“John W. Mazzola, a former president of Lincoln Center who helped to inaugurate free outdoor events and the ‘Live From Lincoln Center’ televised series of musical performances, while fighting for funds during the city’s 1970s financial crisis, died on Thursday in Manhattan,” writes Paul Vitello in Thursday’s (7/31) New York Times. “Mazzola held the title of president from 1977 to 1982, but was effectively the chief operating officer of Lincoln Center starting in 1968, when he assumed day-to-day administrative duties.” Mazzola hired Leonard de Paur, who introduced free outdoor plaza performances, and John Goberman, who developed the PBS series “Live From Lincoln Center.” “Mazzola was born in Bayonne, N.J., on Jan. 20, 1928. His father was a lawyer and amateur musician…. Mazzola graduated from the Fordham University Law School in 1952, soon afterward joining the Manhattan law firm now known as Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy…. During the worst of the city’s financial crisis, when city and state financing for all arts institutions was slashed, Mr. Mazzola appeared often at public hearings as an advocate for Lincoln Center and other purveyors of culture in New York City. ‘Without the arts,’ he once said, ‘New York would be Bayonne.’ ”
Posted August 1, 2014
