Kiersten Birondo

By GARRETT NEESE

Mining Gazette, Houghton

HOUGHTON — A familiar face at the Rozsa Center recently became executive director.

Kiersten Birondo, who has served as the Rozsa’s marketing manager for the past three seasons, became executive director Nov. 1.

The non-profit center on Michigan Technological University’s campus has presented a range of visual and performing arts since it debuted in 2000, including local productions by Tech’s Visual and Performing Arts Department. It also hosts a variety of community events.

A fifth-generation Yooper and Houghton High School and Michigan Technological University alumna, Birondo has gotten to experience the Rozsa in almost every way possible. It’s where she’s watched her first jazz show or first Broadway tour. It’s where she’s worked as a staff member, and performed as a classical singer. And it’s where she gets to see her niece get the same immersion in culture as she did growing up.

Her experiences with arts administration, both at the Rozsa and in the Twin Cities, taught her she’s interested in leading an arts organization and using the executive director role to be part of creating joy and bringing the community together.

“I am just outrageously excited at the opportunity to lead this organization that has meant so much to me for 24 years,” she said.

Before coming to the Rozsa, Birondo had also served as director of marketing and communications for Stepping Stone Theatre for Youth in St. Paul, Minn. She also co-founded Now. Make. Art., a Minnesota-based organization that collaborates to provide free, youth-centric, multi-generational arts experiences in public spaces.

Birondo was picked after a five-month nationwide search led by Visual and Performing Arts Department Chair Jared Anderson, whose department houses the Rozsa Center. A search committee narrowed a “robust pool” of applicants down to a final three, including Birondo and two external candidates.

They met with people on campus and in Student Life, and gave a presentation to faculty and staff about their vision for the Rozsa.

Part of what made Birondo stand out, Anderson said, was her vision for keeping the space welcoming to all. As marketing manager, she’d pioneered the Rozsa’s new “pay as you are able” ticketing, which lets people determine what level ticket prices they can afford. She’d worked with that sort of ticketing in other organizations she’d been part of in the Twin Cities.

Beyond that, Anderson said, she has an eye for programming, budgetary skills, and being able to keep the facility funded through communicating to donors and writing successful grants. As someone with strong connections to Tech and the area, she’s also able to lead a team, be approachable, and connect to the university and wider community.

She’s also contributed to the Keweenaw in other ways, such as her avid support of the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program.

Birondo also wants to use her position in arts administration to advocate for others. As vice president of the Michigan Centers Network, a consortium of theaters with touring shows, she’s part of their mentorship program, where she both learns from and teaches other generations.

Having been part of the Rozsa team already for the past three years, Birondo’s gotten a sense of how everything works there, calling it “her favorite team I’ve ever worked on.”

“We’re going to be going into our 25th anniversary season next year, so we’re really thinking about what it is that has made the Rozsa an extraordinary place for our community for the last 25 years, where we are now, and also, as we look to the future, who do we want to be?” she said.

No specific shows have been contracted for the 25th anniversary, but Birondo’s looking for a mix of things that have excited people over the years, from comedians to touring musicals. It’s also going to be a good mix of things for all audiences, whether family-friendly, nostalgic or forward-looking, she said.

Her priorities, she said, will be making sure the Rozsa can grow and continue to provide new experiences that make people feel like the arts are for them.