Well known or not, DukePerformances is selling tickets

As Director of Duke Performances and a daily reader of The Chronicle, I am compelled to provide a bit of extra information regarding the recent editorial on Friday, Sept.4, titled “OSAF land hit with The Hub.” In that editorial Duke Performances is described as a program not very well known by students.

While awareness of Duke Performances could always be greater at Duke and in Durham, we have made significant strides toward increasing visibility over the past three years. In 2008-2009 season, we sold just short of 9,000 tickets to Duke students who made up more than 30 percent of our overall audience. The quantity of tickets of student tickets sold is—by any measure—good at an institution with roughly 12,500 total students (in the 2008-2009 season, graduate students and undergraduates bought tickets at roughly the same rate). The percentage of students to audience bests Dartmouth College, Stanford University and the University of Pennsylvania—all top-tier institution who, like Duke, support a world-class performing arts presenter.

All said, I am grateful that Duke Performances is part of the conversation on campus and in The Chronicle. As Duke Performance becomes more visible—through proximity to good-idea ventures like The Hub, as well as promotion of a more conventional variety—I urge Duke students to take the time to learn a bit more about the mind-blowing artists we bring to campus. The newly redesigned www.dukeperformances.org is a good place to start.  Tickets are, of course, only $5 for Duke students, and the quality of performances is, in my experience, unparalleled by any other university in the nation.

I trust that we will see numerous students, faculty, and staff (Duke employees will, going forward, receive a 10 percent discount on all ticket orders) at the more than 50 forward-thinking presentations Duke Performances is offering in 2009-2010.

Aaron Greenwald

Director, Duke Performances