THE JORGENSEN CENTER

THE JORGENSEN CENTER

By Brian Scott Lipton

Since it opened in December of 1955, the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts—the largest college-based presenting program in New England—has attracted countless numbers of students, faculty and staff from both the University of Connecticut, as well as thousands upon thousands of residents from Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Located on the University of Connecticut campus in Storrs, the multi-venue complex consists of a 2,300-seat auditorium, the 500-seat Harriet S. Jorgensen Theater, and the Jorgensen Gallery.

Unlike many other local institutions, Jorgensen presents a wide variety of nationally and internationally acclaimed artists and ensembles annually, ranging from classical music to world music, classical and contemporary dance, comedy, family programming and contemporary entertainment. (For this season’s calendar, visit https://jorgensen.uconn.edu/)

Among the many great artists who have appeared on the Jorgensen stage in the past seven decades are Itzhak Perlman, Marian Anderson, Dave Brubeck and Duke Ellington. In addition, Jorgensen has also presented many of the country’s most prestigious dance companies, including the American Ballet Theater, the Paul Taylor Dance Company, Pilobolus, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

In addition to performances, visiting artists augment the university’s formal educational process with master classes for the Department of Music, informal Q & A’s and panel discussions. Plus, the Jorgensen Outreach for Youth (JOY!) program provides more than 1,000 free tickets to select cultural events at Jorgensen to disadvantaged youth in Eastern Connecticut.

Connecticut Voice recently spoke to the Center’s longtime director Rod Rock about the many triumphs of the Center, as well as its many challenges, as it continues to provide top-notch entertainment for New England residents.

CV: How did you get involved with the Jorgensen Center?

RR: My wife and I moved to Connecticut in 1988. We were both opera singers, and our teacher went to UConn. So, our idea was to get our master’s degrees there, and then we would go to New York City. At some point, they had an opening for a house manager position, and I got the job. Around 1990, we started to have children, and I got the job here as the Center’s business manager. Then, eventually I became the coordinator for six months, and eventually was hired as the Director of the Center. I had no real experience, but I wanted to restore the Center to what I considered its golden age, which was really the 1980s.

CV: Have you been able to do that?

RR: Not yet. Back in the 1980s, we didn’t have casinos like Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun nearby. Because of them, it has become much more competitive for us to get certain artists, especially more popular entertainers, as well to get audience attention. Often, one of the casinos will block us from hiring someone we want. So, we have to find ways to work around that.

CV: You just mentioned audience attention. Has your audience changed?

RR: Yes. Audiences who love the cultural performing arts we used to present are aging out. In fact, I had to go through a period back in 2005 when I was told to program more things just for students, but my feeling was that everything we program should be interesting to students as part of their well-rounded education. Eventually they bought into my idea. Still, over the years, I have had to create a new reality for Jorgensen for many reasons. Bringing in a whole orchestra is too expensive, but we can bring in five or six chamber ensembles every year, thanks in part to a special endowment. Presenting dance has become harder, since few touring ballet companies exist. Fortunately, we have a lot of great dance troupes at U Conn, and we try to present some student groups as part of our programming.

CV: Especially since the Covid pandemic, a lot of theaters have changed from using a subscription model to something more flexible. Did you?

RR: Absolutely. About 40 percent of our audience was through subscriptions. but eventually, it became easier to do single ticket models, with occasional discounts. Sometimes, we even give credit for future performances if a buyer has to miss a show. The bottom line is: you have to work with where people are in their lives; right now, that means not asking them to commit to a whole year of performances so far in advance.

CV: I am assuming the way you sell tickets has changed as well.

RR: Yes. In the past, we used to use brochures, sometimes two or three different ones every year. While we still do one brochure each year, we really lean into all forms of social media, and the bulk of our tickets are sold online rather than through our own box office. We’ve also done some local TV commercials, and they proved to be very effective.

CV: Acquiring customers isn’t cheap! Let’s talk about how the Center gets funded.

RR: Fundraising is hard, especially since there are no really large local businesses in our area. Fortunately, we’ve had some success with banking foundations and charitable foundations, but most of our money now comes from private donations. I have also worked very hard to integrate the Jorgensen Center into the fabric of the university. For example, we automatically reserve two weekends where we allow university organizations to use our space. Of course, we charge them a facility fee because there can be a lot of clean up, some wear and tear on our equipment, and we need to recoup the expenses of labor, many of whom are university students. I think it’s a nice program.

CV: How do you find the acts you’re going to present at Jorgensen?

RR: Admittedly, I am not going out as much as I used to. But I have a good grasp of what’s out there musically, In the past, automatic name recognition was what sold tickets; but that’s not as important today. Television and the internet and YouTube have helped; not only can I get a good impression of what’s out there, but so can our audiences. Some years ago, I saw Jacob Collier on TV on the PBS program Austin City Limits, and I thought he was different. I knew he was trying to break into the market, so we booked him. He turned out to be a much tougher to sell than I originally thought, but we did sell out. 

CV: Do you have a “bucket list” of performers you would like to present?

I would really like to present Cynthia Erivo; we had the opportunity to bring her after she won the Tony Award for The Color Purple, and I turned it down. I would love to present Norah Jones; we had her booked once, but I ended up arguing with her manager. I’d love to have Alex Warren and Laufey, who are both amazing young singers. And I would love to bring Kristin Chenoweth back; we had her before, and the audience loved her. We’ve made her an offer for the 2026-27 season. Fingers crossed.