BIOBAmBIOBIOBIOBIOBrooklyn Academy of Music 30 Lafayette Ave., Bklyn, N.Y. 11217 Preas Office Phone: (212) ~123

HARVEY LICHTENSTEIN

Harvey Lichtenstein is the President and Executive Producer of the Brooklyn Academy of Music, America's oldest performing arts center, celebrating its 125th Anniversary in 1986/87.

Lichtenstein returned to his native Brooklyn in 1967 to assume the post of the Academy's Executive Director. From the beginning of his tenure, it was clear that the institution which had opened in 1861 and had seen a century of the finest in music, dance, and theater, was on the threshold of a new era in theatrical presentation.

The stages that had been crossed by Bernhardt, Caruso, and Nijinsky would now become home to Cunningham, Glass, Tharp, and Wilson. Lichtenstein's unique approach to programming, combining the finest in traditional performing arts with the most ambitious and daring contemporary work, has earned BAM a reputation as the most innovative performance center in the country.

In the field of dance, Lichtenstein has earned a number of awards including the 1983 Capezio Award, which singled him out for his "leadership and vision in dance sponsorship." This accomplishment is not extraordinary considering that Lichtenstein himself was trained as a dancer and performed professionally for a number of years.

It was with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company's first major New York season in 1968 at BAM that he began to earn his credits as a producerjimpressario. Cunningham's first season of eight performances has since been followed by four return visits to BAM, and it is Cunningham's collaborative work with composer John Cage, "Roaratorio," that will open BAM's 125th season.

In 1969, Lichtenstein invited Eliot Feld to form his first dance company, and the then homeless American Ballet Theater to perform; the same year, a young unknown named Twyla Tharp appeared at BAM and began creating some of the most imaginative choreography in American dance. That relationship is still going strong; Twyla Tharp Dance will return for a month long engagement in the 1986/87 season.

Lichtenstein's encouragement of such post-modern choreographers as Trisha Brown, Laura Dean, and Lucinda Childs contrasted boldly with dance companies more traditional in their orientation. He introduced Maurice Bejart's Ballet of the Twentieth Century to the United States in 1971, and most recently brought England's Sadler'~Wells Royal Ballet back to the United States after a 35 year absence. The Central Ballet of China's inaugural tour of the U.S. in 1986 was the dire ct r esult of his e ffort ove r a five year period.

In the realm of theate r, Lichtenstein brought the Living The ate r Comp any home from Europe in 1968. Its r epertoire of four plays found a welcome audienc e in Brooklyn, and was followe d by J e r zy Grotows ki's Polish Theate r Lab in 1969 and Pe t e r Brook's now famous "stark" version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" with the Royal Shake speare Company in 1971. BAM' s sta ge s we r e the site of sev er a l return visits by the Royal Shakespeare Company, and a season of London's Young Vic, which introduced artists Jim Dale, Jane Lapotaire, and Ian Charleson to American audiences; also England' s Actors Company, which did the same with Ian McKellan and Edward Petherbridge.

Lichtenstein presented director Robert Wilson's first performance pieces, "The Life and Times of Sigmund Freud," "Deafman Glance," and "The Life and Times of Joseph Stalin." Wilson has since emerged as one of the most original voices in theater and opera, and his major works, including "Einstein on the Beach" (a collaboration with Philip Glass) and "The Golden Windows," have all been produced at BAM.

Lichtenstein is also credited with a serious attempt to give New York a permanent theatrical repertory company. His efforts to establish a BAM Theater Company modelled after the Royal Shakespeare Company met with great difficulty and a fate similar to other such efforts. While the dream was not realized, Li chtenstein did present some of the leading figures in American theatre to BAM audiences--Ell en Burstyn, Blythe Danner, George Rose and Sam Waterston among them.

In the field of music, Lichtenstein maintained an ongoing quest for diversity. From the earl y staging of Sara Caldwell's production of Alban Berg's "Lulu," to a successful big band and jazz series, to the introduction to BAM audiences of such contemporary American composers as Philip Glass and Steve Riech, he has worked to make music at BAM diverse and challenging.

In 1981, Lichtenstein brought Philip Glass's "Satyagraha" to the stage of the BAM Opera House, then produced Glass's musical theater piece, "The Photographer," based on the life of Eadweard Muybridge . Successful staging of these two works led Lichtenstein to reproduce the legendary Glass/Wilson opera "Einstein on the Beach," which was hailed by the Washington Post as "possibly the seminal work of the century," and "a landmark in twentieth century aesthetics."

Composer Steve Reich and his ensemble ' s long affiliation with BAM culminated in the 1984 American premiere of his full-length symphony, "The Desert Music," conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas. And when Laurie Anderson's six hour performance epic "United States: Parts I-IV" was presented at BAM to great acclaim, Lichtenstein had added yet another major credit to his record. The work was recorded live by Warner Bros. in the Opera House, another first for the Academy.

In 1983, BAM broke musical barriers between the classical and the popular when Lichtenstein invited maverick avant-garde director Lee Breuer to develop his workshop version of Sophocles ' "Oedipus at Colonus" as a black gospel service. Composer Bob Telson and five gospel groups joined with Breuer to create "The Gospel at Colonus," a production the Village Voice called "arguably the masterpiece of the eighties . "

In 1981, the Brooklyn Academy's fall season included dancers Brown, Dean and Childs as well as Glass' "Satyagraha." Under Lichtenstein's guidance, these four disparate performances were joined together under a single title reflecting their conunon artistic approach. The "Next Wave" series proved successful, and a new BAM tradition was born. Today, the New York Times calls the Next Wave Festival "the country's foremost forum for large-scale avant­ garde performing art."

The Next Wave Festival has attained its preeminent position by drawing on unique talent from all over the world, with particular emphasis on American artists, and a commitment to collaborative efforts between artists of varying disciplines. In addition to triumphs like "United States: Parts I-IV," "Einstein on the Beach," and "The Gospel at Colonus," the Festival has provided enthusiastic audiences for dancers Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane, Melissa Fenley, Pina Bausch Tanztheater Wuppertal and Mark Morris, as well as for performance/vaudeville artists such as The Flying Karamozov Brothers, and Michael Moschen and Bob Berky.

Lichtenstein further extended BAM's creative reach by g1v1ng the fine arts an important role in the Festival. Roy Lichtenstein created the first Next Wave poster. Artists David Salle and Keith Haring created sets for Next Wave productions, and others, including Marisol, Francesco Clemente, and Susan Rothenberg, have been comrnisioned to create original works for the festival.

Lichtenstein's approach to running BAM is entrepreneurial. He has successfully married the public and private sectors to create a risk-taking arts institution that is a leader in its field. *****************************************************************

Born and educated in Brooklyn, Harvey Lichtenstein began his association with the arts as a dancer, and performed professionally until 1957. In the early 1950's, he had spent a summer studying dance with Merce Cunningham at Black Mountain College in North Carolina, where he was introduced to the work of poet Charles Olsen, painters Franz Kline and Robert Rauschenburg, and composers John Cage and David Tudor. He began his administrative career in the arts in 1964 with the New York City Ballet. Before joining BAM, Lichtenstein initiated and ran successful subscription campaigns for New York City Ballet and New York City Opera at Lincoln Center.

Lichtenstein has served as a panel member (in Dance and Theater) and as a consultant to the New York State Council on the Arts, as well as a panel member (in Dance and Interarts) for the National Endowment for the Arts, and as Chairman of the Brooklyn Educational and Cultural Alliance (BECA). During his tenure, BAM has been given the New York State Award in the Arts. He is the recipient of the Capezio Award and the 1985 Mayor's Award of Honor for Arts and Culture. In June of 1986 he will receive an honorary Doctorate degree from his alma mater, Brooklyn College. He is also a member of the Century Club.

Mr. Lichtenstein is married to Phyllis Holbrook Lichtenstein and has two sons, Saul and John. *************************** Biography prepared by Publicity and Public Relations Office Brooklyn Academy of Music 1986