Building an arts season is a fine craft, a logistical puzzle, a feat of networking, and an act of faith. What it is not, if you talk to the local artistic directors who so carefully curate the seasons you’ll read about in this issue of the Georgia Straight, is a random selection. Or a flight of serendipity. Or a reflection of one person’s favourite things. Well, okay, maybe a tiny bit of that last one.

Below, we speak to some of the people who have to put together seasons here—a dance programmer, a theatre director, and a classical-music presenter. And though their challenges are diverse and formidable, they seem to have a complicated but common approach: it’s more important to build deep audience loyalty and a strong identity than to try to guess what will sell.

“I will tell you this: after 37 years of doing this—and with Yo-Yo Ma as the exception—I still don’t understand why some artists sell and why some don’t,” as Vancouver Recital Society founder and artistic director Leila Getz candidly puts it to the Straight.

Yes, they have to see a lot of work. But all of them emphasize the need for one-on-one conversations—with artists, with audiences, with other presenters around the globe. Sure, there’s an element of gut feeling. But as the Cultch’s Heather Redfern tells the Straight with a laugh: “It’s never totally random.”

And as you will see below, it’s never safe to play it totally safe.

Heather Redfern

Who: Executive director of the Cultch (Historic Theatre, Vancity Culture Lab, and York Theatre)

Programming thumbnail: A diverse, plentiful menu of local, national, and international work, mostly theatre

Season sampler: The new rock musical Are We Cool Now?; A Simple Space, by Australian circus innovators Gravity & Other Myths; Ronnie Burkett’s adult puppet show The Daisy Theatre

On having a “fun” job

“Everybody says to me, ‘What a great job and it must be fun!’ And it is, but three-quarters of it is saying no and one quarter of it is saying yes and justifying your no’s. I think people think it [the season lineup] is just my favourite things.”

On the importance of a mission statement

“We’re absolutely guided by our mission statements and value statements. We review those every year and decide if we’re on track.”

On making hard choices

“I end up with enough projects that I could do my season at least twice or make it twice as packed. So I have the long list that I’ll discuss with the greater group—like our patron-development department [fundraising and marketing], as well as our box office. What are people actually coming to see? Which Cultch supporters would be interested in this particular piece or slant?

“The other way we come at it is the role we play in the arts community. Looking at international work, is there a benefit to artists here to bring that work here? Are we ensuring the local work is there—the established companies like Ruby Slippers and Rumble, and the more emerging companies?”

On reflecting this diverse city

“The other really important piece for us is the diversity piece. The words that keep coming are authenticity and authentic voice. That is going beyond one show that features, say, a queer theme or one show that’s an indigenous artist. I don’t want to do that. So this year we have one show where we’re involved with Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre [VACT] and it’s a good solid community partnership [for Tetsuro Shigematsu’s Empire of the Son]; we are also making a partnership with Amnesty International and the Diwali festival, as well [for the show Nirbhaya].

“So I have to be thinking not just about the people who are coming to the Cultch right now, but the people who aren’t coming. We like the Cultch to be available to everyone.”

On the role of personal taste

“I’m the curator and I only consider things I believe are artistically sound. Sometimes those are artistic premieres, usually with local productions, so I have to believe in their work and there has to be that confidence.…So seeing shows and readings and visiting studios is important. We have a residency program in the summer for artists creating new work, and that allows me to see their work in progress; it’s really deepening the relationship with those artists.”

On being about much more than bums in seats

“Through authenticity and community partnerships, we can deepen the base of people who are engaged here, which is ultimately the role of a community arts centre. The ones where people think, ‘That one’s gonna be a money-maker’—we have a whole data set that’s going to help us figure that out....But there are a couple every year that are way off.

“Like the East Van Panto [holiday show]: that’s a no-brainer and it’s going to be a bestseller, but we don’t program it to make money. We’re working toward breaking even. It’s a full new script every year and you’re paying a lot of people. If I wanted to make money I’d go out and find a touring panto. But it’s from East Van for East Van, for the people that live here, grew up here, and you couldn’t buy that out of a box.”

On the biggest gamble this season

“The biggest risk we’re taking this year is Nirbhaya in November [based on the sexual assault and murder of a woman who boarded a bus in Delhi in 2012, and other real stories of abuse from Indian women]. It’s partially scripted and it’s women who are not actresses telling their own personal stories. It’s a really important piece of work and artistically amazing, and socially it’s really important for us to have this conversation right now.…It’s not a fun night at the theatre, but it’s incredibly important and it shows how amazing a role theatre can have. It’s about bearing witness and giving voice to women who have been physically abused, and we, the audience, are there to witness. It’s incredibly dangerous and an incredibly expressive piece of work, but it’s also world-class; the last place it played was New York. It is absolutely some of the best theatre being done in the English language right now.”

On judging shows via video

“In the early days I made that mistake once or twice. Now, if I’ve seen something on video, I call around the world to talk to people who’ve seen it.”

On the need for feedback

“It’s always in our program notes or messaging or subscriptions: we want your feedback. It counts for a lot. I really, really want to know!”

Jim Smith

Who: Producer of DanceHouse

Programming thumbnail: A small, high-calibre selection of hot Canadian and international contemporary-dance shows

Season sampler: U.K. sensation Hofesh Shechter Company’s Barbarians; Kidd Pivot and Electric Company Theatre’s dark new dance-theatre journey, Betroffenheit

On keeping everybody happy

“I would say there are a number of fronts you’re trying to advance or compromise or develop or move forward. First, you’re always responsible to an audience. Second, you’ve got to be sensitive to the form itself: where is that art currently going? And those two worlds may have nothing to do with each other. Third, you have your stakeholders, your board, your donors, and you have to be sensitive to the objectives put out there by them.…Fourth, you have to be sensitive to what’s going on in the market: you don’t want to put all of the city’s dance shows on top of each other; you have to make sure you can get a venue; and you have to make sure that your publicity can get out.

“My job is a little bit about being sensitive to all these different requests, aspirations, and dreams, and trying to carve a path down the middle. And it’s possible that it’s impossible to satisfy all of them.”

On the fact it’s not one person’s tastes

“There’s an impression that people think that my personal aesthetic has greater influence in what happens than what it actually does. I feel a professional responsibility to my board and larger community.

“One of the things I’m personally trying to learn is to have a deeper understanding of what our audience expects on-stage. When Barb [Clausen] and I started, we held on tight to our curatorial vision: what was happening out there in the world and was doing well. So we brought in shows from Scandinavia, Japan, Brazil. The one thing I’m trying to better get a handle on is I feel like we have potentially served the development in the artistic form, potentially at the cost of the audience being brought along. Before the audience reaction this year, I will have to program next year—so what happens this year will only affect what happens in two years’ time.”

On audience feedback—and that pesky noise issue

“Fundamentally, I feel one of my first responsibilities is to represent an audience in Vancouver.…I have to tend to this particular body of work and the particular level of quality, but when I have to speak to someone who is challenging the choices I’ve made, I have to listen. I may not be able to respond in a way that resolves the issue.

“I need to make sure we’re bringing the Vancouver dance community along in a very positive way that’s still supporting the art form.…Then there’s the international context: how does Vancouver measure up to the international centres of the world? That becomes a satisfying and interesting conversation, purely from a programming point of view. You begin to appreciate how courageous an audience might be or that there are limitations. For instance, I get a fair amount of feedback about how ‘loud’ things are. But if the artist feels it has to be loud, I can’t change that; I can’t take it personally—that’s an artistic choice of the person we’ve given the stage to.”

On the importance of bringing the world to Vancouver

“There are parts in the world that bubble up: back in the ’70s and ’80s the hot spot in international dance was Montreal. Next, I’d say it moved to Belgium. And more recently it’s been Israel and the diaspora—Ohad Naharin, Sharon Eyal, Hofesh Shechter, and Gallim. It’s my speculation that’s over, and we’re trying to find the next hot spot, and I don’t think we actually know where it is.…The challenge is to expose the local arts community to what is going on in the world of dance. Before DanceHouse, we fell off that conversation, and I was so sensitive to that travelling the world.”

Leila Getz

Who: Founder and artistic director of Vancouver Recital Society

Programming thumbnail: Exciting emerging classical stars and established international artists presented in warm, intimate recital

Season sampler: Young German cellist Maximilian Hornung, with pianist Benjamin Engeli; rising Polish string ensemble Apollon Musagète Quartet in its Canadian debut; and famed bass-baritone vocalist Bryn Terfel

On bringing artists across oceans and mountains

“It is a frustrating journey; it can be challenging, because when I put together a season I start with artists I want to present and then I have to hope to God—because Vancouver is so far away from anywhere else, particularly for artists from Europe or Britain—that there’ll be some sort of tour that will bring them close by.

“For instance, Bryn Terfel is coming next season. And his manager, who lives in Wales, knows that I have a standing order: I don’t write her every year and say, ‘When is Bryn coming?’ I get an email from her saying, ‘You’ll never guess, but Bryn is coming to your part of the world.’

“Then take Joseph Moog, the young German pianist who came here this year: his manager in London said, ‘Don’t worry, pick a date, we’ll get it on his calendar, and I’ll try to get him other dates.’ ”

On finding a venue

“You have to now add in the challenges of availability of the hall. I went grey when the Chan [Centre for the Performing Arts] opened, trying to get dates. And now there’s the Playhouse: when the Playhouse Theatre Company was flourishing we all knew we could only have Sundays for concerts—except for Friends of Chamber Music, who had Tuesdays. When the Playhouse Theatre Company collapsed, suddenly it was available and we put our evening concerts back there. But since then, the Playhouse has become unbelievably busy.”

On trust and a trumpeter

“We have built one of the most loyal audiences on the planet. There are still subscribers that started coming in the first couple of years. I mean, hell, I presented a young female trumpeter! I think the secret of the longevity of the VRS is solely, completely about quality and relationships—it’s the audience relationship with us, and the relationships with musicians. I’ve got a fantastic staff. They’re all really great people, people that care about it. When they get excited, I get excited.”

On the importance of taking a leap

“Arts organizations should lead their public, not follow the public. If I get excited about a musician, then I’ll bring them. The other philosophy is: if you don’t risk failure, you risk success. I’d rather die than play it safe. I like to be on the edge.

“Case in point: there’s a classical accordionist, Ksenija Sidorova, and when we had Igudesman & Joo here, Aleksey [Igudesman] said, ‘I’m so impressed you like to bring in young artists; I have a hot tip for you.’ He tells me about her. I go to the computer, I look her up on video. I find her and I start yelling and screaming. And [box-office and artist-services manager] Jonathan [Evans] came running. She is sensational. She has incredible stage presence, she’s an incredible accordion player, and she’s gorgeous. It was a manager I had never heard of, but I said, ‘I want her here for a week.’ And he said, ‘We know all about your season and we want to come.’ ”

On the questionable value of even writing an article like this

“I keep saying to myself, ‘People pay money to come see concerts in the hopes they’ll have a wonderful experience, and they probably don’t want to know too much about what goes on.’ ”