Maurice Edwards

A man of many talents and passions, Maurice was a musician, singer, actor, theater and opera director, cantor, vocal coach, author, translator, and for many years the executive director and, later, artistic director of the Brooklyn Philharmonic. Born Maurice Levine in Michigan in 1922, he grew up in Madison, WI, and served in the U.S. Army during World War II; he was awarded the Bronze Star for valor. Following the liberation of France, he studied at the Sorbonne; moving to New York after the war, he earned a B.A. from NYU and an M.A. from Columbia University. He began acting in the late 1940s and in the 1960s helped found a notable experimental theater company, the Cubiculo, in Hell's Kitchen. His performance credits include roles in the original Broadway productions of Fiddler on the Roof and The Golden Apple and the acclaimed mid-1950s Theatre de Lys production of The Threepenny Opera, among many others. His books include "How Music Grew in Brooklyn: A Biography of the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra" (2006) and "Christian Dietrich Grabbe: His Life and His Works" (2016).