Berkeley Repertory Theater, one of the nation’s leading regional theaters, has chosen its first new leader in more than two decades, naming a New York-based champion of new work to assume its top creative job.

Johanna Pfaelzer, who is currently the artistic director of New York Stage and Film, a nonprofit best known for its Powerhouse Theater summer program at Vassar College, will become the next artistic director of Berkeley Rep starting next fall. She will succeed Tony Taccone, who has been at Berkeley Rep for 33 years, 21 of them as artistic director.

“Berkeley Rep is one of the greatest theaters in this country, with a huge appetite for new work, beautiful theaters, a vibrant staff, and they’re interested in asking the big questions about how theater can function at this moment for an audience and for artists,” Ms. Pfaelzer said. “I’ll have an opportunity to bring some artists who are new to them, and there are a number of wonderful relationships they already have that I’m excited to explore as well.”

Ms. Pfaelzer, unlike some artistic directors, does not direct shows herself; she described her role as “curatorial.” She has roots in the Bay Area — her parents met at Berkeley, she lived there for several years as a child, and from 2003 to 2007 she worked as associate artistic director of San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater.