Description

This session is virtual. Join Oasis for a conversation with Andrew Jorgensen, General Director of Opera Theatre of St. Louis. Hosted by Oasis founder Marylen Mann.

Andrew Jorgensen, a New Jersey native, became the Director of the Opera Theatre of St. Louis (OPSL) in 2018. After obtaining his undergraduate degree from Harvard and a Master of Business from New York University’s Stern School of Business, he began his career with two seasons as an Assistant Artist Manager in the vocal division of Columbia Artists Management. From there, Jorgensen spent five seasons on the artistic staff at The Metropolitan Opera in New York. Before obtaining his position at OPSL, Jorgensen served as the Director of Artistic Planning and Operations at the Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center. During his career at OPSL, he planned a season through COVID-19 featuring virtual events, and in 2021 he and his colleagues designed the Opera Theatre’s first-ever outdoor season, which sold out in just days. In 2021, Jorgensen also helped to launch the Clayco Future Leaders Fellowship, a program designed to cultivate future leaders in arts administration who come from underrepresented backgrounds and helped establish an Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion committee board level to ensure intentionality and accountability in their work. Under Jorgensen’s leadership, OTSL recently introduced “Phyllis’ Seats,” a ground-breaking free ticket initiative that removes cost as a barrier to participation in the arts. In the first year of Phyllis’ Seats, at least 39% of Phyllis’ Seats audiences were new to Opera Theatre; the program expanded to 50 seats in 2022. Jorgensen serves on the board of the William Matheus Sullivan Musical Foundation, which supports the careers of young professional opera singers.