Aaron Greenwald will take on the position of interim director of Duke Performances Jan. 1, 2007, Provost Peter Lange announced this summer.

Currently serving as the assistant manager of special events for Perkins Library, Greenwald will replace current director Kathy Silbiger, who recently announced her plans to retire at the end of December.

Greenwald will maintain the position through June 30, 2008, when a permanent director will take the reigns of the program.

"Aaron has experience as a producer of performing arts events and programs in New York and Nashville, and he most recently produced the successful Festival of the Book [in April]," Lange said in a June statement.

Greenwald is a graduate of Columbia University with a degree in drama and theater arts.

He will be implementing the 2006-07 season that Silbiger has already put together, and will have the opportunity to begin planning the 2007-08 season.

"I have some ideas about how we might program differently. One thing I really like is the notion of programming around a theme, the idea of clustering a program around a concept or idea," Greenwald said.

The change in leadership comes at a time when Duke is transitioning to a new five-year strategic plan.

"There is a lot of promise from the administration that they will be putting more money into the arts for professional-and-student-initiated arts," Silbiger said.

One of the University's new strategic goals is to strengthen the arts at Duke. Silbiger said that the visual arts recently received a boost due to the opening of the Nasher Museum of Art, and the University now intends to allocate more resources to the performing arts facilities during the next few years.

Additionally, Greenwald expressed interest in engaging the student population.

"I'd certainly like to encourage and look to implement more student involvement in the programming aspect of Duke Performances," Greenwald stated.

He believes that the Nasher Museum of Art has done an excellent job of engaging students, as the students have essentially become ambassadors of the museum.

They are able to create enthusiasm among the student body, similar to the Student Union, which books and brings professional entertainment and arts to campus.

In October, at the President's Committee on the Arts, Greenwald will have the opportunity to bring forth a set of broad principles and ideas for programming specifically for the 2007-08 season. He said some of the main issues he would like to focus on are programming, engagement with the student body, curriculum and the structure of residencies.

Once he has an endorsed mandate he can go forward with his program.

Silbiger joined the Duke community in 1984 and has since established a thriving arts program.

"There have been some wonderful performances that I have felt very proud to bring to the area that have exposed people to music and dance that they might have never encountered," she said.

Silbiger originally began her University career as director at the Duke Institute of the Arts, which became Duke Performances in 2004.

Throughout her 21 years at Duke, she has made many contributions to the University and the community, including starting the Duke in New York arts program and the Duke in Los Angeles media arts program.

She also mentioned the many community collaborations and the involvement of many organizations in the Triangle as highlights of her career.

When she leaves Duke, Silbiger said she intends to travel to Argentina and is considering starting a concert-presenting company.

Greenwald said the University will be conducting a nation-wide search for a permanent director sometime during the 2007-08 season.

He sees the interim position as a "great opportunity to put forth a plan of how I want Duke Performances to operate."