A Glimpse Into The Life Of A Master — Leonard Bernstein ● Leonard Bernstein was born on August 25, 1918, in Lawrence, Massachusetts. ● He was born to Ukrainian immigrant parents, Samuel Joseph Bernstein and Jennie (Resnick) Bernstein. His father ran a beauty-supply store and hoped that Leonard would take over the business one day. When Leonard announced he would make music his life's work, his father refused to pay for music lessons. Samuel never approved of his son's career. ● Bernstein took his first piano lessons with Frieda Karp in 1928, but received most of his early piano training from Helen Coates starting in October 1932. Helen later became his personal secretary. ● On May 14, 1934, Bernstein played in his first piano recital at Roxbury Memorial High School in Roxbury, Massachusetts. ● Bernstein began composing while attending the W.L.Garrison Grammar School in Roxbury and the Boston Latin School. In 1939, he earned his undergraduate degree from Harvard University, where he made his first informal conducting debut, leading his own incidental score to THE BIRDS. ● After Harvard, he attended the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where he studied under Fritz Reiner, conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. ● In 1940, he began working with his mentor, Serge Koussevitzky, conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. ● On November 14, 1943, at the age of 25, Bernstein made his historic conducting debut with the New York Philharmonic- Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. He had been the Assistant Conductor when the guest conductor, Bruno Walter, became ill. He received a last minute call, put on his best suit, stepped onto the podium and made history. The concert was broadcast nationally on radio and brought nearly instant praise, which also led to invitations to conduct orchestras all over the world. ● The year 1943 brought another landmark for Leonard Bernstein as a composer. He completed Symphony No. 1: Jeremiah and conducted its world premiere with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 1944. The symphony won him the New York Music Critics Award. He went on to compose two more symphonies. ● In 1944, Bernstein created his first Broadway hit, ON THE TOWN, collaborating with Jerome Robbins, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. This was the beginning of other shows to come including: PETER PAN (1950), WONDERFUL TOWN (1953), CANDIDE (1956), WEST SIDE STORY (1957), and 1600 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE (1976). ● During the late 1940s and the 1950s, Bernstein taught at Brandeis University and was a guest conductor in New York, Milan and Tel Aviv. He was the first American-born conductor to achieve international fame. ● Bernstein was also the first conductor to break with tradition by conducting informally dressed orchestras on Thursday nights. He strove to bring audiences closer to the music and its composer. He was always ready to give a piano concert. He was known to have frequent public performances — usually conducting the orchestra from the piano seat. ● In 1958, he began a series of "Young People's Concerts" for television to teach American children about music by listening to him explain his work. ● The scope of Bernstein's compositions is astounding. His music still "lives" on Broadway and in concert halls all over the world. For half a century, he brought his extraordinary talent to all the great orchestras around the world. His legacy still endures; he is responsible for over 500 recordings and filmed performances. ● In 1985, he received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award for his body of work. ● On Christmas Day, 1989, Bernstein conducted Beethoven's Symphony No.9 to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall. The concert was broadcast live in more than 20 countries to an estimated audience of 100 million people. ● Leonard Bernstein passed away on October 14, 1990, at the age of 72.
Leonard Bernstein pictured early and late in life. He dedicated his entire life to the art of music. Source for Leonard Bernstein biography: Extraordinary Jewish Americans by Philip Brooks, Childrens Press, 1998; and Jacket to 33 1/3 RPM LEONARD BERNSTEIN CONDUCTS GERSHWIN: AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, "Copland Billy The Kid - Ballet Suite" with the RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra, CAL-439.
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