- Harvey Lichtenstein
Harvey Lichtenstein (born 1929) is a retired American dancer and arts administrator, best known for his 32-year tenure (1967-99) as executive director of the
Brooklyn Academy of Music .Lichtenstein, the son of a Polish immigrant, graduated from
Brooklyn Technical High School in 1947, and fromBrooklyn College in 1951. He danced in the companies ofSophie Maslow ,Pearl Lang , and Mark Ryder-Emily Frankel. After working in arts management atBrandeis University , theNew York City Ballet , and theNew York City Opera , he was named executive director of BAM in 1967.Lichtenstein expanded BAM from a small, nonnotable organization into a major
New York City venue. He was known for supporting emerging artists such asMerce Cunningham ,Eliot Feld ,Twyla Tharp ,Bill T. Jones , andPina Bausch . He broughtPeter Brook 's epic stage version of theMahabharata to Brooklyn, and was an executive producer of its 1989 film version. CriticJohn Rockwell of theNew York Times described Lichtenstein as "the most innovative and influential performing arts administrator New York has known."Since his retirement as president of BAM, Lichtenstein has been director of the BAM Local Development Corporation, which is seeking to develop the area around BAM in Brooklyn into an arts and cultural district. In 1986, he was awarded the Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit for his contributions to German-American cultural relations. He received the
National Medal of Arts in 1999.References
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James Traub , " [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9407E7DE143AF936A15757C0A9629C8B63 The (Not Easy) Building of (Not Exactly) Lincoln Center for (Not) Manhattan] ", The New York Times, Apr. 25, 2004External links
* [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1083/is_6_73/ai_54783584 Mary Campbell, "Avant-Garde Impresario Harvey Lichtenstein Steps Down"] , Dance magazine, June 1999
* [http://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/features/751/ Ethan Smith, "Harvey's Next Wave"] , New York, July 19, 1999
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DEFDE103DF930A25752C1A960948260 "West Germany Honors Harvey Lichtenstein] , New York Times, Nov. 13, 1986
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