Biography

Khori Dastoor is the General Director and CEO of Houston Grand Opera. The fourth General Director in the company’s history, Dastoor is a transformative leader dedicated to bringing world-class art to the city of Houston. Guided by a deep belief in accessibility, she has championed initiatives to ensure that every member of Houston’s diverse international community can experience great art, expanding HGO’s programming to serve multigenerational audiences and extend beyond the theater’s walls.

Since assuming leadership in 2021, Dastoor has elevated HGO’s international profile and led the company to significant artistic recognition, including the 2026 GRAMMY Award for Best Opera Recording, a 2025 International Opera Awards nomination for Opera Company of the Year, and securing renowned conductor James Gaffigan to become HGO’s next Music Director. She spearheaded HGO’s partnership with Apple Classical and launched the Houston Grand Opera recording label, bringing the company’s world-class artistry to audiences around the globe.

During her tenure, Dastoor has fostered unprecedented fiscal stability and audience growth, bucking current industry trends. HGO has expanded its public and youth programming through partnerships with organizations across the region, including the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, Communities In Schools, Boys & Girls Clubs, and the Houston and Harris County Public Libraries. Among her signature initiatives is HGO’s Family Day, an annual family-friendly opera performance designed to welcome audiences of all ages, which has sold out every year since its launch.

Under her leadership, HGO continues to lead the field in commissioning and producing new works. Recent milestones include the 2023 world premiere of Intelligence by Jake Heggie, Gene Scheer, and Jawole Willa Jo Zollar; the 2022 original production of The Wreckers, Dame Ethel Smyth’s long-overlooked masterpiece, presented for the first time by a major American opera company; and the company’s first-ever livestream of a mainstage opera, Joel Thompson’s The Snowy Day, during its 2021 world premiere.

Dastoor has been named one of Houston’s Most Admired CEOs by the Houston Business Journal (2023) and honored as one of the city’s 50 Most Influential Women by Houston Woman Magazine (2022). She serves as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors for OPERA America, where she also co-chairs the Learning and Leadership Council. She additionally serves on the boards of the Greater Houston Partnership, The Sullivan Foundation, Asian Opera Alliance, and on the Advisory Committee for the Aspen Leadership Group’s Nonprofit Leadership Accelerator. She contributes to the development of the next generation of artists as a judge for the Richard Tucker Awards, the Sullivan Foundation, the Marian Anderson Awards, the International Zenith Opera Competition, and the Metropolitan Opera’s Laffont Competition.

A frequent guest lecturer, Dastoor has spoken at Yale University, the National Opera Association, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Aspen Music Festival and School, the New England Conservatory, The Juilliard School, the Music Academy of the West, the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, New York’s LaGuardia Performing Arts High School, and Houston’s Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. She is also regularly invited to share insights on the essential role of arts and culture with global leaders across industries at gatherings such as the Aspen Ideas Festival, the World Affairs Council, and CERAWeek, the premier global energy conference.

Prior to her appointment at HGO, Dastoor enjoyed an international career as an opera singer and held leadership roles at the Packard Humanities Institute and the Wadhwani Foundation before becoming General Director of Opera San José. She received her bachelor’s degree, with academic honors, from the New England Conservatory of Music and completed her graduate studies at UCLA. She and her husband are the proud parents of two young daughters.