Arthur Yorinks

Arthur Yorinks has written and directed for opera, theater, dance, film, and radio and is the author of over thirty-five acclaimed and award-winning books, including Hey, Al, a children’s book, which earned the Caldecott Medal in 1987. In addition to his literary career, he is considered one of the leading figures in the reinvention of audio theater. Born on Long Island, New York, Yorinks, from the age of 6 studied to be a classical pianist under former Juilliard professor Robert Bedford. At 17, veering from a potential profession as a classical musician, and moving to New York City, Yorinks began his over four decades-long work in the literary and performing arts. His wide-ranging career is known for his collaborations with a broad spectrum of celebrated artists—from Andre Serban and Richard Foreman to Bill Irwin and Maurice Sendak to legendary filmmaker Michael Powell among many others. Exploiting his unparalleled vision and talent in the field of theatrical audio programming, Yorinks, along with Jim Simpson and Mike Skagerlind, founded Airwayv Media, a company devoted to creating, producing and distributing original and exclusive audio content. Among its initial offerings will be an edgy episodic comedy series as well as two works from Yorinks's audio play cycle American Song, in which Yorinks has written 13 original audio plays covering the landscape of America from the 1900’s to the present. www.arthuryorinks.com