Page 12 - Arts Management Magazine Iss 1

AMM Jed Bernstein
Lincoln Center President (2013-16)
talks
with
L incoln Center is one of the cornerstones of
New York City’s culture, consisting of a campus
of 11organizations focused on music, dance and
theatre. Together, they bring thousands of
performances to life each year.
Arts Management Magazine: What’s the key to managing the
great artist?
Jed Bernstein: Passion is a huge thing. Like being able to say to
an artist, “Listen, my job as a manager is to provide you with the
resources, whether it’s financial or circumstantial or emotional,
so you can make the greatest art you can.” And I think as an
artist, that’s a pretty irresistible proposition. “Okay. So your job
is to allow me to do my best work. It sounds pretty good.”
AMM: We’re now in a mobile and a digital world. How is that
changing the arts?
JB: It’s a really excellent question. For these traditional arts, they globe, and what has the success of the Met’s live simulcasts
are counter – cultural. It’s not about downloading onto small
screens, it’s about experiencing it in big buildings and that’s
something we’re going to have to wrestle with in the years going
forward as the 20-somethings and 30-somethings grow up and
would be our natural audience for some of these arts. They’re
not coming with the same set of experiences and expectations
that their mothers and fathers came with. So how do we engage?
We want to live in a world where there will always be Beethoven.
But if nobody is listening to him, then I’m not sure that’s a good
world either.
AMM: What is the plan for bringing Lincoln Center to new,
and younger audiences?
12 Arts Management Magazine I www.ArtsManagementMagazine.com
JB: Lincoln Center’s mission is Great Art for All. That means
ensuring that the world’s best performing arts are available
to everyone, regardless of age, race, or socioeconomic back-
ground. It also means embracing a future in which those in-
credible masterpieces are accessible anywhere—whether it’s
online, on television, at the movies, in schools and libraries, or
right here at Lincoln Center.
Families are priority for us as children also deserve the best in
the performing arts. As of May 2015, we have been inviting
families to join our existing donor-based LC Kids program for
free (and there are various membership levels above this), en-
abling a broader and more diverse audience to receive front-
and-center access to Lincoln Center. The results have been in-
spiring. As of now we have enrolled over 3,000 members. With
up to four members enrolled per family, this equals thousands
of kids getting their first taste of the arts through Lincoln Center.
AMM: How can technology help us reach people around the
shown us in how the performing arts can be experienced?
JB: Technology is, without question, the single most influential
tool for Lincoln Center to embrace as we pursue our goal of
creating a worldwide arts community and expanding patrons’
access both on and away from campus. In the past 12 months,
our digital initiatives have expanded at a breathtaking pace—
securing Lincoln Center’s position as an arts organization of
the future.
We recently launched a new website for all 11 resident organi-
zations at LincolnCenter.org. Today, the website is more attrac-
tive, intuitive, and user-friendly; you can easily learn about ev-
erything taking place on our campus, purchase tickets, and join
membership groups. It’s also mobile-friendly, so you can access
all of this incredible arts content on-the-go. Our digital initia-
tives are generously supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies and
The Kovner Foundation.