I have to admit that our meeting with the artistic director of Carnegie Hall was not quite what I had hoped it would be. He didn't really give much insight as to what his role is at Carnegie Hall, and I felt like he spent more time promoting the venue than he did expressing his love for his job or his appreciation for the arts. It was interesting to hear about the amount of planning that goes into creating events like the Chinese Festival, but I think I would've liked a more personal perspective on what it is like to have a career in the art world.

  So today was yet another first as I made my way to Carnegie Hall. It was quite obvious I had never been there as I tried every entrance but the correct one. For class we went to meet Jeremy Geffen, who organizes and selects the performances to be shown at Carnegie Hall. He mentioned to us that he sees hundreds of performances to select from and it takes him a couple of years to completely plan one event.

          The last entry I wrote dealt with a presentation about hip hop and how music gives its own "theory of justice". More recently, we were advised to attend a reading by Joseph O'Connor, which allowed me to be able to compare the two different styles and approaches they each took to get their message across. What intrigued me most about O'Connor's reading was his irish accent and witty jokes. He was also pretty direct with how he was going to go about giving his reading, by telling us how long each section would take.

After class a couple of us went with Professor Bergman to see the big auditorium at Carnegie Hall. As soon as I walked in I was amazed. The stage alone was unbelievably beautiful. The emptiness of the stage, except for a grand piano was very inspiring. I felt an urge to run up and just in the middle and take it all in! Of course I didn't, but it was still exciting. Looking out at the seats was also intimidating since there were so many; over 2000 I believe.

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Jeremy Geffen

Jeremy Geffen has one of the most amazing jobs in the world. He handpicks which performances will be shown at Carnegie Hall. He has probably seem hundreds of performances on stage, and even more while scouting out which ones he will choose. I learned a lot through meeting with him.