NEW YORK — Michael Ahern, 67, one of the pioneers of the live event industry who handled production for artists from The Rolling Stones to Michael Jackson to the Pope, died Nov. 19. He is pictured here at the 2014 Parnelli Awards, where he joined Steve Thomas to present Benny Collins with that year’s top honor.
Ahern is one of the founding pillars of this industry who, with the likes of John Tedesco, Bob See, Patrick Stansfield and Bob Goddard, came out of New York University’s technical theater department in the 1970’s, having studied under Jules Fisher. He was president at Maps Inc., an events services company.
Among the many special events Ahern produced and coordinated was the major annual event that is the tribute to the victims of 9/11. In a New York Times video about that he said, “I do know in that in an heartbeat you can change people’s mood if you change the lights … the first time the lights are turned on every year is absolutely a little magical feeling about how beautiful and powerful this is.”
A complete obituary is pending. A memorial service for him is being planned for January in New York, details announced when made available.
