Leonard Bernstein<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0August 25, 1918\u00a0\u2013 October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first American conductor to receive international acclaim. Bernstein was \"one of the most prodigiously talented and successful musicians in American history\" according to music critic\u00a0Donal Henahan<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bernstein was the first American-born conductor to lead a major American symphony orchestra.\u00a0\u00a0He was music director of the\u00a0New York Philharmonic<\/a>\u00a0and conducted the world's major orchestras, generating a significant legacy of audio and video recordings.\u00a0\u00a0Bernstein was also a critical figure in the modern revival of the music of\u00a0Gustav Mahler<\/a>, in whose music he was most passionately interested.\u00a0\u00a0A skilled pianist,\u00a0\u00a0Bernstein often conducted piano concertos from the keyboard. He was the first conductor to share and explore classical music on television with a mass audience through dozens of national and international broadcasts, including\u00a0Young People's Concerts<\/em><\/a>\u00a0with the\u00a0New York Philharmonic<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a composer, Bernstein wrote in many genres, including symphonic and orchestral music, ballet, film and theatre music, choral works, opera, chamber music, and pieces for the piano. His best-known work is the\u00a0Broadway<\/a>\u00a0musical\u00a0West Side Story<\/em><\/a>, which continues to be regularly performed worldwide, and has been adapted into two (1961<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a02021<\/a>) feature films.\u00a0Bernstein's works<\/a>\u00a0include three symphonies,\u00a0Serenade after Plato's \"Symposium\"<\/em><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0, and\u00a0Chichester Psalms<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(1965), the original score for the\u00a0Elia Kazan<\/a>\u00a0drama film\u00a0On the Waterfront<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(1954), and theater works including\u00a0On the Town<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(1944),\u00a0Wonderful Town<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(1953),\u00a0Candide<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(1956), and his\u00a0Mas<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n A lifelong humanitarian, Bernstein worked in support of civil rights<\/a>, protested against the Vietnam War<\/a>, <\/a> advocated nuclear disarmament, raised money for HIV\/AIDS research and awareness, and engaged in multiple international initiatives for human rights and world peace. He conducted Mahler<\/a>'s Resurrection Symphony<\/em><\/a> to mark the death of president John F. Kennedy<\/a> and in Israel at a world famous concert, Hatikvah on Mt. Scopus<\/em>, after the 1967 war<\/a>. The sequence of events was preserved for posterity in a documentary entitled Journey to Jerusalem<\/em>. At the end of his life, Bernstein conducted a historic performance of Beethoven<\/a>'s Symphony No. 9<\/a> in Berlin to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Born Louis Bernstein in Lawrence, Massachusetts<\/a>, Bernstein was the son of Jewish<\/a> parents, Jennie (n\u00e9e Resnick) <\/a> and Samuel Joseph Bernstein, both of whom immigrated to the United States from Rivne<\/a> (now in Ukraine). His grandmother insisted that his first name be Louis<\/a>, but his parents always called him Leonard<\/a>. Bernstein legally changed his name to Leonard when he was 18, shortly after his grandmother\u2019s death. To his friends and many others, Bernstein was simply known as \u201cLenny\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Bernstein\u2019s father was the owner of The Samuel Bernstein Hair and Beauty Supply Company. It held the New England franchise for the Frederick\u2019s Permanent Wave Machine, the immense popularity of which helped Sam get his family through the Great Depression<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In Bernstein\u2019s early youth, his only exposure to music was the household radio and music on Friday nights at Congregation Mishkan Tefila in Roxbury<\/a>, Massachusetts. When Bernstein was ten years old, Samuel\u2019s sister Clara deposited her upright piano at her brother\u2019s house. Bernstein began teaching himself piano and music theory, and was soon clamoring for lessons. He had a variety of piano teachers in his youth, including Helen Coates, who later became his secretary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the summers, the Bernstein family would go to their vacation home in Sharon, Massachusetts<\/a>, where young Leonard conscripted all the neighborhood children to put on shows ranging from Bizet<\/a>\u2018s \u2018\u2019Carmen<\/a>\u2018\u2019 to Gilbert and Sullivan<\/a>\u2018s \u2018\u2019The Pirates of Penzance<\/a>\u2018\u2019. He would often play entire operas or Beethoven symphonies<\/a> with his younger sister, Shirley. Leonard\u2019s youngest sibling, Burton, was born in 1932, 13 years after Leonard. Despite the large age differences, the three siblings remained close their entire lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sam was initially opposed to young Leonard\u2019s interest in music and attempted to discourage his son\u2019s interest by refusing to pay for his piano lessons. Leonard then took to giving lessons to young people in his neighborhood. One of his students, Sid Ramin<\/a>, became Bernstein\u2019s most frequent orchestrator and lifelong beloved friend. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sam took his son to orchestral concerts in his teenage years and eventually supported his music education. In May 1932, Leonard attended his first orchestral concert with the Boston Pops Orchestra<\/a> conducted by Arthur Fiedler<\/a>. Bernstein recalled, \u201cTo me, in those days, the Pops was heaven itself \u2026 I thought \u2026 it was the supreme achievement of the human race. It was at this concert that Bernstein first heard Ravel<\/a>'s Bol\u00e9ro<\/em><\/a>, which made a tremendous impression on him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Another strong musical influence was George Gershwin<\/a>. Bernstein was a counselor at a summer camp when news came over the radio of Gershwin\u2019s death. In the mess hall, a shaken Bernstein demanded a moment of silence, and then played Gershwin\u2019s second Prelude<\/em><\/a> as a memorial <\/p>\n\n\n\n On March 30, 1932, Bernstein played Brahms<\/a>\u2018s Rhapsody in G minor<\/em><\/a> at his first public piano performance in Susan Williams\u2019s studio recital at the New England Conservatory<\/a>. Two years later, he made his solo debut with orchestra in Grieg<\/a>\u2018s Piano Concerto in A minor<\/a> with the Boston Public School Orchestra. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Bernstein's first two education environments were both public schools: the William Lloyd Garrison School<\/a>, followed by the prestigious Boston Latin School<\/a>, for which Bernstein and classmate Lawrence F. Ebb wrote the Class Song. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Harvard University<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1935, Bernstein enrolled at Harvard College<\/a>, where he studied music with, among others, Edward Burlingame Hill<\/a> and Walter Piston<\/a>. Bernstein's first extant composition, Psalm 148<\/a>, set for voice and piano, is dated 1935. He majored in music with a final year thesis titled \"The Absorption of Race Elements into American Music\" (1939; reproduced in his book Findings<\/em>). One of Bernstein's intellectual influences at Harvard was the aesthetics<\/a> Professor David Prall<\/a>, whose multidisciplinary outlook on the arts inspired Bernstein for the rest of his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of Bernstein's friends at Harvard was future philosopher Donald Davidson<\/a>, with whom Bernstein played piano duets. Bernstein wrote and conducted the musical score for the production Davidson mounted of Aristophanes<\/a>' play The Birds<\/em><\/a>, performed in the original Greek. Bernstein recycled some of this music in future works. While a student, Bernstein was briefly an accompanist for the Harvard Glee Club<\/a> as well as an unpaid pianist for Harvard Film Society's silent film<\/a> presentations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Bernstein mounted a student production of The Cradle Will Rock<\/em><\/a>, directing its action from the piano as the composer Marc Blitzstein<\/a> had done at the infamous premiere. Blitzstein, who attended the performance, subsequently became a close friend and mentor to Bernstein. As a sophomore<\/a> at Harvard, Bernstein met the conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos<\/a>. Mitropoulos's charisma and power as a musician were major influences on Bernstein's eventual decision to become a conductor. Mitropoulos invited Bernstein to come to Minneapolis for the 1940\u201341 season to be his assistant, but the plan fell through because of union issues.[[[Wikipedia:Citing_sources| Curtis Institute of Music<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n After graduating from Harvard, Bernstein enrolled at the Curtis Institute of Music<\/a> in Philadelphia<\/a>. At Curtis, Bernstein studied conducting with Fritz Reiner<\/a> (who anecdotally is said to have given Bernstein the only \"A\" grade he ever awarded); piano with Isabelle Vengerova<\/a>; orchestration with Randall Thompson<\/a>; counterpoint with Richard St\u00f6hr<\/a>; and score reading with Ren\u00e9e Longy Miquelle<\/a> In 1940, Bernstein attended the inaugural year of the Tanglewood Music Center<\/a> (then called the Berkshire Music Center) at the Boston Symphony Orchestra<\/a>'s summer home.[36]<\/a> Bernstein studied conducting with the BSO's music director, Serge Koussevitzky<\/a>, who became a profound lifelong inspiration to Bernstein.[37]<\/a> He became Koussevitzky's conducting assistant at Tanglewood[38]<\/a> and later dedicated his Symphony No. 2:\u2002The Age of Anxiety<\/em><\/a> to his beloved mentor. ]<\/a> One of Bernstein's classmates, both at Curtis and at Tanglewood, was Lukas Foss<\/a>, who remained a lifelong friend and colleague. Bernstein returned to Tanglewood nearly every summer for the rest of his life to teach and conduct the young music students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Soon after he left Curtis, Bernstein moved to New York City where he lived in various apartments in Manhattan<\/a>. Bernstein supported himself by coaching singers, teaching piano, and playing the piano for dance classes in Carnegie Hall. He found work with Harms-Witmark, transcribing jazz and pop music and publishing his work under the pseudonym \"Lenny Amber\". (Bernstein<\/em> means \"amber<\/a>\" in German.) <\/p>\n\n\n Leonard Bernstein and Benny Goodman<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bernstein briefly shared an apartment in Greenwich Village<\/a> with his friend Adolph Green<\/a>. Green was then part of a satirical music troupe called The Revuers, featuring Betty Comden<\/a> and Judy Holliday<\/a>. With Bernstein sometimes providing piano accompaniment, The Revuers often performed at the legendary jazz club the Village Vanguard<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n On April 21, 1942, Bernstein performed the premiere of his first published work, Sonata for Clarinet and Piano<\/em><\/a>, with clarinetist David Glazer at the Institute of Modern Art<\/a> in Boston.<\/p>\n\n\n\n New York Philharmonic conducting debut<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bernstein would later make his New York Philharmonic conducting debut. On November 14, 1943, having recently been appointed assistant conductor to Artur Rodzi\u0144ski<\/a> of the New York Philharmonic, Bernstein made his major conducting debut at short notice\u2014and without any rehearsal\u2014after guest conductor Bruno Walter<\/a> came down with the flu The challenging program included works by Robert Schumann<\/a>, Mikl\u00f3s R\u00f3zsa<\/a>, Richard Wagner<\/a>, and Richard Strauss<\/a>. ]<\/p>\n\n\n\n The next day, The New York Times<\/em><\/a> carried the story on its front page and remarked in an editorial, \"It's a good American success story. The warm, friendly triumph of it filled Carnegie Hall<\/a> and spread far over the air waves. Many newspapers throughout the country carried the story, which, in combination with the concert's live national CBS Radio<\/a> Network broadcast, propelled Bernstein to instant fame. Over the next two years, Bernstein made conducting debuts with ten different orchestras in the United States and Canada, greatly broadening his repertoire and initiating a lifelong frequent practice of conducting concertos from the piano.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On January 28, 1944, Bernstein conducted the premiere of his Symphony No. 1:\u2002Jeremiah<\/em><\/a> with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra<\/a> with Jennie Tourel as soloist.[citation needed<\/em><\/a>] In the fall of 1943, Bernstein and Jerome Robbins<\/a> began work on their first collaboration, Fancy Free<\/em><\/a>, a ballet about three young sailors on leave in wartime New York City. Fancy Free<\/em> premiered on April 18, 1944, with the Ballet Theatre (now the American Ballet Theatre)<\/a> at the old Metropolitan Opera House<\/a>, with scenery by Oliver Smith<\/a> and costumes by Kermit Love<\/a>.[48]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bernstein and Robbins decided to expand the ballet into a musical and invited Comden and Green to write the book and lyrics. On the Town<\/em><\/a> opened on Broadway's Adelphi Theatre<\/a> on December 28, 1944. The show resonated with audiences during World War II<\/a>, and it broke race barriers on Broadway: Japanese-American dancer Sono Osato<\/a> in a leading role; a multiracial cast dancing as mixed race couples; and a Black concertmaster, Everett Lee<\/a>, who eventually took over as music director of the show. On the Town<\/em> became an MGM motion picture in 1949<\/a>, starring Gene Kelly<\/a>, Frank Sinatra<\/a>, and Jules Munshin<\/a> as the three sailors. Only part of Bernstein's score was used in the film and additional songs were provided by Roger Edens<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n From 1945 to 1947, Bernstein was the music director of the New York City Symphony, which had been founded the previous year by the conductor Leopold Stokowski<\/a>. The orchestra (with support from Mayor Fiorello La Guardia) had modern programs and affordable tickets. <\/a> In 1946, Bernstein made his overseas debut with the Czech Philharmonic<\/a> in Prague. He also recorded Ravel<\/a>'s Piano Concerto in G<\/a> as soloist and conductor with the Philharmonia Orchestra<\/a>. On July 4, 1946, Bernstein conducted the European premiere of Fancy Free<\/em> with the Ballet Theatre at the Royal Opera House<\/a> in London. That same year Bernstein conducted opera professionally for the first time at Tanglewood with the American premiere of Benjamin Britten<\/a>'s Peter Grimes<\/em><\/a>, which was commissioned by Koussevitzky. That same year, Arturo Toscanini<\/a> invited Bernstein to guest conduct two concerts with the NBC Symphony Orchestra<\/a>, one of which featured Bernstein as soloist in Ravel's Piano Concerto in G. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, television debut and Tanglewood<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1947, Bernstein conducted in Tel Aviv<\/a> for the first time, beginning a lifelong association with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra<\/a>, then known as the Palestine Symphony Orchestra. The next year, he conducted an open-air concert for Israeli troops at Beersheba<\/a> in the middle of the desert during the Arab-Israeli war<\/a>. In 1957, he conducted the inaugural concert of the Mann Auditorium<\/a> in Tel Aviv. In 1967, he conducted a concert on Mount Scopus<\/a> to commemorate the Reunification of Jerusalem<\/a>, featuring Mahler<\/a>'s Symphony No. 2<\/a> and Mendelssohn<\/a>'s Violin Concerto<\/a> with soloist Isaac Stern<\/a>. The city of Tel Aviv added his name to the Habima Square<\/a> (Orchestra Plaza) in the center of the city. <\/p>\n\n\n\n On December 10, 1949, Bernstein made his first television appearance as conductor with the Boston Symphony Orchestra<\/a> at Carnegie Hall<\/a>. The concert, which included an address by Eleanor Roosevelt<\/a>, celebrated the first anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly<\/a>'s ratification of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights<\/a>, and included the premiere of Aaron Copland<\/a>'s \"Preamble\" with Sir Laurence Olivier<\/a> narrating text from the UN Charter<\/a>. The concert was televised by NBC Television Network<\/a>. In April 1949, Bernstein performed as piano soloist in the world premiere of his Symphony No. 2: The Age of Anxiety<\/a> with Koussevitzy conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Later that year, Bernstein conducted the world premiere of the Olivier Messiaen<\/a>'s Turangal\u00eela-Symphonie<\/em><\/a>, with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Part of the rehearsal for the concert was recorded and released by the orchestra. When Koussevitzky died in 1951, Bernstein became head of the orchestra and conducting departments at Tanglewood<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 1950s comprised among the most active years of Bernstein's career. He created five new works for the Broadway stage, composed several symphonic works and an iconic film score, and was appointed music director of the New York Philharmonic with whom he toured the world, including concerts behind the Iron Curtain. Bernstein also harnessed the power of television to expand his educational reach, and he married and started a family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1950, Bernstein composed incidental music for a Broadway production of J. M. Barrie's play Peter Pan<\/em><\/a>. The production, which opened on Broadway on April 24, 1950, starred Jean Arthur<\/a> as Peter Pan<\/a> and Boris Karloff<\/a> in the dual roles of George Darling<\/a> and Captain Hook<\/a>. The show ran for 321 performances. In 1951, Bernstein composed Trouble in Tahiti<\/em><\/a>, a one-act opera<\/a> in seven scenes with an English libretto<\/a> by the composer. The opera portrays the troubled marriage of a couple whose idyllic suburban post-war environment belies their inner turmoi Ironically, Bernstein wrote most of the opera while on his honeymoon in Mexico with his wife, Felicia Montealegre<\/a>. Bernstein was a visiting music professor at Brandeis University<\/a> from 1951 to 1956. In 1952, he created the Brandeis Festival of the Creative Arts<\/a>, where he conducted the premiere of Trouble in Tahiti<\/em><\/a> on June 12 of that year. The NBC Opera Theatre<\/a> subsequently presented the opera on television in November 1952. It opened on Broadway at the Playhouse Theatre on April 19, 1955, and ran for six weeks. <\/a> Three decades later, Bernstein wrote a second opera, A Quiet Place<\/em><\/a>, which picked up the story and characters of Trouble in Tahiti<\/em> in a later period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wonderful Town<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1953, Bernstein wrote the score for the musical Wonderful Town<\/em><\/a> on very short notice, with a book by Joseph A. Fields<\/a> and Jerome Chodorov<\/a> and lyrics by Betty Comden<\/a> and Adolph Green<\/a>. The musical tells the story of two sisters from Ohio who move to New York City and seek success from their squalid basement apartment<\/a> in Greenwich Village<\/a>. Wonderful Town<\/em> opened on Broadway<\/a> on February 25, 1953, at the Winter Garden Theatre<\/a>, starring Rosalind Russell<\/a> in the role of Ruth Sherwood, Edie Adams<\/a> as Eileen Sherwood, and George Gaynes<\/a> as Robert Baker. It won five Tony Awards<\/a>, including Best Musical and Best Actress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Candide<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In the three years leading up to Bernstein's appointment as music director of the New York Philharmonic, Bernstein was simultaneously working on the scores for two Broadway shows. The first of the two was the operetta<\/a>-style musical Candide<\/em><\/a>.<\/em> Lillian Hellman<\/a> originally brought Bernstein her idea of adapting Voltaire<\/a>'s novella<\/a>. The original collaborators on the show were book writer John Latouche<\/a> and lyricist Richard Wilbur<\/a>. Candide<\/em> opened on Broadway<\/a> on December 1, 1956, at the Martin Beck Theatre<\/a>, in a production directed by Tyrone Guthrie<\/a>. Anxious about the parallels Hellman had deliberately drawn between Voltaire's story and the ongoing hearings conducted by the House Un-American Activities Committee<\/a>, Guthrie persuaded the collaborators to cut their most incendiary sections prior to opening night. While the production was a box office disaster, running for only two months for a total of 73 performances, the cast album became a cult classic, which kept Bernstein's score alive. There have been several revivals, with modifications to improve the book. The elements of the music that have remained best known and performed over the decades are the Overture, which quickly became one of the most frequently performed orchestral compositions by a 20th century<\/a> American<\/a> composer; the coloratura aria \"Glitter and Be Gay\", which Barbara Cook<\/a> sang in the original production; and the grand finale \"Make Our Garden Grow\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n West Side Story<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The other musical Bernstein was writing simultaneously with Candide<\/em> was West Side Story<\/em><\/a>. Bernstein collaborated with director and choreographer Jerome Robbins<\/a>, book writer Arthur Laurents<\/a>, and lyricist Stephen Sondheim<\/a>. The story is an updated retelling of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet<\/em><\/a>, set in the mid-1950s in the slums of New York City's Upper West Side<\/a>. The Romeo character, Tony, is affiliated with the Jets gang, who are of white Northern European descent. The Juliet character is Maria, who is connected to the Sharks gang, recently arrived immigrants from Puerto Rico<\/a>.[65]<\/a> The original Broadway production opened at the Winter Garden Theatre<\/a> on September 26, 1957, and ran 732 performances. Robbins won the Tony Award<\/a> for Best Choreographer, and Oliver Smith<\/a> won the Tony for Best Scenic Designer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n1918\u20131934: Early life and family<\/strong> <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
1935\u20131940: College years<\/strong> <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Career <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1940s: Rise to prominence<\/strong> <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/Leonard-Bernstein-1.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n1950s: Career expansion and <\/strong>West Side Story<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n