As Director of Duke Performances, Aaron Greenwald is the man who curates and commissions the 60 to 70 artistic performances that Duke brings to Durham each year.
Greenwald’s six years as director have been a game-changer. He has extended Duke Performances’ presence to venues in downtown Durham, increased student ticket sales, drawn on the artistic traditions of the southern United States and structured his seasons thematically, giving audiences layered, complex experiences with different genres. Under Greenwald’s direction, Duke Performances has made more than 400 presentations at about 20 venues around Durham.
Duke Performances showcases dance, monologues, music, talks and theater at a discounted price to students, as well as to the general public. It also supports artistic residencies, which are integrated with academic programs, and community outreach and education.
Since Greenwald’s appointment in 2008, ticket sales have reflected an increased student presence, raising from 14 percent of ticket sales to more than 33 percent, Vice Provost for the Arts Scott Lindroth wrote in an email May 13.
“I’ve never met anyone who is as well informed about all areas of the performing arts as Aaron,” Lindroth said.
Greenwald noted that he hopes Duke Performances will become increasingly central to Duke’s culture.
“Duke’s motto is ‘knowledge in the service of society,’ and this is a service that the universities offer to the communities in which they are located…. If it doesn’t come here or to UNC, it doesn’t come to North Carolina at all,” Greenwald said in a previous interview with The Chronicle.
Dan Fishman, Trinity ‘13 and former music editor for Recess, shared a long list of favorites from many performances he has attended during his Duke career, including Chris Thile and Brad Mehldau—the banjo phenom and jazz pianist—storyteller and monologist Mike Daisey, dancer Meredith Monk, and the Afro-Cuban All Stars.
Senior Anna Koelsch cited tap dancer Savion Glover—the star pupil of Sammy Davis, Jr. and Gregory Hines—and acoustic musician Alexi Murdoch, a Duke alum whose record Time Without Consequences provided the soundtrack for the film Away We Go, as standout performances. Anoushka Shankar’s concert, as well as Fiasco Theater Company’s performance of Shakespeare’s Cymbeline, are two of the most memorable programs I have attended.
“I wanted to create a brand at Duke Performances that was attractive to students—still forward-thinking, definitely not pandering, but approachable and hand-made,” Greenwald wrote in an email May 16. “I want us to be more adventuresome and more nimble.”
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