughson created the Warner’s acclaimed Centre for Arts Education, and led a successful $12.5 million campaign to restore the Warner Theatre’s art deco building over his 11-year tenure.  He went on to become the first Executive Director of Complexions Contemporary Ballet in New York City before working with the American Repertory Ballet and Princeton Ballet School in Princeton, NJ.  In 2007, Hughson was named Executive Director of Atlanta Ballet, where he successfully engineered the move to the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center, completed the sale of the Ballet’s real estate resulting in the elimination of the Company’s debt, resolved a dispute with the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra, and developed the $14.8 million “Choreographing Our Future” campaign to build the company's endowment and construct the Michael C. Carlos Dance Centre - one of America's first LEED-certified facilities for professional dance.

Barry is deeply engaged with the international arts community and has had consulting, teaching and speaking engagements in the US, Europe, South America and Asia. He has served on a variety of industry boards, including Dance/USA, North America’s largest service organization for professional dance, where he has completed two terms as a Trustee and Vice Chair. In partnership with Dance/USA and The Royal Ballet, Barry spearheaded the first ever meeting of North American and European executive dance leadership, bringing together 22 administrators from nine countries in 2015. In 2018, he joined North American colleagues in The Equity Project, a three-year initiative to address racial diversity in the ballet field. Barry has provided mentorship to emerging arts leaders through Dance/USA’s Institute for Leadership Training and Business/Arts Executive Leadership Program.  He has served as Vice-Chair of the National Council for the Canadian Dance Assembly, as a member of the Steering Committee for the Canadian Arts Summit, and on the Coordinating Committee for Respectful Workplaces in the Arts.  He also served as a member of the Steering Committee for the Canadian Arts Coalition and is a current member of the Advancement Committee for the International Society of Performing Arts.

Additionally, Hughson has a background as an award-winning dancer and choreographer who has performed the works of George Balanchine, Nils Christie, Choo San Goh, Antony Tudor and others as an artist of The Washington (DC) Ballet. He was the only American male dancer awarded a prize at the 1990 New York International Ballet Competition, and has held a long affiliation with the nationally recognized Baltimore School for the Arts, serving as an advisor, guest faculty and choreographer since 2004. Barry is also a long-time advocate for people with disabilities and served as a national trainer for the New Visions Dance Project, a program created by Alvin Ailey for Very Special Arts International. He also represented the United States on the jury of the Benois de la Danse in 2009.

Hughson received his childhood training from Sharon Dante and Donna Bonasera at the Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts and the Connecticut Dance Theatre. In 1979 at age 11, he founded the Youth Theatre Ensemble in his hometown of Watertown, Connecticut, which provided access to theatre for thousands of local young people during its near 20-year run as a non-profit arts organization.

Barry is a dual citizen of the United States and Canada, and is a husband and father of two beautiful humans.