Sarasota arts foundation chooses former Miami ballet exec as CEO

The Sarasota Performing Arts Foundation has made Tania Castroverde Moskalenko its new CEO.

Castroverde Moskalenko will assume her role Feb. 5, 2024, but will work with the board on strategic initiatives effective immediately, the foundation board says in a news release.

Castroverde Moskalenko has more than 20 years of leadership experience at complex nonprofit arts and cultural organizations nationwide, the foundation board says.

"She is recognized as a results-driven leader with a proven track record of philanthropic outcomes, programmatic excellence and social impact," the foundation board says in a statement. "Working with the foundation board, Tania will champion accessible arts education and lead the vision for a new Sarasota Performing Arts Center at the heart of The Bay."

Castroverde Moskalenko worked as executive director of the Miami City Ballet, where she successfully completed a $65 million capitalization campaign and initiated the organization’s first formal diversity, equity and inclusion strategy, according to the foundation board.

Her experience also includes serving as CEO of the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University, a 4,000-seat National Historic Landmark in downtown Chicago; as president and CEO of the Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel, Indiana; and executive director of the Germantown Performing Arts Center in Germantown, Tennessee.

Most recently, Castroverde Moskalenko served as interim CEO of Oolite Arts in Miami Beach and as strategic adviser for the Youth America Grand Prix, the world's largest ballet audition competition, the foundation board says.

Castroverde Moskalenko earned a Master of Arts in philanthropy from Indiana University in 2020, a bachelor's degree in fine arts from the University of Memphis, and executive certifications from Harvard Business School and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Castroverde Moskalenko is a native of Havana, Cuba, and was raised in Miami. She serves on the board of directors of Philanthropy Miami.

The Sarasota Performing Arts Foundation has partnered with the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall since 1987 to support arts education throughout the region, serving more than 35,000 students and their families annually with enriching arts-based education opportunities and professional development for more than 400 teachers across five counties.

The Sarasota Performing Arts Foundation is leading the effort to build a new Sarasota Performing Arts Center as a public-private partnership with the city, and in collaboration with the Bay Park Conservancy and Van Wezel Hall. The project has an anticipated budget of $275 million.

Its specifications include a 2,100-seat main hall, a 300-seat flexible performance space and a total of 165,000 square feet of building utilizing inside and outside education, event and rooftop spaces.