Leonard Bernstein

Leonard Bernstein , 1918-90, American composer, conductor, and pianist, b. Lawrence, Mass., grad. Harvard, 1939, and Curtis Institute of Music, 1941. A highly versatile musician, he was the composer of symphonic works (the Jeremiah Symphony, 1944; Age of Anxiety, 1949; Kaddish Symphony, 1963), song cycles, chamber music, ballets ( Fancy Free, 1944), musicals ( On the Town, 1944; Wonderful Town, 1953; Candide, 1956; West Side Story, 1957), opera ( Trouble in Tahiti, 1952), and choral music ( Chichester Psalms, 1965). His Mass (1971), a "theater piece for dancers, singers, and players," was performed at the opening of the John F. Kennedy Cultural Center in Washington, D.C. From 1951 to 1956 he taught at Brandeis Univ. He was a soloist and conductor with many orchestras in the United States and abroad. He first conducted the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra in 1943, and from 1958 to 1970 was its musical director. Upon his retirement he was named laureate conductor and frequently appeared with the Vienna Philharmonic and the Israel Philharmonic.

Bibliography: See his The Joy of Music (1959) and The Infinite Variety of Music (1966); biographies by J. Briggs (1961), J. Gruen (1968), H. Burton (1994), and M. Secrest (1994).

Bernstein, Leonard (1918–90) US conductor, composer and pianist. He was conductor with the New York Philharmonic (1957–58) and then musical director (1958–69), winning large audiences and world fame through his recordings. His compositions include three symphonies, the oratorio Kaddish (1963), the Chichester Psalms (1965) and Mass (1971), ballets, and the musicals Candide (1956) and West Side Story (1957).