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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.

He said that it takes at least 2 years to plan an event. It takes at least one year to plan, and then another year to get everything ready. Since it takes so long, he has to be able to deal with last minute cancellations or problems that may arise. On the program he always writes “subject to change” in case a situation arises where a performer cannot appear. I can imagine this is quite stressful, but Mr. Geffen spoke about it in a very calm way.

I asked him if he gets an incredible feeling when he sees all his hard work and planning come to fruition in a festival or event, or if he looks at it as just his job. I imagine that when he spends over 2 years organizing one event it probably feels amazing to take a step back and see everything come together. However, while this festival is taking place, Jeremy Geffen is already planning for an event in 2 years from now, so he might not be able to appreciate the event as a whole. He replied that he does get that incredible feeling I imagined. He said that it’s all about the moments when the events he has a hand in come to life. It’s easy to lose sight of it because he goes to concerts every night. Sometimes he doesn’t even remember which performance will be next week because he is planning so far in advance, but there is still that excitement and he tries not to lose sight of it.

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