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Leonard Bernstein (/ ˈ b ɜːr n s t aɪ n / BURN-styne) (born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – 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-born conductor to receive international acclaim.
- Louis Bernstein, August 25, 1918, Lawrence, Massachusetts, U.S.
Dec 20, 2023 · He was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, and originally named Louis Bernstein, at the insistence of his grandparents. However, his parents called him Leonard, and shortly after the young musician’s 18th birthday, he legally changed his name. Bernstein went on to study at two institutes renowned for their music programmes.
- Sophia Alexandra Hall
Oct 15, 1990 · Oct. 15, 1990 12 AM PT. TIMES STAFF WRITER. Leonard Bernstein, the Renaissance man of music who excelled as pianist, composer, conductor and teacher and was, as well, the flamboyant ringmaster of...
- Overview
- Musical Beginnings
- First Concert, Debut Performance, First Composition
- Tanglewood, Serge Koussevitzky
- New York Symphony, Overseas Debut
- Broadway, Film Scores
- New York Philharmonic, Omnibus Lectures
- Young People’s Concerts
- Metropolitan Opera, Vienna State Opera, Concerts in The Park
- Harvard Professorship, Awards, Training Academies
The quintessential Renaissance man who was a composer, conductor, performer, educator and public personality in virtually equal measure, Berstein’s fusion of traditional songs, jazz and theatre elements with classical compositions – particularly the works of Gustav Mahler, Aaron Copland and Igor Stravinsky – revolutionized each genre like nothing b...
Born Louis Bernstein in 1918, his parents immigrated to the US from modern-day Ukraine. Though his grandmother insisted that he be named Louis, his parents always called him Leonard and he took that name legally at age 18, shortly after his grandmother’s death and his graduation from Boston Latin School in 1935. To his friends and associates, he wa...
In 1932, 14-year old Bernstein went to his first orchestral concert, the Boston Pops Orchestra conducted by Arthur Fiedler, an experience he later called “heaven itself.” That same year, he played piano in public for the first time, at New England Conservatory, and in 1934 he debuted with the Boston Public School Orchestra. In 1935, he enrolled at ...
In 1940, after spending a year studying conducting at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, Bernstein attended the inaugural year of Tanglewood (then called the Berkshire Music Center), the summer home of the BSO. There he studied with its music director, Serge Koussevitzky, and eventually became his conducting assistant. He first performe...
During the 1940s, Bernstein was busy both domestically and internationally, first as assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic and then, from 1945 to 1947, music director of the New York City Symphony. During that time, he made his overseas debuts with the Czech Philharmonic and the Palestine Symphony Orchestra and conducted opera profession...
In 1951, following Koussevtizky’s death in June that year, 42-year-old Bernstein took charge of Tanglewood’s orchestra and conducting departments, and the 1950s became some of his most active years professionally. A number of his songs were essential elements of Broadway productions such as West Side Story, Candide, On the Town and Wonderful Town, ...
Bernstein was appointed music director of the New York Philharmonic in 1958. He conducted the orchestra in 144 cities in 38 countries – including their first performance in Japan and others in Soviet-Bloc countries – and held the directorship until 1969 (when he became laureate conductor). From 1955 to 1961, he hosted a series of lectures on topics...
In 1962, Bernstein expanded the reach of the New York Philharmonic’s Young People’s Concerts series dramatically when they became the first concerts televised from the recently opened Lincoln Center. An inspiration to musicians and music lovers alike, the series went on to be syndicated in over 40 countries and won multiple Emmy Awards. Bernstein w...
In the 1964, he debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, followed by the Vienna State Opera in 1966, and he became an equal-rights champion by hiring the New York Philharmonic’s first Black musician and its second female one. In 1965, he spearheaded the Concerts in the Parks program, substantially boosting the Philharmonic’s popularity in the...
In 1973, Bernstein joined the Harvard faculty as a poetry professor and gave a six-part series of lectures on music, using examples played by the BSO. In the lectures – televised in 1976 as The Unanswered Questionafter a work by noted composer Charles Ives (a Connecticut native) – he analyzed and compared musical construction to language after havi...
Aug 24, 2018 · He was a singular American talent and one of the great orchestra conductors of his generation. He was also a composer of symphonies, ballets and hit musicals, a teacher, a television personality...
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May 11, 2018 · Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) was an American composer, conductor, and pianist. His special gifts in bridging the gap between the concert hall and the world of Broadway made him one of the most glamorous musical figures of his day. Leonard Bernstein was born Louis Bernstein in Lawrence, Massachusetts, on August 25, 1918, to Russian-Jewish ...
October 14, 1990. The death of Leonard Bernstein, 6:15 p.m. at his home, 1 West 72nd Street, NYC. Cardiac arrest brought on by side-effects of treatment for mesothelioma. Leonard Bernstein, American composer, conductor, pianist, educator, and humanitarian.
