Dedicated arts advocate and veteran board member steps into key role
HOUSTON— August 19, 2025—Houston Grand
Astley Blair
Opera (HGO) is proud to announce Astley Blair as the company’s new Chairperson of its Board of Directors, effective as of August 1, 2025. Blair’s election comes at a critical time for HGO, as the company continues to strategically expand both its world-class artistic offerings and its global presence under the leadership of General Director and CEO Khori Dastoor.
“We have been pursuing grand dreams at HGO, and—powered by our belief in our art form—realizing bold growth as a company,” says Dastoor. “With Astley Blair assuming leadership of the HGO Board, I see no limit to what we can achieve. Astley brings with him a wealth of global business expertise gained during a dynamic career in the financial and energy sectors, and an entrepreneurial spirit that makes him the perfect choice to help lead HGO through a time of thrilling possibility. I’m honored to welcome him as my partner as together, we chart the course forward for this great institution.”
Khori Dastoor and Astley Blair
An HGO subscriber of more than two decades, Blair has shown unwavering support of the company since joining its Board of Directors in 2004. In addition to chairing the board’s Audit Committee, overseeing financial reporting processes from 2008 until this year, he has served on its Audiences, Philanthropy, and Management Evaluation and Development committees. He co-chaired the committee charged with selecting HGO’s new General Director and CEO, recruiting Dastoor to Houston in 2021, and last year, joined the Strategic Advisory Group, founded in partnership with the Boston Consulting Group to advance HGO’s strategic planning efforts over the next decade.
Blair succeeds current Chairperson of the HGO Board of Directors Claire Liu, launching a term that will conclude August 1, 2027. “For decades, HGO has pushed the boundaries of what is possible, and now, with a clear vision of what the future of American opera can be, this is our time,” says Blair. “Claire Liu has done a phenomenal job guiding this company through both formidable challenges and outsize opportunities. It’s an honor to serve this board and help lead this storied institution into the future.”
In July of this year, Liu completed a special three-year term as Chairperson of the HGO Board of Directors, serving alongside Dastoor, fellow board members, and company leadership and staff to grow audiences, expand ambitious programming initiatives, and set the company’s 2035 Strategic Vision. For her dedicated service, in 2024 she was honored with OPERA America’s National Opera Trustee Recognition Award.
“Working alongside the outstanding group of people who support HGO and its mission of bringing world-class artistic excellence to Houston has been such an inspiring experience,” says Liu. “I plan to continue my work in service of this fantastic organization, and I look forward to watching the company advance its mission with Astley Blair, one of its most devoted champions, as its next Chairperson of the Board.”
In addition to his service to HGO, Blair is a current member of the boards of the Houston Airport System Development Corporation and the American Leadership Forum. The former Chairman of the Center for Houston’s Future and a former Board Member of the Greater Houston Partnership, Blair has given his time to the Houston Food Bank, the United Way, and initiatives to support STEM education. He is the Chief Financial Officer of Marine Well Containment Company, which provides well containment equipment and technology in the deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico. He retired from Chevron in 2019 after 38 years of service, most recently as the company’s Vice President & General Manager of Finance & Business Services.