Mondavi Center: Creativity and Community That Elevate the Arts.

What if you could follow a serendipitous path leading to your dream job in a completely different state? Join me as I sit down with Jeremy Ganter, Executive Director of the Mondavi Center, who shares his extraordinary journey from upstate New York to becoming a cornerstone of Northern California's vibrant arts scene. With 25 years of deep-rooted experiences at the Mondavi Center, Jeremy shares insights into the center's evolution from a mere vision to an iconic cultural landmark. His story is a testament to the power of passion and dedication in the arts.

The Mondavi Center, nestled within what is now known as the Gateway District of the UC Davis campus, is more than just bricks and mortar; it's a bustling cultural hub. My conversation with Jeremy uncovers how this transformed space draws diverse audiences, reflecting the university's commitment as a Hispanic-serving institution and providing a versatile venue for performances, events, and education. We explore the center's unique features, like Jackson Hall's incredibly technical and professional setup, for both acoustics and visuals, and how these spaces enhance learning and engagement for students and visitors alike.

Despite facing challenges such as changing audience behaviors and scheduling conflicts, the Mondavi Center remains resilient. Jeremy shares the center's innovative programming and aspirations, from dreaming of collaborating with local culinary talents to enhancing visitor experiences with food, wine, and art. As we celebrate 25 years of its impact, this episode paints a vivid picture of the unforgettable legacy and bright future of the Mondavi Center. Now... GO SEE A SHOW!

Learn More:

🎟️ Visit: www.mondaviarts.org
📱 Follow: @mondavicenter

LinkedIN: Mondavi-Center

Article: www.sactownmag.com/qa-jeremyganter-mondavi-executive-director/

Chapter Summaries(00:00) The Mondavi Center's Unique Story
Jeremy Ganter's journey with the Mondavi Center, its architectural and acoustic innovations, and his passion as executive director.
(11:59) Mondavi Center Community Interaction
The Mondavi Center is a vibrant hub in the UC Davis campus, attracting diverse audiences and offering year-round activities and unique learning environments.
(19:08) Funding and Community Engagement at Mondavi
School matinee program, ticket sales, fundraising, university support, student employees, misconceptions, audience purchasing behavior, adapting to changes.
(25:20) Challenges and Dreams for Mondavi Center
Challenges and aspirations in performing arts, limited artist availability, potential for collaboration with local culinary talents, and importance of state-of-the-art facilities.
(35:13) Enhancing the Mondavi Center Experience
Mondavi Center offers diverse, dynamic programming with a focus on live performances and a welcoming, holistic experience for all.
(38:27) Memories of Mondavi Center's Impact
25-year history and iconic architecture of Mondavi Center, its enduring influence and cu

Thank you so much for listening to this nonprofit story! We appreciate you. Please visit the website to sign up for our email updates and newsletter. https://www.nonprofpod.com/ And if you like, leave me a voicemail to comment on the program, leave a question for us to ask in the future or a message for me, Jeff Holden. I may even use your voice mail message in a future episode of one of our incredible local nonprofit organizations. https://www.nonprofpod.com/voicemail. Thanks again for your support in listening, commenting and sharing the great work our local nonprofits are accomplishing.

Transcript

Jeremy Ganter: [00:00:00] Everything was thought of to make sure that the acoustic experience could be as good as possible. The interesting thing I'll share you with you about that is it actually does make mixing reinforced sound, so using speakers. Very challenging because the room is so live, it's so delicate, acoustically. I mean, we've always had exceptional sound technicians.

They really have to understand the building. And when a touring engineer comes in to run sound, we actually have a book that we have to hand them to say like, this is how you mix. It's a very live room. And when you get it right, it's magic.

Jeff Holden: Welcome to the nonprofit podcast network. Work here. Our purpose and passion are simple to highlight the incredible nonprofits that make our communities stronger. Each episode is a chance for these organizations to tell their story in their words, sharing not just what they do, but why it matters [00:01:00] to the people they serve, to their supporters, and to all of us who believe in the power of community.

Through podcasting, we hope to amplify their voices, inspire connection, and give them one more tool to reach the hearts of donors, partners, and neighbors alike. This work is made possible through the generous support of our founding partners captrust, offering fiduciary advice for endowments and foundations serving Sacramento, Roseville, and Folsom, and online@captrust.com.

And Western Health Advantage, a local not-for-profit health plan that believes healthcare is more than coverage. It's about caring from supporting the American Heart Association to making arts and wellness accessible for all. Western Health Advantage truly delivers healthcare with heart. Learn more@westernhealth.com.

I'm proud to welcome our newest partner, core executive leadership and comprehensive support services working in it so you [00:02:00] can work on it. Visit cx OR e.com. The Robert and Margaret Mondavi Center is where a world class artistry meets a purpose built instrument from Jackson Hall's 1,801 seats. Tuned by a master acoustician and engineered to transform from concert hall to proscenium in hours to the endlessly flexible and intimate van der hoof studio theater that can morph into a jazz club if desired.

Every detail here serves the performance and the audience. Born of a rare collaboration between architect, theater designer and Acoustic Artisan. Mondavi Center has also helped anchor uc, Davis's Gateway District. It's a theater that welcomes students, neighbors, and touring greats with the same care from impeccable sound to a seamless guest experience.

So the art can do what it does best move us. This episode, we celebrate [00:03:00] an icon built to inspire and still setting the standard 25 years later and to think the executive director representing the theater today has been involved with the theater since its completion. Is simply amazing. I'm excited to speak with Jeremy Ganter, whose wealth of familiarity and expertise on this prized institution is second to none.

Jeremy Ganter, welcome to the Nonprofit Podcast Network. 

Jeremy Ganter: Thank you. It's great to be here, 

Jeff Holden: Jeremy. You're responsible for one of our region's true performing arts gems. The Mondavi Center's not only recognizable from the freeway as the architectural. Stature that it places in the visibility as you drive by it, but it's also an incredible facility in itself as a performing arts theater.

Before we get into the details of the building and the structure and the process and the arts take place there, you have a really unique story and it's, it's one that most people can't [00:04:00] tell about their association to the theater that they either manage or work with. Tell us your story because I think it really.

Defines you and your association to the Mondavi Center? 

Jeremy Ganter: Sure, sure. And I'll say it. I've been so lucky in my career throughout and from the very beginning and at uc Davis. And so two weeks ago I turned 51 and I've been at the Mondavi Center almost 25 years. So basically half. Half your life, 

Jeff Holden: life, life. And happy belated birthday.

Jeremy Ganter: Thank you. Thank you. And my kids grew up going to performances there. Our first son attended. If I remember correctly, 27 performances in the womb in one of our first seasons, which was great. But so I, when I was a kid, I lived in San Ramon for about a year and a half. I'm from, originally from upstate New York, and it made, being in California made a huge impression on me as a kid.

It was kind of one of the bright lights of my entire childhood. We unfortunately had to move back to. To upstate New York, and I always wanted to come back [00:05:00] to California, so as soon as I had an opportunity to come back, I did. I convinced my wife to honeymoon out here to try to sell it to her, and then she got a job in Sacramento that kind of came out of the blue for her, and then I followed her out about three months later.

Jeff Holden: Just coincidentally, she got a job from upstate New York in Sacramento, as you are trying to. Suggest it's a place to come to. 

Jeremy Ganter: Yes. And so this is, this is kind of the beginning of the kismet of it all. 

Jeff Holden: Yes. 

Jeremy Ganter: She, we kind of, we sat down and made this decision, you know, we, we got married pretty young. We were in our early twenties.

We didn't have kids yet that we would just move out to California and figure it out. Two days later, she got a phone call from someone she'd met at a. Conference who said There is a perfect job for you in Sacramento, California. She flew out, she interviewed, she got the job. She still works for that organization, but she's in a different role now.

And so that kind of began our, our kind of quest to California. I had just finished my music degree, so I changed my kind of educational path. So I finished my music degree in my early [00:06:00] twenties, so I arrived in Davis. With no job and a music degree, not the easiest thing to have to find employment. When I just started applying any job that opened up at uc, Davis Presents, which was the predecessor of the Mondavi Center, I would immediately apply for, at the time the staff was, I think.

10 people. Mm-hmm. So there weren't a lot of jobs there and I just couldn't get my foot in the door. So I decided to temp at the university. I ended up temping with the wife of the executive director of uc, Davis presents just pure dumb luck. Um, boy, 

Jeff Holden: the serendipity just continues throughout every step of the way, right?

Jeremy Ganter: Yes, yes. And the same thing happened to me. She said, you know what? There's a perfect job for you at uc. Davis presents where my husband works. Um, at the time it was. Being his assistant, his executive assistant. So that's how I started, um, as an administrative assistant working in downtown Davis of the time.

Of course, the Mondavi Center was about halfway built. It was about a year into construction, and then over the, the next several decades, worked my way up. My, my longest job there was [00:07:00] being the associate executive director and director of programming. For 17 years with Don Roth, my predecessor as executive director, and then when he left, um, I was lucky enough to earn the job.

You know, the way that uc Davis is hiring, there really is no such thing as succession planning. So everybody's gotta compete for every job. So I'm proud that I got the job. Did not expect to be there for this long. We expect it to maybe move back to New York after a couple years, but it's just been, it's been a dream job and a wonderful place to work.

Jeff Holden: What an incredible tenure you've had. To see it from its origin from day one. Yes. Yeah. You know, most people can't say that. And to see it in its progression and the novelty to, to now it's an assumed facility for us. It is just a, an incredible, incredible story. 

Jeremy Ganter: Yes, it is. And you know, I think of the, particularly the venues and particularly Jackson Hall.

In the Mondavi Center, I think of them as [00:08:00] instruments. They very much are instruments. And watching that instrument actually being built, it was inside, during the construction phase and then watching it be completed and become this kinda strata various style venue was just, it's one of the great joys of my life.

Jeff Holden: Well, you certainly have validated your position and, and the conversation we're about to have, which I'm really looking forward to. Tell us about the theater itself as a performing arts theater. What, 25 years ago was really progressive. You know, it was, the architectural style of it was incredibly contemporary.

The interior and all the sound, acoustics and everything put into the, into the theater was state of the art. Tell us about that and where it is today. What it. What it looks like by comparison to say some of the other theaters? 

Jeremy Ganter: I think so One of the really interesting things about the way the Mondavi Center came into being, which I think reflects [00:09:00] kind of how uc Davis operates, the kind of collaborative interdisciplinarity of uc Davis, was they didn't just find a single architect to, with kind of a grand vision for the building.

They actually put a team together. So there was a theatrical designer. There was a, uh, acoustic engineer, Ron McKay, and then there was the architect, Stan Bowles, and they had them all work together to kind of each focus on their expertise in each area. And it's, it's not uncommon to have those roles in the construction of a performing arts venue, but the way in which they kind of forced them to collaborate.

It was really fascinating and I think it, it. Made the whole project better than the sum of its parts. So that's, that's one piece. The other piece was a focus on, particularly because we're the, also the home of the uc, Davis Symphony and the presenting program presents a lot of touring symphonies, was to focus on.

The acoustics as a very, very top level concern in designing the Mondavi Center. So it would be a more financially viable [00:10:00] space in terms of ticket sales if it had 2,400 or 3000 seats. Mm-hmm. Um, the reason it has 1800 seats is 'cause that was the sweet spot acoustically. Um, and so we, for a lack of a better way to put it, some, a little bit of financial viability was sacrificed for acoustic excellence, and I'm really glad that that decision was made.

And then the. The acoustics, Jackson Hall, the acoustician. I mentioned Ron McKay. This was his last project. Um, he's a master acoustician and at the time a lot of the elements in the building were pretty revolutionary. So the, the sound shell that we have that moves in and outta the proscenium allows us to go from being a true concert hall to a regular proscenium theater in just a few hours so we can have.

You know, the uc, Davis Symphony, rehearsing one night, the next day we can have a dance company. It's a, it's a massive piece of equipment. It's wonderful to watch it move. And then this, there's these systems of drapes, uh, and reflectors, everything was thought of to make sure that the acoustic [00:11:00] experience could be as good as possible.

The interesting thing I'll share you with you about that is it actually does make mixing reinforced sound, so using speakers. Very challenging because the room is so live, it's so delicate, acoustically, I mean, we've always had exceptional sound technicians. They really have to understand the building.

And when a touring engineer comes in to run sound, we actually have a book that we have to hand them to say like, this is how you mix sound in this room. Wow. It's a very live room. And when you get it right, it's magic. But it is, it is. It is a challenge to, to mix a sound in a room with that much kind of acoustic vibrancy.

Mm-hmm. And then we have the Vander Hoof Studio Theater named for Larry and Rosalie Vander Hoof. Larry was the chancellor who really was responsible for bringing the Mondavi Center to Life another. That whole story is another amazing story, and that's a, was originally meant to be a rehearsal space, but there was a sort of aha moment in the design phase where they said, you know, this could also be a theater.

So Ron also treated that room acoustically, so it [00:12:00] has some acoustic bells and whistles. To allow it to work as a chamber venue, chamber music venue as well. So it's, it is a technically a black box, but it's not your typical black box. 

Jeff Holden: And by black box means a smaller Yep. Performance theater. How many seats are in there?

Jeremy Ganter: It ranges. So that's the beautiful thing about it. So it's a 3000 square foot room, and you could do anything from one seat to. 240, sorry, 200 and almost 300 seats. Okay. So it's totally flexible. There is a seating riser that comes out from the wall, but we've done, we've, we've done a couple really interesting projects in there where we turned it into a pub so you can do whatever you want, which is part of, part of the magic of that room.

It's actually as director of programming and also as executive director, where I remain very involved in programming. It's my favorite space to program. 'cause you can do anything in there. 

Jeff Holden: And I recall you saying that this is really. An interesting space for emerging artists 

Jeremy Ganter: Yes. 

Jeff Holden: To play. Yes. Tell us a little bit about that.

Jeremy Ganter: So I'll use jazz as an example. Jazz is something that is really central to, to [00:13:00] what we do, and it's also a passion of mine. So we designed a true jazz club in this space, in the Vander Hoof Studio Theater. So you can imagine a stage on one end. Low, four top tables, a bar available, and that allows us to bring artists in for multi night runs, three to four night runs, and really sit down and, and spend time with the audience, explore their own music.

And we tend to focus on up and coming jazz artists in that space with the idea that we will. Support their career long term and eventually they'll end up in Jackson Hall. In the big space. In the big room, so to speak. 

Jeff Holden: Has, has that happened yet? 

Jeremy Ganter: Yeah, it's happened a number of times. The, the, the interesting one, I think we talked about this, is it, there's actually a reverse happening this year, so.

A couple years ago I went to the jazz festival that Lincoln Center, the Jazz Lincoln Center, puts on in New York in January and saw this Cameroonian American young singer, eke and quele, and was just absolutely blown away. And so we have [00:14:00] to figure out a way to get eke. Into the studio theater, and then the person that we work with to book the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra said she's coming out on tour with the band.

So last year we had her on a holiday show with Jazz at Lincoln Center, featured doing holiday music. This year we're bringing her back in the club with her own band. Oh wow. This band leader. 

Jeff Holden: How neat that'll be for the people who are going to get to experience it. 

Jeremy Ganter: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: In the smaller venue. 

Jeremy Ganter: Yeah, it's great.

Jeff Holden: Wow. 

Jeremy Ganter: And I love, you know, one of the things I love about that room is the kind of vibe of the room changes every night. So we currently do Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and just depending on who's coming on a given night, it can be a very different. Energy in the room and the artists, because they're so close to the audience, will respond depending on how the, how the audience is acting in a given moment.

It's really fascinating to watch, especially if you can, you know, you have the privilege as I do to sometimes see all three nights in a row. 

Jeff Holden: You mentioned that since the origin of the theater. It has really transformed that into the [00:15:00] campus to where it's now a, a, a gateway neighborhood is the language you used on it.

What is that? What does, what do you mean by that? What has it done? 

Jeremy Ganter: Um, so, so that, that officially is now the gateway district of uc, Davis and the, the campus planner, whose name happens to be Bob Seger, but different. Bob Seger, who's since retired. Wonderful man. He had this very grand vision. For that corner of campus.

So when the Mondavi Center was built, it was basically fields and the alumni and Visitor Center, which is right across the street from us. And it wasn't really an activated part of the campus or the campus life. And he had this vision. How he used to put it was the, the university coming out from behind the trees.

And that was kind of his vision for the Gateway District. And the Mondavi Center was the first major piece of it. And now what you have, there are a lot of the very public facing elements of the university. So you've got the wonderful Minnetti Sremm Museum. Our Graduate School of management is there.

There's a hotel there. The Alumni Visitor Center is the. It remains there. There's a welcome center [00:16:00] for prospective students and then the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, and there's even a vineyard right there in the neighborhood. So it's a really, it's become this really cool place with a lot of activity where it used to just be kind of a field.

People would come for performances and then they would leave and that would be it. 

Jeff Holden: Well, there's a reason to stay in, not only stay, but spend the night and Yes. And really take in the surrounding environment. Yes, 

Jeremy Ganter: and we do, we have a, we have a handful of patrons that live. Kind of far farther away, maybe up in the foothills that will come down and stay the night.

They'll see a performance. They'll stay the night and then head back in the morning. 

Jeff Holden: And that's actually a good question to to pose too. Where do the majority geographically come from that experience activity at the. 

Jeremy Ganter: It depends. It depends on what we're presenting on a given night, but around half of our audience comes from Davis, and then the other half comes from the greater Sacramento region and we serve 11 different counties.

Or we have audience coming from 11 different counties. And occasionally if we're doing something that's not playing the Bay Area, we'll even draw from. San Francisco and the Bay Area, but [00:17:00] for example, when we do orchestras, it's probably 60 40 in favor of Davis, in part because the wonderful Sacramento Philharmonic is here for sacrament.

Mm-hmm. For other things, it'll flip. It'll be 60 or 70% coming from outside of Davis and the rest coming from inside. 

Jeff Holden: And uc. Davis'. Hispanic Serving Institute. Mm-hmm. Institution. So it's an HSI. We talked a little bit about this and I thought it was significant enough to bring it up on how that has influenced activity at the theater as well.

Jeremy Ganter: Sure. So, you know, one of the things that I love about doing this work on a major research university is that we can program to what the university is doing. Mm-hmm. And it creates all kinds of interesting opportunities and synergies. And so when we learned quite a few years ago that the university was gonna take a shot at becoming an HSI, we thought it was important to.

Program, more Hispanic artists, more Latinx artists in our programming. So we significantly increased that representation in our [00:18:00] programming. Not really as a way to get the HSI designation, but to acknowledge the fact that the major metric of an HSI is at 25% of your undergraduates are in the federal term Hispanic, which is, which is wonderful.

And obviously uc, Davis has achieved that percentage. So we not only want to be. Presenting this kind of work to the greater community. We also want to be responsive to what our student body looks like. Mm-hmm. 

Jeff Holden: As you look at the activity that takes place at the theater, how often is it in use? How many day performances are going on?

Is there any downtime? And you've got the, you know, the multiple rooms. What does that look like and who uses it? It's not always commercial, correct? 

Jeremy Ganter: Correct. So it's. An extraordinarily busy space during the academic year. So we start usually right around the end of September and we go all the way through June.

Mm-hmm. The summer is in terms of activity, public activity is [00:19:00] basically. Quiet. We closed the building for the summer. That's when we're, you know, refinishing the stage, cleaning up the lights, doing all that kind of work that you need to do. And a number of our stage technicians go out on the road on summer tours and things.

During the, this, the academic year, during our season, the Mondavi Center is busy almost every day of the week, seven days a week. From the morning until often 11 or 12 at night. Wow. It's an incredibly busy space. The way that the use of the Mondavi Center is broken up is basically into thirds, so the presenting program, the public touring presentations for which the Mondavi Center, I think in the community is most known mm-hmm.

Is about a third of the activity in in the center. Another third is use just general use by campus for various events. We do. Orientations for undergrads. We do commencements, all kinds of university events. And then the other third is one of my favorite things that happened to us of all time is that we are used as a classroom space.

So Jackson Hall, this beautiful concert hall is used five days a [00:20:00] week as a classroom space. That means that thousands of uc, Davis students are coming through our doors. We can advertise them. To them, we can show them that we're not just a stodgy classical music institution. And I think most of all, we can show them that we're not 50 miles from their dorms or wherever they live, that we're actually pretty easy to get to.

Jeff Holden: Not to mention, there's no excuse for not hearing that professor, because we know that the acoustics in that room are as good as they could possibly be from any classroom on campus. Yes. 

Jeremy Ganter: Yeah. And the professors like it because they get a, they get a stage hand and an audio engineer to work with them to make their class, you know, really vibrant.

Yeah. The, the screen over the stage is massive so that the, if the faculty are using slides, which most of them do, it's very beautiful. Look at, it's a great experience. I think the only downside for the students. Is there, there are no desks, so they're, they're gonna have to put things in their lap. We give them these little boards to put stuff on.

That's the only downside. But I think the, the upside far outweighs that. 

Jeff Holden: Teaching as a theatrical performance. Yes. Yeah. 

Jeremy Ganter: And the cool thing is these are not, by and large, they're not arts related courses. They're [00:21:00] mostly right. Hard sciences. The kind of lecture courses that have six to 800 registration, which is why they use Jackson Hall.

'cause there isn't a classroom that big on campus. Mm-hmm. So we're, we've got a, we've got a whole different kind of energy and a different kind of student than we might see if we just did arts programming. 

Jeff Holden: Well, it's certainly clear to say that the theater is put to good use. There's no doubt about that.

Yes, 

Jeremy Ganter: yes. 

Jeff Holden: Tell me a little bit about the interaction in the community itself. So Davis Nonprofits, how do you work with things outside of performing arts and the university itself? 

Jeremy Ganter: So I think one of the, one of the things that, one of the programs that we have that was started a few years ago. For the community, it's literally called Community Connections.

It's a ticket program that allows for, so an organization, these can be on campus student organizations, or these can be community groups, and they're very often community groups. They have to apply and they have to be accepted. They just have to fill out a very basic application. Mm-hmm. And once they're accepted, we offer them free tickets to come as a group.

[00:22:00] Two performances during the Mondavi Center season, and we have a, there's a couple metrics that they have to hit. They have to have a 90% attendance rate. They have to give us a little bit of feedback, but we also give 'em a shout out from stage. We put 'em on the pre-show slides, and it's a way for groups A to come together, but also B, for groups that may not be able to afford that many tickets, or some of our higher ticket prices to come for free.

Mm-hmm. To the Mondavi Center, which is, it's a, it's a great program. I really love it. 

Jeff Holden: As the lights come up and the audience breaks, it's the perfect time to recognize the sponsors making this performance possible. I'm speaking with Darrell Tet, CEO of Core. Welcome to our Family of Partners. 

Darrell Teat: Thank you so much, Jeff.

We are really excited to be part of the family and contribute to the work that you all are doing. 

Jeff Holden: What is Core all about? 

Darrell Teat: Core provides fractional and interim executive services along with comprehensive back office. So. They go into our client sites and do the work to give them the capacity they need in order to [00:23:00] move through transitions, whether that's planned or unplanned, or companies also work with our accounting and finance, back office solutions, human resources, technology, and administration.

Jeff Holden: Why are these services such a lifesaver for small and mid-size organizations? 

Darrell Teat: Great question, Jeff. The reason why our back office solutions add value is because we save them time and money anywhere from 20 to 30% of what they would spend on that back office solution. We work in it so they can actually work on it.

Jeff Holden: I have to believe that there's somebody right now listening and thinking, I could use that kind of help. What's the best way to get in touch with you, Darrell? 

Darrell Teat: The best way is at our website, cx OR e.com, and contact me directly at DT a t@cxore.com. 

Jeff Holden: Darrell, thank you for your investment and commitment to supporting our messaging.

And if you're interested in learning more about Core may help your organization, visit [00:24:00] CXOR e.com. 

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In our more recent survey, we hear concerns about proper board governance, mission aligned investment, and how to implement alternative investments. If you would like a copy of the survey or do discuss your organization, look me up, scottThomas@captrust.com. At Western Health Advantage. 

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Western Health advantages more than a health plan. It's a partner in your purpose. Explore your options today@westernhealth.com. Western Health Advantage Healthcare with Heart designed for those who give back. And want an asset for the community to expose people to the theater too, that maybe would never get the opportunity to do so.

Jeremy Ganter: Yes. Yeah. Another piece that we have is our school matinee program. So we have a, with Sectors one tomorrow we bus we, it's a bus in program, so 11 o'clock on weekday mornings, about six to eight times a year, we'll do a presentation in Jackson Hall and schools will come. And they do have to pay, but the ticket prices are pretty low.

Come in and, and get to see a performance with their classmates, with their classes. We usually sell out those. So you can imagine [00:26:00] 1,801. Generally kind of fourth to eighth graders in a performance. The energy is, is amazing. My favorite moment every time is when the lights go down, they just lose their mind.

It's like the kids go crazy. They clap, they shout, they cheer. It's wonderful. I absolutely love it. And that's 

Jeff Holden: before they even know what's going on. 

Jeremy Ganter: Yeah, 

Jeff Holden: it's just the experience of that. Wow. 

Jeremy Ganter: Yeah. Yep. And I like, I mean, really it reaches me very deeply because when I was at this crossroads of deciding where I was gonna go with my career, I just, I talked to somebody who had worked at a performing arts institution and she said, let me just tell you this, when the curtain goes up.

There's something about it that's unlike anything else and that energy is why you should do this path and that, that meant a lot to me. I took that very seriously. You know, we don't really have a curtain that goes up anymore that's kind of archaic, but it's now kind of when the lights go down. 

Jeff Holden: Very cool.

And I love that you shared how that is, is a visceral, emotional piece of why you do what you do. Yes. It is a good segue coming off of ticket prices and [00:27:00] things like that to, to get into the funding. Mm-hmm. You're roughly an eight to $9 million organization. Yep. How many people do you employ? 

Jeremy Ganter: So our total, currently our total employee number is one 40, and that's 37 full-time career employees, 14 part-time employees.

Those are mostly, uh, stagehands. Mm-hmm. And then 89 part-time students, which is, which is again, having that many students engaged with us in employment is wonderful. And the students work all around the organization. They work on stage, they work in programming, administration, ticket office ushers, everything.

Jeff Holden: I love the engagement of actually using it for the students themselves in, in employment. And these are paid positions? 

Jeremy Ganter: Yes. Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: Excellent. 

Jeremy Ganter: It's funny, we did a many years ago we did a survey of students that basically the survey question was, what do you want for the Mondavi Center and the. The number one answer was a job after that was the arts, performances, that kind of stuff, which was really interesting.

Jeff Holden: Which feeds in well if you get both because Yeah, you get paid to do something you love to do. 

Jeremy Ganter: Yeah, [00:28:00] yeah. And they can attend performances and it's great. 

Jeff Holden: Uh, fantastic. The thing that many people tend to assume is that, you know, ticket prices fund the operation and nothing could be further from the truth, quite honestly.

How do you manage that? Process of funding outside of what you get from a ticket. Versus everything else that has to take place. 

Jeremy Ganter: So in broad strokes, you know, it's, our income streams are ticket sales, which I'll, I'll, I can break that down a little bit. Fundraising, which is a huge piece of what we do, and then support from the university and the support from the university is really in support of the building itself, not the programming we have.

We, we try to make sure that the program itself actually at least breaks even, or comes close. And so. Let's just say it's 9 million for a round number of that, about 2 million or so is the, is the presenting program. That's the expense of the presenting program. So we bring in about $2 million in ticket sales.

That [00:29:00] leaves another 7 million that we have to cover to, to operate the building. And so that is done through all of those other funding mechanisms. We also have funding for programming to, to fund those things that we have a fund for programming to fund those things that are. Really not gonna break even, but they're worth doing artistically, and they're kind of beyond our ability to, to bring in revenue.

Mm-hmm. But yeah, I think there's a, there's a misperception out there for all kind of nonprofit performing arts organizations that ticket sales cover costs, and they don't even come close. They're usually kind of across the nation industry-wide. It's usually ranges between 20 and 40% of your budget is covered by ticket sales.

Jeff Holden: Mm-hmm. In the community. In, in the presence of what you've got, because you're Davis, Sacramento, maybe a 30 mile radius, you know, give or take. Do you see the majority of funding coming from any one particular area or is it pretty well dispersed? 

Jeremy Ganter: It's. In, in terms of individual donors? That or just, just funding?

Oh, in general? 

Jeff Holden: Yeah, just general. 

Jeremy Ganter: I mean, so, you know, as I [00:30:00] say, we receive a significant amount of funding from the university to support the building, and then the rest of it is basically coming from individual donors. And that is, there is a good mix between Davis people and Sacramento people. I mean, our single largest donor is Nancy Fisher, who's a sacrament.

She, she sponsors our entire season and has for several years, which is amazing. But it's, it is, it's, it's. Pretty well dispersed across the entire region. 

Jeff Holden: What have you seen over the course of the 25 years that maybe you would say is just most dramatic in, in change from where it was then to where it is today?

Jeremy Ganter: I think this is a little boring, but it's probably the most dramatic change that we've seen, and this was this change, which is later buying behavior. Was already underway as we were headed into the, into the pandemic. Mm-hmm. We were seeing, you know, when, when I started working at the Mondavi Center.

So-called fixed subscriptions were the thing for, for every organization where [00:31:00] you would say, here's your four things that we've picked for you. You are an orchestra subscriber. These are your four orchestras. You subscribe, you get a particular seat. And that was a way to, to bring in a ton of revenue basically in the spring or summer before the season began.

That kind of subscription no longer exists and. What we're finding is that prior to the pandemic we, we could go into a season with 75 to 85% of our total ticket sales sold for the year for our goal. We now go in. This year we went in at about 50%. Mm-hmm. So we're daily now working. We have to work harder and harder throughout the season, or at least longer through the season to continue to bring in ticket sales.

But what we're finding is people are still buying tickets. They're just buying much later, 

Jeff Holden: and you're not the first person to have said that every. Theater. We've spoken with everybody in this month long of performing arts theater. Same situation. Yeah. It's, it's delayed. It gets there, but it doesn't keep hair on your head or color dark.

Yes. You wanna look at it from that perspective? Yeah. [00:32:00] It's just a, a hand ringing. Are we gonna make it, are we gonna make it? And sure enough, it always comes through, but it seems to have just. Push further and further out. 

Jeremy Ganter: Yeah, and I'll say on the flip side, we just a few weeks ago announced Malala as a speaker who's gonna participate in a chancellor's colloquium, and it's sold out in one day, so it can happen, although that is still short term because she's coming in mid-November.

Jeff Holden: Okay. Yeah, that is short term. 

Jeremy Ganter: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: So it's a quick, A quick term, what, six weeks maybe? We see it everywhere, even concerts, everything. You hear everybody complaining about it. We just don't know until we know. 

Jeremy Ganter: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: And is a frustration across the board. 

Jeremy Ganter: And I would also say the other thing, this is not as dramatic.

But it really matters to kinda the mission of the organization. Another thing that has happened, I think, started to happen after the Great Recession was definitely accelerated during COVI is that tours have become much tighter. So there the artists are having, there's, there's fewer days off between performances to try to control costs.

What that means for an organization like ours is that, you know, we, we were often, before this started happening, we were [00:33:00] able to bring artists in and have 'em for a few days. Have them do work on campus. We still do that work, but their artists are generally less available for it because they're often in the past where they might vent with us for two or three days.

They're only with us for a day 

Jeff Holden: and then they're moving on to the next gig. 

Jeremy Ganter: Yeah. Yep. 

Jeff Holden: Yeah. That's un that's unfortunate actually. Yeah. 

Jeremy Ganter: The, the three night runs in the Vander Host Studio Theater that I mentioned, those, that's where we get a lot of our residency 'cause we've got 'em for a week. 

Jeff Holden: Mm-hmm. If a donor were to come to you and say, Jeremy, I've got a blank check for you.

If I like your idea, I'm a supporter of the arts. I'm very intrigued with what's happening as we look the future. What would you say and what would you do with an unlimited budget? 

Jeremy Ganter: I do few, I do several things and, but I would broadly put them into two buckets. Artistic and the building itself, the venue, artistic.

I would, you know, this artistic ventures fund that I mentioned, which is that fund that allows us to reach [00:34:00] beyond what we might otherwise be able to do. Mm-hmm. Just through ticket sales and kind of the normal course of our budget. Would love to have unlimited funds in that. Because we can, it could, it would be transformative for the kind of artists we can access.

So they think we do a wonderful job of accessing great artists, but there are some that are just way beyond our reach financially. It would also potentially allow us to bring ticket prices down, which is great. We're very deliberate about our pricing. We try to make sure that there's always a really good low entry point, but the reality is we have to break even so that the, the prices do have to reflect the cost of bringing the artists in.

I would also, on the artistic side. What really costs a lot of money is doing deep intensive residencies with artists. Having them come for a week or a month or a whole year, it's incredibly expensive and it's totally beyond our means right now. To be able to do that, it always has been, frankly. So that would be wonderful to kind of deep, really deepen those relationships with artists.

And then the other piece of it is the building. And I think that's a thing that it's not super sexy to [00:35:00] raise money for a building, but I think for me, if I may say so, maybe more than anybody, because just because of my history with the Mondavi Center, I care deeply about the venue and I wanna make sure that it is in state of the art condition forever.

And so currently our biggest fund raising priority other than artistic is the building itself. The reality is it's approaching 25 years old, and we're getting to that point. Although it's been incredibly well maintained and our theatrical technology is state of the art, we're getting to that point where big things are gonna need to be replaced.

Sure. Things like the roof. And then the last thing is. A restaurant. What we don't really have is, you know, when you go to a venue that has a restaurant, there's a whole different energy. When people come prior to the performance and they have a meal or they hang out afterwards and have a coffee and are able to talk about what they saw, that was the dream of my predecessor Don Roth.

And we, we looked into it, but we couldn't figure out a way to do it. We couldn't figure out a way to afford to do it, but to have a restaurant would be really quite amazing. 

Jeff Holden: It would seem, with the restaurateurs that we have in the [00:36:00] region. With Michelin starred restaurants and Tara Madre and Farm to Fork, somebody should be able to figure that out for you with that gateway neighborhood and put a really high-end, beautiful restaurant there.

Jeremy Ganter: Yes, 

Jeff Holden: and I'm saying this because somebody's gonna hear it. 

Jeremy Ganter: Yes. 

Jeff Holden: And maybe they'll go, we should go talk to so and so. And we, we certainly have the capacity in terms of skillset and quality of food. Just the influence from Napa, which is just minutes away to Sacramento and all of Davis. Yeah. 

Jeremy Ganter: And it really, you know, that would be the thing that would be sort of the linchpin on the dream.

That is the gateway district. So the dream was food, wine, and the arts. Mm-hmm. That's what the Robert Mondavi Institute has the food wine piece covered. Minnetti. Shram has visual art and we have performing arts covered, but that kind of congregation space for a meal is just not really there. 

Jeff Holden: Well, for the many people who are listening who are donors and [00:37:00] contributors to the theater, we know that they all dine at the very restaurants that are going through our heads right now.

Mm-hmm. And we know who those owners and principles are. We're gonna suggest that when you go and dine at one of those restaurants, you bring this topic up and at some point it manifests itself at. Idea Theater. 

Jeremy Ganter: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: Okay, good. And in two years you and I'll talk and we'll go, Hey, we have so-and-so opening up.

Yep. Back to reality. In terms of the, the funding of the organization, what is the greatest need today? 

Jeremy Ganter: The greatest need is, is capital improvements on the building. And again, I, I always hasten to say the building is not falling apart. It's in really good shape, but we have about $10 million of need ranging from critical.

Several million dollars of critical need, always down to things that are nice to have. Mm-hmm. Like building a second rehearsal space. But again, it, this, it is just the reflection that we're approaching 25 years old. You know, we, our seats are still in great [00:38:00] shape, but they're the original seats. Our carpet needs to be replaced, the roof needs to be replaced.

And so that is, that is like the, our greatest need. And the thing that I want to attend to as part of my own legacy as the executive director. And then I also always hasten to say. Beyond that. Equally greatest need is, is the art itself, is funding for the work that we do so we can do deeper, better, more work 

Jeff Holden: and, and to emphasize, this building gets used a lot and it is in phenomenal condition.

The maintenance that has been done on it has been incredible because you wouldn't recognize it. As a first or second time attendee coming in after years and going, well, it looks as I recall it from the beginning. 

Jeremy Ganter: Yes. Yeah. It is 

Jeff Holden: amazing what you've done in terms of the capability to keep it in that kind of condition.

So it's not unusual in 25 years it stuff just starts to happen that needs to get replaced. Yes. 

Jeremy Ganter: Yeah, and, and it's, you know, I would say it's. In terms of just the cleanliness of the building, the, it's like the, it's like the painting of the Golden Gate Bridge, the [00:39:00] pe because we're so busy every day, the people who take care of the cleaning of the ability of the facility, they kind of start in the back, work their way to the front and just keep going back and forth mm-hmm.

Every day, uh, because of how busy we are. 

Jeff Holden: Disneyland. Yeah. You get the little sweepers rolling right behind is you're going, you never know that you dropped a piece of popcorn. What is the, uh, the thing that you do? Jeremy Ganter. Most people say, well, and when I relax, I go to theater, or I go to a movie, or I go for some entertainment, or I go to a concert.

You live in that space all day long, and we started asking this question of our executive directors for these nonprofit organizations of which you are, and, and you carry a burden. And, and sometimes it's, it's hard to let it go because you live in that space. You eat, breathe, and sleep It. But for most, they can go out to some semblance of entertainment.

You are entertainment mm-hmm. All day long with your family and your kids have even grown up and as you were saying, [00:40:00] what do you do to get away? 

Jeremy Ganter: I, you know, I, I, nothing sometimes, so, which is a good thing, right? I don't, you know, I always joke, but it's not really a joke. 'cause it's true. During the nine months of our season, I almost never see a movie in a movie theater.

'cause I just can't, I don't wanna do that when I'm not, 

Jeff Holden: I don't need to see people in seats. I see that all day long. 

Jeremy Ganter: And I, I do do it in the summer and I also, you know, I travel a lot to scout artists as well. So in addition to, to being in our own venue, I'm out traveling all over in other people's venues, so I'm getting that.

Sort of experience as a kinda civilian audience member anyway. So I tend to, to, I'm, I'm by nature an introvert, so I also am one of those people who needs time to go home and recharge and be quiet. So that's often what I do. Cycling, exercise, hiking, and, and most of all, spending time with my family who, during the season, I don't get to see as much as I would like.

Jeff Holden: Sure. I would never have guessed introvert. 

Jeremy Ganter: It's a switch I've learned to flip over in the 20 plus years, uh, that I've been [00:41:00] working. And then the other thing people always ask me, kinda like, what do you listen to when you're driving? What kinda music do you listen? I was just gonna 

Jeff Holden: ask you. 

Jeremy Ganter: And I, I do have, uh, this kind of running playlist that the programming team uses, and I also have my own music, uh, that I like to listen to.

As I mentioned, I'm a huge fan of jazz. And, but generally I don't listen to music because I also listen to music all day at work in my office. So I'm also usually listening to podcasts or, or something else other than music, just to give my brain a break. 

Jeff Holden: Good. Yeah. Good. Well, now they know. 

Jeremy Ganter: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: What's the best way to find out what's happening at the theater?

Learn a little bit more about it and get engaged. 

Jeremy Ganter: The easiest way at the, at the top level is to, is our website, I think, and to follow us on social media. And it's important because. One of the other things that's changed over the years is we add shows as we go. That wasn't always the case. We used to just launch this kind of monolith of a season and that was it.

We now add several performances every quarter to be able to stay on top of what's [00:42:00] being added. Our website being subscribed to our social media is a great way to do it, and it's also important because some of the. More kind of popular rock and roll shows are often the ones that are added because those tend to book on shorter timelines than say, an orchestra.

So if classical music or jazz or modern dance is not your thing, you might get your thing through the just edits that we add as we move through the season. 

Jeff Holden: Website url, 

Jeremy Ganter: ww dot mondavi arts.org. 

Jeff Holden: Okay, so mondavi arts.org. Yeah, we will put that in the show notes too, so everybody knows they can just click on it if they're it.

Jeremy Ganter: And the other thing I was gonna say too is one of the motto of the Mondavi Center is go see a show. I mean, I think that that's, that's the main thing is go see a show. And what we know is when people attend three performances, you often can, they, they, you can get 'em hooked at that point on live performance performance.

But to actually come to the Mondavi Center. Dispel any myths or misperceptions that you might have about what our audience is like because we have nine or 10 different audiences. We we're doing different programming every night. Just come [00:43:00] try it out. Mm-hmm. I think is what I always tell people and I'm pretty sure you won't be disappointed.

Jeff Holden: Well, it's an a high bar of comparison too. 'cause once you've been there you're spoiled. Yes. And not every acoustic setting's gonna be the same in any other theater. 

Jeremy Ganter: Yeah. And also I think, you know, we have a, an organizational philosophy. That you can book the greatest artists in the world and they can give the greatest performance in the Mondavi Center of all time.

And if it takes you 45 minutes to get outta the parking garage. That degrades the possibility that A, that you'll come back. Or if the bathrooms aren't clean or if our staff are not warm and friendly to you, it lowers the chance that you're gonna have that kind of rare transformational experience 'cause you're gonna be less open to it.

So we really put the whole organization on task around kind of the holistic experience of welcoming and being at the Mondavi Center and creating a sense of belonging. It's not just about what goes on stage. 

Jeff Holden: I'm glad you said that too, because the experience of the event. It isn't just [00:44:00] the event itself, it's everything around it.

And if that becomes a challenge or a burden, either egress or or ingress, whatever it happens to be. If, if you have this wonderful experience and the last thing you remember is the horrific exit, because it took an hour and a half to get out of wherever you were, I'm not doing it again. Yeah. It's just not worth it.

Yep. 

Jeremy Ganter: And we are, I'll say candidly, we're seeing that with the current traffic, with the construction on the causeway, we're have, we've had a few people that said, I'm just not doing it anymore. Mm-hmm. And I'm gonna wait until the construction's done. So it all, it all matters. We think of the experience from the moment you buy a ticket.

To the moment you return home after the performance, we think about the whole thing. 

Jeff Holden: Mm-hmm. Well, and that's impressive because I don't know that everybody does sometimes when you. You experience it? Like what were they thinking? This, this doesn't make sense, but Jeremy, we have something in common. I've been around since the theater was open and I attended the grand opening, but I can't say I've been there anywhere near as much as you have or hung out with the other 1800 or [00:45:00] 1,799 people or.

98. 1801. 1801. There we go. Uh, so what would that be, 1799 if I brought my wife. Right. But I just recall the enthusiasm and excitement for it when it opened and when I hear people speak about it, that enthusiasm and excitement and pride of the theater is still there. And every time I drive by it coming home from the Bay Area or going to.

I see that building and it's iconic and it's contemporary. And at the time, 25 years ago, that was one of the Hippiest buildings we had that had any visibility. And today I think it still manifests that same look of this is a contemporary space. There's something unique about this space, and you've been with it for the entire time.

Congratulations. Thank you for what you do, what your team brings to our region, and we appreciate everything that the Mondavi Center represents. 

Jeremy Ganter: Thank you. Thanks I so much, and thanks for having me. Thanks for thinking of us for your podcast. I really appreciate [00:46:00] it. 

Jeff Holden: Our pleasure. Thank you for listening to the Nonprofit Podcast Network.

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