Can you share with us some of the highlights of what you have been doing since you graduated in 1984, and what you are doing now as a career?
I was a student at the LFNY from 1972 until 1982, then went to Collegiate School for two years and matriculated at Harvard University in 1985 where I obtained my B. A. Magna Cum Laude in Literature. A little more schooling was in store in 1989 at the ETH (École Polytechnique Fédérale) in Zürich, Switzerland and in Portugal on a Fulbright Fellowship and then at USC Film School and Columbia where I obtained my MBA in International Media in 1995. Since then, I have spent the last fifteen years in mid- and senior- level positions in corporations and ad agencies (ABC, O & M, J.P. Morgan) where I have developed an expertise in branding and content production. I currently brand, produce content and write for private clients and agencies.
Christopher Atamian in july 2014.
Concurrently, I have continued to work as a multidisciplinary writer and artist. Some highlights include being selected to participate as a video artist in the 2009 Venice Biennale and producing the 2006 OBIE Award-winning play Trouble in Paradise. I have also written a novel and published six translations from French and Western Armenian into English. One more French connection is a book by Nicholas Sarafian, The Bois de Vincennes, which I translated from Western Armenian in 2011 and was awarded the K & H. Tölölyan Literary Prize—in takes place in Paris! I write a column for The Huffington Post on the arts and contemporary affairs and make appearances on Huff Post Live and international TV programs. I also write and direct musicals and film scripts.
I have tried to keep active politically with regards to the LGBTQ community as President of AGLA NY and I participate in a very rich contemporary Armenian cultural life. I founded a small non-profit called Nor Alik or New Wave which produced lectures and film festivals and this past May, I produced the New York run of a fascinating piece of immersive theater titled Dear Armen. Inspired by the life of Armen Ohanian, an enigmatic Armenian dancer and poet who survived early 20th-century anti-Armenian pogroms, the performance integrates traditional Armenian dance, erotic performance, and spoken word.
What inspired you to reconnect with the Lycée through the Alumni Program?
I should participate more. My friend Marie-Noëlle Pierce is a great leader and encouraged me to come back and take a look at the new building and school. And I think Elsa Berry, the Board chair who led the school’s move to East 75th Street, and the entire Board have done a truly amazing job of improving the school since I attended.
In this 1981 yearbook class photo, Christopher Atamian is the second from the left in the back row.
What impact do you feel alumni involvement can have on current LFNY students, as well as on alumni?
Our alumni can perhaps have an even larger impact than those in other schools, because the LFNY straddles two worlds . Their exposure to the world and their knowledge base can help students while they are still in school and also after graduation. Things have become more competitive in the workforce and in the world generally—alumni can help advise, guide and sometimes place job seekers, as well as provide a wonderful network of friends all over the world.
In closing, can you provide a few inspiring words to encourage more alumni to reconnect with the Lycée?
LFNY is a much more open, interesting school these days and that helping students in different ways (mentoring, advising) can be very rewarding.
About the Author :
Elisabeth King joined the Lycée team in November 2011 as the school’s first director of communications. A francophile at heart, Elisabeth spent her junior year of college in Paris, and held her first job at the French Trade Office here in New York. She brings to the Lycée over 15 years of experience in media and communications in non-profits, government, news and business. She was previously executive vice president and director of strategy at ABI, Inc., a boutique public relations agency, and she worked as associate editor on two books co-authored by Todd Brewster and the late ABC News anchor Peter Jennings.