The Flynn's new director of programming ready to help Burlington arts center rebound

Vermont’s most-prominent performing-arts center, continuing to emerge gradually from the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic, took a big step toward recovery this week when its new programming director began his job.

The Flynn last week announced the hiring of Matt Rogers as its new director of programming. Rogers essentially replaces Steve MacQueen, who under the title of artistic director had been responsible for booking shows at the Burlington arts center and for the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival until his departure in February.

The Flynn also hired Kevin Sweeney, most recently with Shea’s Performing Arts Center in Buffalo, to be its director of marketing. The venue had been using out-of-town publicists to let the public know about events at the Flynn since its previous director of marketing, Kevin Titterton, left last year.

Rogers, who lives with his young family in Monkton, is already a familiar face on the Vermont arts scene. His duties have included booking events for Higher Ground Presents, which stages shows at locations other than Higher Ground’s music club in South Burlington, and helping to organize the ever-growing Waking Windows festival held in May in Winooski. The New Jersey native also booked shows for World Café Live in Philadelphia and served as assistant tour manager for singer-songwriter James Taylor.

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Rogers spoke with the Burlington Free Press on Monday — his first day at the Flynn — about his expectations for the job and the tasks he and the performing-arts center face.

Burlington Free Press: What appeals to you about the Flynn job?

Matt Rogers: A new challenge, really. I like the idea that I’m at that point in my career where I’ve been doing primarily music and comedy. I think there’s a whole other subset of different kinds of performance mediums that I’m going to get to be booking and producing. That part is really exciting. it’s a step in a new, somewhat unknown direction. That’s exciting to me.

BFP: What are your own experiences with the Flynn, either professionally or from events you’ve attended?

MR: Mainly a big part of my job with Higher Ground Presents was working with (owner) Alex (Crothers) to book the Higher Ground shows at the Flynn that we did. Out of all the rooms in Vermont it’s such an incredible space to have here. That’s how I got most familiar with it. I got to know the people here. Just getting to work in a theater of this size with this kind of history locally has just always been really fun and exciting.

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BFP: You’re known in particular for your work with Waking Windows, a mostly-indie-rock music festival with a roster full of local acts. How deep is your knowledge of the international acts from a variety of artistic disciplines that the Flynn typically draws from? And how will you fit in with that?

MR: Even going back to Higher Ground stuff, a lot of stuff I did was curated-festival stuff like Wilco’s Solid Sound (festival in Massachusetts), Grand Point North, even Twiddle’s festival (both in Burlington). They are very collaborative. Whenever you’re booking stuff that maybe you don’t have first-hand experience (with), it’s just working with the right people and establishing new relationships. I’ve built a lot of great relationships with certain agents and agencies over the years. This will give me the opportunity to jump into a new world and establish new relationships.

BFP: The Flynn is still rebuilding its staff and calendar of events since the COVID-19 pandemic hit two-and-a-half years ago. What do you and the rest of the staff need to do to bring the Flynn to where you want it to be and where the community wants it to be?

MR: The whole industry got rocked. We’re still seeing some serious effects carrying over in every aspect of the industry, from short staff for tours to shows getting canceled two, three years ago still trying to figure out how to reroute. I think at the Flynn, just like the industry as a whole, everyone’s trying to collectively come together to figure out how to best go forward. Day one here I haven’t had the chance to fully look under the hood. Apart from me, there’s a new marketing director on board, so it seems like the Flynn is bringing on the right people to carry on the functions that have gone vacant for the past couple of years. That is incredibly crucial, to get everybody upright and accounted for.

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BFP: Any upcoming shows at the Flynn that you’re particularly excited about?

MR: Funny enough, (the) ZZ Top (concert) that’s coming up was my very first concert, at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. That’s a full-circle moment. I was a 13-year-old kid at a ZZ Top show and they’re one of the first shows when I come on board. Gladys Knight’s coming (Nov. 19) — talk about a legend, and a legend of that caliber coming to Burlington, Vermont. That’s a really cool opportunity at the Flynn. I’m going to get to work with and book artists for this corner of Vermont that I otherwise wouldn’t have the chance to.

If you go

Events this month at the Flynn include:

7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 6, the Broadway musical “Chicago." $36-$98

7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 11, humor writer David Sedaris. $51.75-$62.25.

7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 13, folk/blues/gospel musician Martha Redbone. $20-$29.

7:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 16, veteran Texas blues-rockers ZZ Top with Austin Meade. $70-$310.

7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21, stand-up comic, writer and actor Fortune Feimster. $41-$72.50.

8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28, country artist Kip Moore, joined by Boy Named Banjo. $42-$162.

7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29, the Vermont Symphony Orchestra program “Paradise and Light” includes the world premiere of Vermont composer Matthew Evan Taylor’s piece “from despair… Light!” $8.35-$54.23. www.flynnvt.org

Contact Brent Hallenbeck at bhallenbeck@freepressmedia.com. Follow Brent on Twitter at www.twitter.com/BrentHallenbeck.

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Flynn's new programming director ready to boost Burlington arts center