Bernstein

Leonard Bernstein was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts on August 25, 1918. As a young boy he took piano lessons while attending the Garrison and Boston Latin School. After he graduated high school he attended Harvard University, where he studied with several well-known piano players. The composers he studied with include but are not limited to: Walter Piston, Edward Burlingame- Hill, and A. Tillman Merritt. Before he graduated in 1939, he made an unofficial conducting debut with his on incidental music to “The Bird,” and he directed and performed in Marc Blitzstein’s “The Cradle Will Rock.” After graduating Harvard he attended the Curtis Institute of Music located in Philadelphia. At the Curtis Institute of Music he studied piano with Isabella Vengerova, orchestration with Randall Thompson, and conducting with Fritz Reiner. After leaving the Curtis Institute of Music he studied at the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s newly made summer institute, Tanglewood, in 1940. At Tanglewood he studied with Serge Koussevizky the orchestra’s conductor. In later years, Bernstein became a conducting assistant for Koussevisky.

In 1943 Bernstein was appointed as Assistant Conductor of the New York Philharmonic. This position was Bernstein’s first conducting job that was permanent. After substituting for Bruno Walter at a Carnegie Hall Concert, on November 14, 1943, which was broadcast nationally on the radio, he became sought out by orchestras worldwide. This was the real start of Bernstein’s career.

Bernstein was appointed the Music Director of the New York City Symphony Orchestra in 1945, which he held until 1947. When the conductor he studied with at Tanglewood passed away in 1951, Bernstein took over as the orchestral and conducting departments at...

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...old Medal. In 1985 he was applauded for his long support of humanitarian causes by the National Fellowship Award. He received a Tony award for Distinguished Achievement in Theatre, the MacDowell Colony’s Gold Medal, medals from the Beethoven Society and the Mahler Gesellschaft, the Handel Medallion, and many other awards. Leonard Bernstein is well known for his many achievements on the piano, conducting, and musical abilities all around the world. He traveled the world conducting, but spent most of his time in the United States. He was a well-rounded teacher, musician, and conductor.

Works Cited

Bernstein, Leonard. The Joy of Music. Pompton Plains, NJ: Amadeus, 2004. Print.

Briggs, John. Leonard Bernstein; the Man, His Work, and His World. Cleveland: World Pub.; Popular Library, 1961. Print.

"Leonard Bernstein." Leonard Bernstein. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2013.