The Art of Arts Presenting: Jeremy Geffen on Building Community and Making Introductions Through the Performing Arts

Jeremy Geffen.

The savviest arts administrators know that putting a concert season together is more than programming popular repertoire or bringing big-name soloists to town. For Jeremy Geffen, executive and artistic director of Cal Performances at UC Berkeley, bringing to life all of the organization's artistic and educational activities — about 80 events per season — centers around ideas of building and serving communities across the Bay Area.

Since arriving on the Berkeley campus in 2019 — and during his 12-year tenure as senior director and artistic adviser of Carnegie Hall — Geffen has worked tirelessly to transform the people he serves through the power of the performing arts. That means, first and foremost, making introductions to emerging artists whose new ideas can spark meaningful conversations.

"Who you choose to present is what defines you as a presenter," Geffen says in the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "The bigger risk [for presenters], and where one demonstrates the level of connection to one's community, is determining which artists to introduce — artists who are at the beginnings of their careers or may not have had exposure in the Bay Area."

As Geffen points out, even the biggest artists with the longest relationships with Cal Performances — including Yo-Yo Ma, Jordi Savall, and the Mark Morris Dance Group — weren't always stars. When they were just starting out, it was Cal Performances that helped to give them a toehold. And Geffen sees fostering growth in the artistic powerhouses of tomorrow as one of the most gratifying aspects of his role.

"If you demonstrate confidence in someone, more often than not that confidence will be reciprocated and expectations will be exceeded. It gives me great gratification to watch artists I saw something in early on grow into their full potential."

In this conversation, we discuss Cal Performances' upcoming season and how its marquee Illuminations series will explore technology's many roles in creative expression and human communication. Plus, he opens up about why he sees classical music as "a type of regenerative spiritual health," how therapy has helped him tap into the creativity of the subconscious mind, and why he heads to Manhattan's East Village when it's time to celebrate with sake in New York City.

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