Background
His mother Elza Heifetz Behrman was the sister of violinist Jascha Heifetz.
His mother Elza Heifetz Behrman was the sister of violinist Jascha Heifetz.
Behrman attended the Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, where his classmates included Carl Andre, Hollis Frampton and Frank Stella. There he also developed a lifelong friendship with composer and pianist Frederic Rzewski. While attending summer camp at Indian Hill in 1953 he was taught modern music by Wallingford Riegger.
He studied music at Harvard from 1955 to 1959, where he formed a lifelong friendship with Christian Wolff (composer) and where he continued his friendship with Frederic Rzewski.
He attended the summer school at Darmstadt in 1959, where he met Louisiana Monte Young and Nam June Paik.
In the early 1960s he was the producer of Columbia Records" of Our Time series, which included the first recording of Terry Riley"s In C. In 1966 Behrman co-founded Sonic Arts Union with fellow composers Robert Ashley, Alvin Lucier and Gordon Mumma. He wrote the music for Merce Cunningham"s dances Walkaround Time (1968), Rebus (1975), Pictures (1984) and Eyespace 40 (2007). Early Years Behrman"s father, South. North. Behrman, was a successful playwright and Hollywood screenplay writer
Education Teaching He was co-director of the Center for Contemporary at Mills College in 1975–1980, and has taught also at CalArts, Rutgers, and the Technical University in Berlin.
He has been a member of the Avery Graduate Arts Program faculty at Bard College since 1998.