Guild Hall: ‘Academy Icons’ Susan Lacy, ‘Leonard Bernstein: Reaching for the Note’ / 8.25th

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ACADEMY ICONS: SUSAN LACY

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RETURNS IN AUGUST WITH LEONARD BERNSTEIN: REACHING FOR THE NOTE

WITH SUSAN LACEY, JAMIE BERNSTEIN, AND FRED BERNER

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Guild Hall continues Academy Icons, a new series that spotlights Guild Hall Academy of the Arts members and their work. This season’s program features films by Susan Lacy, an acclaimed director and producer best known for creating American Masters, the PBS biography series, which began in 1986, profiling artists and visionaries who have helped shape our country’s culture. The second of four programs returns Sunday, August 25 at 7 PM with a screening of Leonard Bernstein: Reaching for the Note followed by a conversation with Susan Lacy, Leonard Bernstein’s daughter Jamie Bernstein, and Maestro producer Fred Berner.

A presence on Broadway, in Hollywood, at Carnegie Hall, and the New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein was a major force in 20th-century music. His exuberant and dramatic style caught the heart of America, bringing classical music to thousands of people from diverse backgrounds. The film includes interviews with Bernstein’s family, friends, colleagues, peers, and critics, as well as his own written and recorded words.

Upcoming Academy Icons with Susan Lacy include Paul Simon: Born at the Right Time on September 6, and Lou Reed: Rock & Roll Heart on September 15 with special guest Laurie Anderson.

Tickets are $25 ($22.50 for Guild Hall members). For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit www.guildhall.org/.

Performing Arts programming is supported in part by funding from The Melville Straus Family Endowment, and Monica and Peter Tessler. Music Programming is supported in part by The Ellen and James S. Marcus Endowment for Musical Programming.

Additional support provided by Friends of the Theater: John and Joan D’Addario, Gabrielle and Gianpaolo de Felice, Lisa Schultz and Ezriel Kornel, Hilarie and Mitchell Morgan, Michèle and Steve Pesner, The Schaffner Family Foundation, Jayne Baron Sherman and Deborah Zum, Straus Family Foundation, and Susi and Peter Wunsch

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ACADEMY ICONS

Guild Hall introduces Academy Icons, a new program that spotlights Guild Hall Academy of the Arts members and their work. Inaugurating the series is Susan Lacy, an acclaimed director and producer best known for creating American Masters, the PBS biography series, which began in 1986, profiling artists and visionaries who have helped shape our country’s culture. Her subjects have included James Baldwin, Bob Dylan, Judy Garland, David Geffen, Lena Horne, Joni Mitchell, and hundreds more. American Masters garnered unprecedented awards over the years. Susan earned the series 71 Emmy nominations and 28 wins, including a remarkable ten for Outstanding Non-Fiction Series, in addition to 13 Peabody Awards, three Grammy Awards and a nomination, and an Academy Award and four nominations. Since moving to HBO in 2013, Susan has directed and produced Spielberg, Jane Fonda in Five Acts, Very Ralph, and executive produced The Janes, all for HBO Documentary Films. Among many other distinctions, Susan served as the Governor of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for eight years, is an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences member and a cherished member of Guild Hall’s Academy.

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SUSAN LACY

Susan Lacy is an acclaimed director and producer best known for creating American Masters (launched in 1986), the PBS biography series profiling artists and visionaries who have helped shape our country’s culture. Her subjects have included James Baldwin, Bob Dylan, Judy Garland, David Geffen, Lena Horne, Joni Mitchell, and hundreds more. American Masters garnered unprecedented awards over the years. Susan earned the series 71 Emmy nominations and 28 wins, including a remarkable ten for Outstanding Non-Fiction Series, in addition to 13 Peabody Awards, three Grammy Awards, and a nomination, and an Academy Award and four nominations. Since moving to HBO in 2013, Susan has directed and produced Spielberg, Jane Fonda in Five Acts, Very Ralph, and executive produced The Janes, all for HBO Documentary Films. Among many other distinctions, Susan was a Governor of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for eight years, is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and a cherished member of Guild Hall’s Academy.

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JAMIE BERNSTEIN

Jamie Bernstein is an author, speaker, broadcaster, and filmmaker. Her memoir, Famous Father Girl, was published by HarperCollins in June of 2018, and released in paperback the following year. In addition to writing her many articles and concert narrations, Jamie has traveled extensively, speaking about music, and in particular about her father, Leonard Bernstein. Jamie is a frequent radio and podcast presence, most recently on New York City’s classical station, WQXR. Jamie’s film documentary, Crescendo: the Power of Music, has won numerous prizes, and is currently viewable on iTunes.

More about Jamie’s multifaceted life can be found on her website, jamiebernstein.net.

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FRED BERNER

Fred Berner is a producer and director of award-winning feature films and television. Most recently, he produced Academy Award Best Picture nominee Maestro (Netflix), directed by Bradley Cooper. Cooper and Carey Mulligan enjoyed Oscar nominations for their portrayals of Leonard and Felicia Bernstein. Prior, Berner produced Pollock (SPC), directed by and starring Ed Harris in the Oscar-nominated title role, and Marcia Gay Harden, who won the Academy Award for playing Lee Krasner. Other feature film credits include Louis Malle’s Vanya on 42nd Street (SPC), Maggie Greenwald’s The Ballad of Little Jo (FINE LINE), Miss Firecracker (Corsair) starring Holly Hunter, and Eric Mendelsohn’s 3 Backyards (Screenmedia) winner of the Best Director Award at Sundance 2010, starring Edie Falco.

For Television, Fred was the Executive Producer and pilot director of Universal TV’s Law & Order: Organized Crime, starring Chris Meloni. Prior he held the same titles on FBI: Most Wanted for CBS. Berner has directed multiple episodes of the television series’ Chicago PD, Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, Chicago Justice, Law & Order: SVU, and Law & Order for NBC/Universal. Additional EP credits include the Starz series Magic City, NBC’s Law & Order (Seasons 18-20); and NBC’s Law & Order: Criminal Intent (Seasons 1-5).

For HBO, Fred produced Emmy-nominated Without Warning: The James Brady Story for which Beau Bridges won the Emmy and Golden Globe. Other films for TV include, Speak (Showtime) starring Kristen Stewart; Murder in a Small Town (A&E) starring Gene Wilder; Emmy-nominated About Us: The Dignity of Children (ABC) hosted by Oprah Winfrey; Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated Hidden in America (Showtime), and the Golden Globe-nominated Lakota Woman (TNT) fredbernerfilms.com

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Guild Hall is the cultural heart of the East End: a museum, performing arts, and education center, founded in 1931. We invite everyone to experience the endless possibilities of the arts: to open minds to what art can be; inspire creativity and conversation; and have fun.

Guild Hall has served four generations and introduced audiences to the most storied artists and performers of our time. As they approach their centennial, they have completed a state-of-the-art renovation to match the caliber of their artistry for twenty-first-century audiences. The facility-wide Capital Improvements Project & Campaign includes top-of-the-line physical and technological enhancements to better deliver on their mission as an artist-driven, interdisciplinary institution.

For more information about Guild Hall, please visit GuildHall.org. @guild_hall on Instagram.

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