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A Glimpse Into The Life Of A Master — Leonard Bernstein<br />
● Leonard Bernstein was born on August 25, 1918, in Lawrence, Massachusetts.<br />
● He was born to Ukrainian immigrant parents, Samuel Joseph Bernstein and Jennie (Resnick) Bernstein. His father ran a<br />
beauty-supply store and hoped that Leonard would take over the business one day. When Leonard announced he would<br />
make music his life's work, his father refused to pay for music lessons. Samuel never approved of his son's career.<br />
● Bernstein took his first piano lessons with Frieda Karp in 1928, but received most of his early piano training from Helen<br />
Coates starting in October 1932. Helen later became his personal secretary.<br />
● On May 14, 1934, Bernstein played in his first piano recital at Roxbury Memorial High School in Roxbury, Massachusetts.<br />
● Bernstein began composing while attending the W.L.Garrison Grammar School in Roxbury and the Boston Latin School.<br />
In 1939, he earned his undergraduate degree from Harvard University, where he made his first informal conducting<br />
debut, leading his own incidental score to THE BIRDS.<br />
● After Harvard, he attended the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where he studied under Fritz Reiner, conductor of<br />
the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.<br />
● In 1940, he began working with his mentor, Serge Koussevitzky, conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.<br />
● On November 14, 1943, at the age of 25, Bernstein made his historic conducting debut with the New York Philharmonic-<br />
Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. He had been the Assistant Conductor when the guest conductor, Bruno Walter,<br />
became ill. He received a last minute call, put on his best suit, stepped onto the podium and made history. The concert<br />
was broadcast nationally on radio and brought nearly instant praise, which also led to invitations to conduct orchestras<br />
all over the world.<br />
● The year 1943 brought another landmark for Leonard Bernstein as a composer. He completed Symphony No. 1:<br />
Jeremiah and conducted its world premiere with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 1944. The symphony won him<br />
the New York Music Critics Award. He went on to compose two more symphonies.<br />
● In 1944, Bernstein created his first Broadway hit, ON THE TOWN, collaborating with Jerome Robbins, Betty Comden and<br />
Adolph Green. This was the beginning of other shows to come including: PETER PAN (1950), WONDERFUL TOWN<br />
(1953), CANDIDE (1956), WEST SIDE STORY (1957), and 1600 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE (1976).<br />
● During the late 1940s and the 1950s, Bernstein taught at Brandeis University and was a guest conductor in New York,<br />
Milan and Tel Aviv. He was the first American-born conductor to achieve international fame.<br />
● Bernstein was also the first conductor to break with tradition by conducting informally dressed orchestras on Thursday<br />
nights. He strove to bring audiences closer to the music and its composer. He was always ready to give a piano concert.<br />
He was known to have frequent public performances — usually conducting the orchestra from the piano seat.<br />
● In 1958, he began a series of "Young People's Concerts" for television to teach American children about music by<br />
listening to him explain his work.<br />
● The scope of Bernstein's compositions is astounding. His music still "lives" on Broadway and in concert halls all over the<br />
world. For half a century, he brought his extraordinary talent to all the great orchestras around the world. His legacy still<br />
endures; he is responsible for over 500 recordings and filmed performances.<br />
● In 1985, he received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award for his body of work.<br />
● On Christmas Day, 1989, Bernstein conducted Beethoven's Symphony No.9 to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall. The<br />
concert was broadcast live in more than 20 countries to an estimated audience of 100 million people.<br />
● Leonard Bernstein passed away on October 14, 1990, at the age of 72.