View source for Leonard Bernstein

{{Short description|American conductor and composer (1918–1990)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Leonard Bernstein
| image              = File:Leonard Bernstein by Jack Mitchell (high quality).jpg
| caption            = Bernstein in 1977
| birth_name         = Louis Bernstein
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1918|8|25}}
| birth_place        = [[Lawrence, Massachusetts]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1990|10|14|1918|8|25}}
| death_place        = New York City, U.S.
| burial_place       = [[Green-Wood Cemetery]]
| occupation         = {{flatlist|
* Conductor
* composer
* pianist
* lecturer
* author
}}
| education          = [[Harvard University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br>[[Curtis Institute of Music]] (Dip)
| works              = [[List of compositions by Leonard Bernstein|List of compositions]]
| awards             = [[List of awards and nominations received by Leonard Bernstein|Full list]]
| spouse             = {{marriage|[[Felicia Montealegre]]|September 9, 1951|June 16, 1978|end=died}}
| children           = 3
| signature          = BernsteinLeonardSignature01 mono 25p transp.png
}}
'''Leonard Bernstein''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|ɜːr|n|s|t|aɪ|n}} {{respell|BURN|styne}};<ref>{{cite book|last=Karlin|first=Fred|title=Listening to Movies 8|year=1994|publisher=Schirmer|location=New York|page=264}} Bernstein's pronunciation of his own name as he introduces ''[[Peter and the Wolf]]''.</ref> 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. Bernstein was "one of the most prodigiously talented and successful musicians in American history" according to music critic [[Donal Henahan]].<ref name="obit" /> [[List of awards and nominations received by Leonard Bernstein|Bernstein's honors and accolades]] include seven [[Emmy Awards]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=Leonard Bernstein|url=https://www.emmys.com/bios/leonard-bernstein|access-date=July 15, 2020|publisher=Television Academy}}</ref> two [[Tony Awards]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=Leonard Bernstein Tony Awards Info|url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/tonyawardspersoninfo.php?nomname=Leonard%20Bernstein|access-date=July 15, 2020|publisher=[[BroadwayWorld]]}}</ref> and 16 [[Grammy Awards]] (including the [[Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award|Lifetime Achievement Award]])<ref name=grammy>{{Cite web|title=Leonard Bernstein – Awards|url=https://www.grammy.com/artists/leonard-bernstein/896|access-date=July 18, 2023|publisher=National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences}}</ref> as well as an [[Academy Award for Best Original Score|Academy Award]] nomination. He received the [[Kennedy Center Honor]] in 1981.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kennedy-center.org/artists/b/ba-bn/leonard-bernstein/|title=Leonard Bernstein|access-date=July 15, 2020|publisher=[[Kennedy Center]]}}</ref>

As a composer, Bernstein wrote in many genres, including symphonic and orchestral music, ballet, film and theatre music, choral works, opera, chamber music, and pieces for the piano. [[List of compositions by Leonard Bernstein|Bernstein's works]] include the [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] musical ''[[West Side Story]]'', which continues to be regularly performed worldwide, and has been adapted into two ([[West Side Story (1961 film)|1961]] and [[West Side Story (2021 film)|2021]]) feature films, as well as three symphonies,  ''[[Serenade after Plato's "Symposium"|Serenade (after Plato's Symposium)]]'' (1954) and ''[[Chichester Psalms]]'' (1965), the original score for [[Elia Kazan]]'s ''[[On the Waterfront]]'' (1954), and theater works including ''[[On the Town (musical)|On the Town]]'' (1944), ''[[Wonderful Town]]'' (1953), ''[[Candide (operetta)|Candide]]'' (1956), and his ''[[Mass (Bernstein)|Mass]]'' (1971).

Bernstein was the first American-born conductor to lead a major American symphony orchestra.<ref name=Oliver>{{Cite web|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=October 15, 1990|first=Myrna |last=Oliver|title=Leonard Bernstein Dies; Conductor, Composer: Music: Renaissance man of his art was 72. The longtime leader of the N.Y. Philharmonic carved a niche in history with ''West Side Story''|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-10-15-mn-1946-story.html|access-date=July 15, 2020|quote=Louis Bernstein ... born ... to two Russian Jewish immigrants.}}</ref> He was music director of the [[New York Philharmonic]] and conducted the world's major orchestras, generating a legacy of audio and video recordings.<ref name="Discography">{{Cite web|title=Discography {{!}} Leonard Bernstein |url=https://leonardbernstein.com/discography|access-date=July 15, 2020|website=leonardbernstein.com}}</ref> Bernstein was also a critical figure in the modern revival of the music of [[Gustav Mahler]], in whose music he was most interested.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/04/arts/music-the-man-who-mainstreamed-mahler.html |title=The Man Who Mainstreamed Mahler|author-link=David Schiff|first=David|last=Schiff|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date= November 4, 2001}}</ref> A skilled pianist,{{sfn|Laird|2002|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=1aPyEzYri7UC&pg=PA10&lpg=PP1 10]}} Bernstein often conducted piano concertos from the keyboard. He shared and explored classical music on television with a mass audience in national and international broadcasts, including [[Young People's Concerts]] with the New York Philharmonic.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://leonardbernstein.com/about/educator/young-peoples-concerts|title= Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts with the New York Philharmonic|website= Leonard Bernstein|accessdate= August 28, 2023}}</ref>

Bernstein worked in support of [[Civil rights movement|civil rights]];<ref name=Alabama>{{Cite web|date=March 24, 2018|title=March 24, 1965: 'The Night the 'Stars' Came Out in Alabama' |url=https://bernstein.classical.org/features/march-24-1965-night-stars-came-alabama/|access-date=July 15, 2020|publisher=Classical.org}}</ref> protested against the [[Vietnam War]];<ref>{{Cite web|title=How Bernstein Came to ''MASS''|url=https://www.brandeis.edu/bernstein-100/history/how-bernstein-came-to-mass.html|access-date=July 15, 2020|publisher=[[Brandeis University]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190201214420/https://www.brandeis.edu/bernstein-100/history/how-bernstein-came-to-mass.html |archive-date=1 February 2019}}</ref> advocated nuclear disarmament; raised money for HIV/AIDS research and awareness; championed [[Janis Ian]] at age 15 and her song about interracial love, "[[Society's Child]]", on his CBS television show; and engaged in multiple international initiatives for human rights and world peace. He conducted Mahler's ''[[Resurrection Symphony]]'' to mark the death of president [[John F. Kennedy]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Byrd |first=Craig |date=April 29, 2020 |title=Bernstein Conducts Mahler 1963 |url=https://culturalattache.co/2020/04/29/bernstein-conducts-mahler-1963/ |access-date=April 23, 2023 |website=Cultural Attaché}}</ref> and in Israel at a concert, ''Hatikvah on Mt. Scopus'', after the [[Six-Day War]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mt. Scopus (1967) {{!}} Historic Concerts {{!}} Conductor {{!}} About {{!}} Leonard Bernstein |url=https://leonardbernstein.com/about/conductor/historic-concerts/mt-scopus-concert-1967 |access-date=April 23, 2023 |website=leonardbernstein.com}}</ref> The sequence of events was recorded for a documentary entitled ''Journey to Jerusalem''.<ref>{{YouTube|title=''A Journey to Jerusalem'' 1967 with Leonard Bernstein & Isaac Stern|id=9_IRzvtqB7I}}</ref> Bernstein was a member of the executive committee for Writers and Artists for Peace in the Middle East, a pro-Israel group.<ref>{{Cite web |title=GOP Platform Committee Urged to Give Support to Israel |url=https://www.jta.org/archive/gop-platform-committee-urged-to-give-support-to-israel |access-date=May 23, 2025 |publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |language=en-US}}</ref> On Christmas Day, 1989, Bernstein conducted a performance of [[Beethoven]]'s [[Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)|Symphony No. 9]] in Berlin to celebrate the [[fall of the Berlin Wall]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Geitel |first=Klaus |title=Exulting Freedom in Music |url=https://leonardbernstein.com/about/conductor/historic-concerts/berlin-wall-concert-1989 |website=LeonardBernstein.com}}</ref> Less than a year later, in October 1990, he died of heart attack in New York, aged 72.

==Early life and education==
=== 1918–1935: Early life and family ===
Bernstein was born in [[Lawrence, Massachusetts]], to [[Ukrainian Jewish|Jewish]] parents of [[Russian Jewish|Russian/]] [[Ukrainian Jewish|Ukrainian]] heritage, Jennie (née Resnick)<ref name="Jennieobit">{{cite news |author1=NYT Staff |title=Bernstein's Mother Dies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/31/obituaries/bernstein-s-mother-dies.html |access-date=July 2, 2023 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=December 31, 1992 |page=B6}}</ref> and Samuel Joseph Bernstein, both immigrants to the United States<ref name=Oliver /> from [[Rivne]], [[Russian Empire]] (now in Ukraine).<ref>{{cite news|last=Dougary|first=Ginny|title=Leonard Bernstein: 'charismatic, pompous&nbsp;– and a great father'|newspaper=[[The Times]]|location=UK|date=March 13, 2010|url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/uk-travel/leonard-bernstein-charismatic-pompous-and-a-great-father-7pn3lvf6kkg|access-date=March 17, 2020 |url-access=subscription}}; also {{cite web |url=http://www.ginnydougary.co.uk/leonard-bernstein-%E2%80%98charismatic-pompous-and-a-great-father/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803024733/http://www.ginnydougary.co.uk/leonard-bernstein-%E2%80%98charismatic-pompous-and-a-great-father/ |archive-date=August 3, 2020 |title=Leonard Bernstein: 'charismatic, pompous – and a great father' |work=[[The Times]] |date=March 13, 2010 |last=Dougary |first=Ginny |via=ginnydougary.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Rovner|first=Adam|title=So Easily Assimilated: The New Immigrant Chic|journal=[[AJS Review]]|volume=30|issue=2|date=November 2006|pages=313–324|doi=10.1017/S0364009406000158|s2cid=162547428}}</ref> His grandmother insisted that his first name officially be [[Louis (given name)|Louis]], but his parents always called him [[Leonard]]. He legally changed his name to Leonard when he was 16.{{sfn|Peyser|1987|pages=22–23}} To his friends and many others, he was simply known as "Lenny."<ref>{{cite news|first=Edwina |last=Pitman|date=August 12, 2018|title='Lenny changed my life': why Bernstein still inspires|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/aug/12/leonard-bernstein-composer-legacy-inspiration-documentary|access-date=August 10, 2019}}</ref>

His mother had moved in with her parents, in Lawrence, toward the end of her pregnancy with Leonard, her first child. Since he was sickly as an infant, he stayed there until he was strong enough for him and his mother to join his father in [[Boston]]. There, the boy attended the [[William Lloyd Garrison School]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Laird |first1=Paul R. |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/leonard-bernstein-in-context/education/9EAB3910F7414C455BDBB5487F3841FF |title=Leonard Bernstein in Context |date=2024 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-83570-1 |editor1-last=Wells |editor1-first=Elizabeth A. |chapter=Education |pages=3–10 |doi=10.1017/9781108891349.002 |access-date=May 16, 2024}}</ref> and then the [[Boston Latin School]], where he and classmate Lawrence F. Ebb wrote the class song.{{sfn|Peyser|1987|pp=34-35}} When Leonard was 15, the family moved to nearby [[Newton, Massachusetts]].<ref>{{Cite web|work=[[Boston Globe]]|date=August 10, 2018|first=Judith |last=Rogan|title=From Humble Beginnings to Bernstein the Legend|url= https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/globelocal/2018/08/17/practicing-piano-waking-neighbors/xfMBSaxqSYPY1lShYQ9juI/story.html|access-date=December 15, 2023}}</ref>

Samuel became a wealthy man as the owner of the Samuel J. Bernstein Hair Company, which, in the 1920s and 1930s, held the exclusive distribution rights for the Frederick's Permanent Wave Machine.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Oja |first1=Carol J. |last2=Shelemay |first2=Kay Kaufman |date=February 7, 2009 |title=Leonard Bernstein's Jewish Boston: Cross-Disciplinary Research in the Classroom |url=https://dash.harvard.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/7312037c-4cd1-6bd4-e053-0100007fdf3b/content |journal=Journal of the Society for American Music |language=en |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=3–33 |doi=10.1017/S1752196309090026 |issn=1752-1971|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

In Leonard's early years, his main exposure to music was on Friday nights at Congregation Mishkan Tefila, in the [[Roxbury, Boston|Roxbury]] neighborhood of Boston.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sarna |first=Jonathan D. |title=Leonard Bernstein and the Music of Boston's Congregation Mishkan Tefila |url=https://www.brandeis.edu/arts/festival/history/bernstein-brandeis/remembering/bernstein-congregation-mishkan-tefila.html |access-date=June 20, 2024 |website=Brandeis University |language=en}}</ref> When Bernstein was 10 years old, his Aunt Clara, Samuel's sister, deposited her upright piano at their house. Young Bernstein asked for lessons and subsequently studied with a variety of piano teachers, including Helen Coates, who would later become his secretary.{{sfn|Peyser|1987|pp=24-25,30}} In the summers, the Bernstein family would retreat to their vacation home in [[Sharon, Massachusetts]], where Leonard conscripted all the neighborhood children to put on shows, ranging from [[Bizet]]'s ''[[Carmen]]'' to [[Gilbert and Sullivan]]'s ''[[H.M.S. Pinafore]]''.{{sfn|Peyser|1987|pp=26,29-30}} He and his two younger siblings, Shirley and Burton, remained close their entire lives.<ref>{{Cite web |title=By the People Family correspondence (Leonard Bernstein: Writings By, From, and To) |url=https://crowd.loc.gov/campaigns/bernstein/family/ |access-date=June 20, 2024 |website=crowd.loc.gov |language=en}}</ref>

Samuel initially opposed Leonard's interest in music and attempted to discourage it by refusing to pay for his son's piano lessons. So, Leonard took to giving lessons to young people in his neighborhood.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bernstein on Teaching and Learning |url=https://bernstein.classical.org/collections/always-teaching-and-learning/ |access-date=June 20, 2024 |website=Classical.org |language=en-US}}</ref> One of his students, [[Sid Ramin]], would become a beloved lifelong friend and Bernstein's [[orchestrator]] (along with [[Irwin Kostal]]) for ''[[West Side Story]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Asprou |first=Helena |date=July 3, 2019 |title=Composer Sid Ramin dies aged 100 – musical tributes pour in |url=https://www.classicfm.com/music-news/composer-sid-ramin-dies-aged-100-musical-tributes/ |access-date=June 20, 2024 |website=Classic FM |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bernstein |first=Jamie |date=January 18, 2019 |title=Happy 100th birthday to American composer, arranger and orchestrator Sid Ramin! |url=https://leonardbernstein.com/news/blog/83/happy-100th-birthday-to-american-composer-arranger-and-orchestrator-sid-ramin |access-date=August 23, 2023 |website=Leonard Bernstein Office}}</ref>

Eventually, Samuel came around, taking his son to orchestral concerts in his teenage years and ultimately supporting his music studies, as well.{{sfn|Peyser|1987|p=26}} In May 1932, Leonard attended his first orchestral concert with the [[Boston Pops]], conducted by [[Arthur Fiedler]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Schwartz|first=Penny|date=April 26, 2018|title=Boston Pops to celebrate the magic of Leonard Bernstein|work=[[The Jewish Journal (Boston North)|Jewish Journal]]|url=https://jewishjournal.org/2018/04/26/boston-pops-to-celebrate-the-magic-of-leonard-bernstein/}}</ref> There, Bernstein first heard [[Ravel]]'s ''[[Boléro]]'', which impressed him greatly.{{sfn|Simeone|2013|page=8}}

On March 30, 1932, Bernstein played [[Brahms]]'s [[Rhapsodies, Op. 79 (Brahms)|Rhapsody in G minor]] at his first public piano performance in Susan Williams's studio recital at the [[New England Conservatory of Music]]. Two years later, he made his debut as a soloist with an orchestra, playing [[Grieg]]'s [[Piano Concerto (Grieg)|Piano Concerto in A minor]] with the Boston Public School Orchestra.{{sfn|Shawn|2014|p=28}}

Among his strong musical influences was [[George Gershwin]]. When news came of Gershwin's death, in July 1937, Bernstein, then a music counselor at a summer camp, interrupted lunch in the mess hall and played Gershwin's second ''[[Three Preludes (Gershwin)|Prelude]]'' as a memorial.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Swed |first=Mark|author-link=Mark Swed|date=September 3, 1998 |title=A Joyful Linkage |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-sep-03-ca-19040-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=November 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231111120501/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-sep-03-ca-19040-story.html |archive-date=November 11, 2023}}</ref>

=== 1935–1941: College years ===

'''Harvard University '''

In 1935, Bernstein enrolled at [[Harvard College]], where he studied music with, among others, composers [[Edward Burlingame Hill]] and [[Walter Piston]]. Bernstein's first extant composition, [[Psalm 148 (Bernstein)|Psalm 148]], for voice and piano, is dated 1935.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gottlieb |first=Jack |year=2008 |title=Leonard Bernstein: A Jewish Legacy |url=https://bernstein.carnegiehall.org/leonardbernstein/faith.aspx.html |access-date=April 30, 2025 |website=BERNSTEIN: THE BEST OF ALL POSSIBLE WORLDS}}</ref> He majored in music with a senior thesis entitled "The Absorption of Race Elements into American Music" (1939; reproduced in his book ''Findings''). One of Bernstein's intellectual influences at Harvard was [[aesthetics]] professor [[David Prall]], and one of his friends at the school was future philosopher [[Donald Davidson (philosopher)|Donald Davidson]]. Bernstein wrote and conducted the musical score for Davidson's production of the [[Aristophanes]] play ''[[The Birds (play)|The Birds]]'', performed in the original Greek. Bernstein recycled some of this music in future works. While a student, Bernstein composed for the [[Harvard Glee Club]] and was briefly its president while also serving as the unpaid pianist for Harvard Film Society's [[silent film]] presentations.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Swan |first=Claudia |url=https://archive.org/details/leonardbernstein0000unse_q9y6/mode/2up |title=Leonard Bernstein : the Harvard years 1935–1939 |date=1999 |publisher=Eos Orchestra |isbn=0-9648083-4-X |location=New York |oclc=41502300}}</ref>

Bernstein mounted a student production of ''[[The Cradle Will Rock]]'', directing its action from the piano as the composer [[Marc Blitzstein]] had done at the premiere. Blitzstein, who attended the performance, subsequently became a close friend and mentor to Bernstein.{{sfn|Burton|1995|pages=52–55}} As a [[sophomore]] at Harvard, Bernstein met the conductor [[Dimitri Mitropoulos]], who was an influence on Bernstein's eventual decision to become a conductor.{{sfn|Burton|1995|pages=35–36}} Mitropoulos invited Bernstein to come to [[Minneapolis]] for the 1940–41 season to be his assistant, but the plan fell through because of union issues.{{sfn|Laird|Lin|2019|p={{page needed|date=March 2022}}}} In 1937, Bernstein sat next to [[Aaron Copland]] at a dance recital at [[The Town Hall (New York City)|Town Hall]] in New York City. Copland invited Bernstein to his birthday party afterwards, where Bernstein impressed the guests by playing Copland's challenging [[Piano Variations (Copland)|Piano Variations]]. Although he was never a formal student of Copland's, Bernstein regularly sought his advice, often citing him as "the closest thing to a composition teacher [Bernstein] ever had."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bernstein |first=Leonard |year=1970 |title=An Intimate Sketch |url=https://www.loc.gov/collections/aaron-copland/articles-and-essays/an-intimate-sketch/ |access-date=May 1, 2025 |website=Library of Congress}}</ref><ref name="teachers">{{Cite AV media |title=Teachers and Teaching: An Autobiographical Essay by Leonard Bernstein |year=1988 |type=DVD}}</ref> Bernstein graduated from Harvard in 1939 with a Bachelor of Arts, ''[[Latin honors#United States|cum laude]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Predota |first=Georg |date=August 25, 2023 |title=On This Day {{!}} August 25: Lenny Bernstein Was Born |url=https://interlude.hk/on-this-day-25-august-lenny-bernstein-was-born/ |access-date=May 1, 2025 |website=Interlude |language=en-US}}</ref>

'''Curtis Institute of Music '''

After graduating from Harvard, Bernstein enrolled at the [[Curtis Institute of Music]] in [[Philadelphia]]. At Curtis, Bernstein studied conducting with [[Fritz Reiner]]; piano with [[Isabelle Vengerova]]; orchestration with [[Randall Thompson]]; [[counterpoint]] with [[Richard Stöhr]]; and score reading with [[Renée Longy|Renée Longy-Miquelle]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Wilson |first=Kristina |year=2018 |title=A Deeply Moving Experience |url=https://res.cloudinary.com/curtisinstitute/image/upload/v1653664853/pdf/about/overtones/2018/2018_Spring_4_bernstein_dlbxn9.pdf |access-date=April 30, 2025 |magazine=Overtones}}</ref> In 1940, Bernstein attended the inaugural year of the [[Berkshire Music Center]], the [[Boston Symphony Orchestra]]'s summer home.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Benedett |first=Barbara |date=November 29, 2017 |title=Bernstein at Tanglewood |url=https://www.curtis.edu/news/bernstein-blog-tanglewood/ |access-date=May 1, 2025 |website=Curtis Institute of Music |language=en-US}}</ref> Bernstein studied conducting with the BSO's music director, [[Serge Koussevitzky]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Leonard Bernstein |url=https://www.sonyclassical.com/artists/artist-details/leonard-bernstein |access-date=May 1, 2025 |website=Sony Classical |language=en}}</ref> who became a profound lifelong inspiration to Bernstein.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Tanglewood |url=https://leonardbernstein.com/about/educator/tanglewood |access-date=July 1, 2020 |website=Leonard Bernstein Office}}</ref> He became Koussevitzky's conducting assistant at Tanglewood<ref name=":0" /> and later dedicated his [[Symphony No. 2 (Bernstein)|Symphony No. 2: ''The Age of Anxiety'']] to Koussevitzky.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Symphony No. 2: The Age of Anxiety (1949) |url=https://www.leonardbernstein.com/works/view/16/symphony-no-2-the-age-of-anxiety |access-date=May 1, 2025 |website=Leonard Bernstein}}</ref> One of Bernstein's classmates, both at Curtis and at Tanglewood, was [[Lukas Foss]], who remained a lifelong friend and colleague.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rubin |first=Susan Goldman |url=https://archive.org/details/musicwasityoungl0000rubi/mode/2up?q=foss |title=Music was it: Young Leonard Bernstein |date=2011 |publisher=Charlesbridge |isbn=978-1-58089-344-2 |location=Watertown, MA |pages=142–143}}</ref> Bernstein returned to Tanglewood nearly every summer for the rest of his life to teach and conduct the young music students.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Johnson |first=Jenn |date=June 19, 2018 |title=A Man for All Seasons {{!}} Timeless New England |url=https://newengland.com/yankee/magazine/a-man-for-all-seasons-timeless-new-england/ |access-date=May 1, 2025 |website=New England |language=en-US}}</ref> Bernstein received a diploma in conducting from Curtis in 1941.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About the Leonard Bernstein Collection |url=https://www.loc.gov/collections/leonard-bernstein/about-this-collection/ |access-date=May 1, 2025 |website=Library of Congress}}</ref>

== Career ==
=== 1940s: Rise to prominence ===
Soon after he left Curtis, Bernstein moved to New York City where he lived in various apartments in [[Manhattan]]. Bernstein supported himself by coaching singers, teaching piano,<ref name=Witemeyer>{{cite web |last1=Witemeyer |first1=Barbara |title=Dentist to the Stars (comment, row 5, box 3) |url=https://leonardbernstein.com/memories?page=5 |website=Leonard Bernstein: Memories |publisher=Leonard Bernstein Office |access-date=January 30, 2022}}</ref> and playing the piano for dance classes in [[Carnegie Hall]]. He found work with Harms-Witmark, transcribing jazz and pop music and publishing his work under the pseudonym "Lenny Amber". (''Bernstein'' means "[[amber]]" in German.){{sfn|Burton|1995|page=108}}

Bernstein briefly shared an apartment in [[Greenwich Village]] with his friend [[Adolph Green]]. Green was then part of a satirical music troupe called The Revuers, featuring [[Betty Comden]] and [[Judy Holliday]]. With Bernstein sometimes providing piano accompaniment, The Revuers often performed at the legendary jazz club the [[Village Vanguard]].<ref>Sargeant, Winthrop.[https://books.google.com/books?id=6E4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA107 "Judy Holliday"]''Life Magazine'', April 2, 1951.</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=The Revuers |title=Night Life in New York (78rpm 12-in Set Musicraft Records #N-2) |year=1940 |url=https://www.popsike.com/NIGHT-LIFE-IN-NEW-YORK-78rpm-12inch-Set-Musicraft-Records-N2-The-Revuers/303491257382.html |website=Popsike.com |access-date=January 30, 2022}}</ref> On April 21, 1942, Bernstein performed the premiere of his first published work, ''[[Sonata for Clarinet and Piano (Bernstein)|Sonata for Clarinet and Piano]]'', with clarinetist David Glazer at the [[Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston|Institute of Modern Art]] in Boston.
{{Gallery
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| footer       =
|File:Leonard Bernstein and Benny Goodman in rehearsal.jpg
 |Leonard Bernstein and [[Benny Goodman]] in rehearsal, ca. 1940–1949
|File:Bernstein, Leonard (1918-1990) - 1944 - foto van Vechten2.jpg
 |Photo of Bernstein by [[Carl Van Vechten]] (1944)
}}

[[File:1943 Nov 14 NYPhil Bernstein.jpg|thumb|upright|right|Carnegie Hall playbill, November 14, 1943<br />Radio announcement:[[File:1943 Nov 14 NYPhil Bernstein.ogg|170px]]]]

====New York Philharmonic conducting debut====
Bernstein would later make his New York Philharmonic conducting debut. On November 14, 1943, having recently been appointed assistant conductor to [[Artur Rodziński]] of the New York Philharmonic, Bernstein made his major conducting debut at short notice—and without any rehearsal—after guest conductor [[Bruno Walter]] came down with the flu.<ref name=debut>[http://archives.nyphil.org/index.php/artifact/71509682-511b-4ba3-8df5-e6f37af19d3d Program and recording] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917065039/http://archives.nyphil.org/index.php/artifact/71509682-511b-4ba3-8df5-e6f37af19d3d |date=September 17, 2016}} (except Wagner's Prelude to ''Die Meistersinger''), New York Philharmonic Digital Archives.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Rodríguez |first=Pablo L. |date=December 8, 2023 |title=Seeing and hearing Leonard Bernstein at the premiere of the film 'Maestro' |url=https://english.elpais.com/culture/2023-12-07/seeing-and-hearing-leonard-bernstein-at-the-premiere-of-the-film-maestro.html |access-date=June 20, 2024 |website=EL PAÍS English |language=en-us}}</ref> The challenging program included works by [[Robert Schumann]], [[Miklós Rózsa]], [[Richard Wagner]], and [[Richard Strauss]].<ref name=debut /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Seldes |first=Barry |year=2011 |title=Debut performance with the New York Philharmonic – Leonard Bernstein (November 14, 1943) |url=https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/BernsteinDebutPerformance.pdf|website=Library of Congress|access-date=January 30, 2024}}</ref>

The next day, ''[[The New York Times]]'' carried the story on its front page and remarked in an editorial, "It's a good American success story. The warm, friendly triumph of it filled [[Carnegie Hall]] and spread far over the air waves."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1943/11/16/85134894.html?pageNumber=22|title=A Story Old and Ever New|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|page=22|date=November 16, 1943|access-date=July 18, 2023}} ([https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1943/11/16/85134894.pdf article])</ref> Many newspapers throughout the country carried the story, which, in combination with the concert's live national [[CBS Radio]] Network broadcast, propelled Bernstein to instant fame.<ref>{{Cite web|title=75 Years Ago Today: Bernstein's Famed Philharmonic Debut|url=http://nyphil.org/whats-new/2018/november/bernstein-debut-75-years-ago|access-date=February 17, 2021|website=nyphil.org}}</ref> Over the next two years, Bernstein made conducting debuts with ten different orchestras in the United States and Canada, greatly broadening his repertoire and initiating a lifelong frequent practice of conducting concertos from the piano.{{sfn|Burton|1995|page=142}}

On January 28, 1944, Bernstein conducted the premiere of his [[Symphony No. 1 (Bernstein)|Symphony No. 1: ''Jeremiah'']] with the [[Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra]] and soloist [[Jennie Tourel]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Symphony No. 1: Jeremiah (1942) |url=https://leonardbernstein.com/works/view/4/symphony-no-1-jeremiah |website=Leonard Bernstein Office |access-date=May 16, 2024}}</ref> In the fall of 1943, Bernstein and [[Jerome Robbins]] began work on their first collaboration, ''[[Fancy Free (ballet)|Fancy Free]]'', a ballet about three young sailors on leave in wartime New York City. ''Fancy Free'' premiered on April 18, 1944, with the [[American Ballet Theatre|Ballet Theatre (now the American Ballet Theatre)]] at the old [[Metropolitan Opera House (39th Street)|Metropolitan Opera House]], with scenery by [[Oliver Smith (designer)|Oliver Smith]] and costumes by [[Kermit Love]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Fancy Free|url=https://www.nycballet.com/discover/ballet-repertory/fancy-free/|publisher=[[New York City Ballet]]}}</ref>

Bernstein and Robbins decided to expand the ballet into a musical and invited Comden and Green to write the book and lyrics. ''[[On the Town (musical)|On the Town]]'' opened on Broadway's [[Adelphi Theatre]] on December 28, 1944. The show resonated with audiences during [[World War II]], and it broke race barriers on Broadway: Japanese-American dancer [[Sono Osato]] in a leading role; a multiracial cast dancing as mixed race couples; and a Black concertmaster, [[Everett Lee]], who eventually took over as music director of the show.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Oja|first=Carol J.|author-link=Carol J. Oja|title=Bernstein Meets Broadway: Collaborative Art in a Time of War|date=2014|isbn=978-0-19-986209-2|location=New York|publisher=Oxford University Press|oclc=862780844}}</ref> ''On the Town'' became [[On the Town (film)|an MGM motion picture in 1949]], starring [[Gene Kelly]], [[Frank Sinatra]], and [[Jules Munshin]] as the three sailors. Only part of Bernstein's score was used in the film and additional songs were provided by [[Roger Edens]].<ref>{{IMDb title|tt0041716|On the Town|(1949)}}</ref>

[[File:Leonard Bernstein NYWTS 1945.jpg|thumb|upright|Bernstein conducting the New York City Symphony (1945)]]
From 1945 to 1947, Bernstein was the music director of the New York City Symphony, which had been founded the previous year by the conductor [[Leopold Stokowski]]. The orchestra (with support from Mayor Fiorello La Guardia) had modern programs and affordable tickets.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Leonard Bernstein Conducts the New York City Symphony at City Center {{!}} WNYC {{!}} New York Public Radio, Podcasts, Live Streaming Radio, News|url=https://www.wnyc.org/story/leonard-bernstein-conducts-new-york-city-symphony-city-center/|access-date=February 17, 2021|publisher=[[WNYC]]}}</ref> In 1946, Bernstein made his overseas debut with the [[Czech Philharmonic]] at the inaugural [[Prague Spring International Music Festival]].<ref name=bernstein-office-timeline>{{cite web |title=Timeline |url=https://www.leonardbernstein.com/about/timeline |website=Leonard Bernstein Office |access-date=May 16, 2024}}</ref> He also recorded Ravel's [[Piano Concerto in G major (Ravel)|Piano Concerto in G major]] as soloist and conductor with the [[Philharmonia Orchestra]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Anderson |first1=Colin |title=Our history |url=https://philharmonia.co.uk/who-we-are/our-history/ |website=Philharmonia |access-date=May 16, 2024 |year=2015}}</ref> On July 4, 1946, Bernstein conducted the European premiere of ''Fancy Free'' with the Ballet Theatre at the [[Royal Opera House]] in London.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Webmaster |date=July 12, 2016 |title=Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) |url=https://mahlerfoundation.org/mahler/contemporaries/leonard-bernstein/ |access-date=June 20, 2024 |website=Mahler Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref> On August 6 he conducted opera professionally for the first time, with the American premiere of [[Benjamin Britten]]'s ''[[Peter Grimes]]'' at Tanglewood, commissioned by Koussevitzky.<ref>{{cite web |title=An opera debut for Britten and Bernstein |url=https://www.yourclassical.org/episode/2022/08/06/an-opera-debut-for-britten-and-bernstein |website=Your Classical |access-date=May 16, 2024 |language=en |date=August 6, 2022}}</ref> That same year, [[Arturo Toscanini]] invited Bernstein to guest conduct two concerts with the [[NBC Symphony Orchestra]], one of which featured Bernstein as soloist in Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wBD_ujAW520C&pg=PA85|title=Arturo Toscanini: the NBC years|publisher=Amadeus Press|year=2002|isbn=978-1-57467-069-1}}</ref>{{page needed|date=May 2024}}

====Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, television debut and Tanglewood====

In 1947, Bernstein conducted in [[Tel Aviv]] for the first time, beginning a lifelong association with the [[Israel Philharmonic Orchestra]], then known as the Palestine Symphony Orchestra. The next year, he conducted an open-air concert for Israeli troops at [[Beersheba]] in the middle of the desert during the [[Arab–Israeli conflict|Arab-Israeli war]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gould |first1=Susan |title=Beersheba (1948) |url=https://www.leonardbernstein.com/about/conductor/historic-concerts/beersheba-1948 |website=Leonard Bernstein Office |access-date=May 16, 2024}}</ref> In 1957, he conducted the inaugural concert of the [[Mann Auditorium]] in Tel Aviv.<ref name=bernstein-office-timeline/> In 1967, he conducted a concert on [[Mount Scopus]] to commemorate the [[Reunification of Jerusalem]], featuring [[Mahler]]'s [[Symphony No. 2 (Mahler)|Symphony No. 2]] and [[Mendelssohn]]'s [[Violin Concerto (Mendelssohn)|Violin Concerto]] with soloist [[Isaac Stern]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gould |first1=Susan |title=Mt. Scopus (1967) |url=https://leonardbernstein.com/about/conductor/historic-concerts/mt-scopus-concert-1967 |website=Leonard Bernstein Office |access-date=May 16, 2024}}</ref> The city of Tel Aviv added his name to the [[Habima Square]] (Orchestra Plaza) in the center of the city.<ref>{{Cite web |last=rachelsamoul |date=July 18, 2016 |title=KiKar HaBima, l'acropole de Tel Aviv |url=http://kefisrael.com/2016/07/18/la-place-habima/ |access-date=June 20, 2024 |website=Kef Israël |language=fr-FR}}</ref> On December 10, 1949, Bernstein made his first television appearance as conductor with the [[Boston Symphony Orchestra]] at [[Carnegie Hall]]. The concert, which included an address by [[Eleanor Roosevelt]], celebrated the first anniversary of the [[United Nations General Assembly]]'s ratification of the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]], and included the premiere of [[Aaron Copland]]'s ''Preamble for a Solemn Occasion'' with [[Sir Laurence Olivier]] narrating text from the [[UN Charter]]. The concert was televised by [[NBC Television Network]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=The World Reimagined – Americans and Human Rights in the Twentieth Century |last=Bradley |first=Mark Philip |isbn=978-0-521-82975-5 |location=New York|publisher=Cambridge University Press|oclc=946031535 |page=13 |date=September 12, 2016}}</ref> In April 1949, Bernstein performed as piano soloist in the world premiere of his [[Symphony No. 2 (Bernstein)|Symphony No. 2: The Age of Anxiety]] with Koussevitzy conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra. On December 2, 1949, Bernstein conducted the world premiere of the [[Messiaen]]'s ''[[Turangalîla-Symphonie]]'', with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the New York premiere in Carnegie Hall on the afternoon of December 10.<ref>{{cite news | newspaper = The New York Times | access-date = April 12, 2024 | date = December 11, 1949 |title=Bernstein Leads Messiaen's work | url = https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1949/12/11/85658829.html| first = Olin | last = Downes |author-link = Olin Downes}}</ref> Part of the rehearsal for the concert was recorded and released by the orchestra. When Koussevitzky died in 1951, Bernstein became head of the orchestra and conducting departments at [[Tanglewood Music Festival|Tanglewood]].

=== 1950s: Career expansion and ''West Side Story'' ===
[[File:Leonard Bernstein - 1950s.JPG|thumb|upright|left|Bernstein, c. 1950s]]
The 1950s comprised the most active years of Bernstein's career. He created five new works for the Broadway stage, composed several symphonic works and an iconic film score, and was appointed music director of the New York Philharmonic with whom he toured the world, including concerts behind the Iron Curtain. Bernstein also harnessed the power of television to expand his educational reach, and he married and started a family. In 1950, Bernstein composed incidental music for a Broadway production of J. M. Barrie's play ''[[Peter Pan (1950 musical)|Peter Pan]]''.<ref>[http://barbaraanneshaircombblog.com/images/symphonyofthenewworld/benjaminsteinberg-leonardbernstein-peterpan.jpg ''Peter Pan'', music and lyrics by Leonard Bernstein], ''[[Playbill]]'', April 24, 1950.</ref> The production, which opened on Broadway on April 24, 1950, starred [[Jean Arthur]] as [[Peter Pan (character)|Peter Pan]] and [[Boris Karloff]] in the dual roles of [[George Darling (Peter Pan)|George Darling]] and [[Captain Hook]]. The show ran for 321 performances.<ref>{{Cite web|title=''Peter Pan'' – Broadway Revival – Imperial Theatre|url=https://www.playbill.com/production/peter-pan-imperial-theatre-vault-0000006063|access-date=May 31, 2022|website=[[Playbill]]}}</ref>

In 1951, Bernstein composed ''[[Trouble in Tahiti]]'', a one-act opera in seven scenes with an English [[libretto]] by the composer. The opera portrays the troubled marriage of a couple whose idyllic suburban post-war environment belies their inner turmoil.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Leonard Bernstein Trouble in Tahiti (original orchestral version) – Opera|url=https://www.boosey.com/pages/opera/moredetails?musicid=2098|access-date=September 24, 2021|website=boosey.com}}</ref> Ironically, Bernstein wrote most of the opera while on his honeymoon in Mexico with his wife, [[Felicia Montealegre]]. Bernstein was a visiting music professor at [[Brandeis University]] from 1951 to 1956. In 1952, he created the [[Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts|Brandeis Festival of the Creative Arts]], where he conducted the premiere of ''[[Trouble in Tahiti]]'' on June 12 of that year.<ref>{{cite web|title=Leonard Bernstein|url=http://www.leonardbernstein.com/about.php|website=leonardbernstein.com}}</ref> The [[NBC Opera Theatre]] subsequently presented the opera on television in November 1952. It opened on Broadway at the Playhouse Theatre on April 19, 1955, and ran for six weeks.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Trouble in Tahiti (Broadway, Playhouse Theatre, 1955)|url=https://playbill.com/production/trouble-in-tahiti-playhouse-theatre-vault-0000009368|access-date=January 20, 2022|website=[[Playbill]]}}</ref> Three decades later, Bernstein wrote a second opera, ''[[A Quiet Place (opera)|A Quiet Place]]'', which picked up the story and characters of ''Trouble in Tahiti'' in a later period.

[[File:Leonard Bernstein in his apartment, New York, N.Y., between 1946 and 1948 (William P. Gottlieb 00671).jpg|thumb|upright=1|Bernstein collaborated with [[Comden and Green]] on ''[[Wonderful Town]]'' ]]
''' ''Wonderful Town'' (1953) '''
{{main|Wonderful Town}}
In 1953, Bernstein wrote the score for the musical ''[[Wonderful Town]]'' on very short notice, with a book by [[Joseph A. Fields]] and [[Jerome Chodorov]] and lyrics by [[Betty Comden]] and [[Adolph Green]]. Like the 1940 play, directed on Broadway by [[George S. Kaufman]], it is based on the autobiographical short stories, collectively titled ''[[My Sister Eileen (play)|My Sister Eileen]]'', that were written by [[Ruth McKenney]] and published in the early 1930s by ''[[The New Yorker]]''. They tell the story of two sisters from Ohio who move to New York City and seek success from their squalid [[basement apartment]] in [[Greenwich Village]]. ''Wonderful Town'' opened on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] on February 25, 1953, at the [[Winter Garden Theatre]], starring [[Rosalind Russell]] in the role of Ruth Sherwood, [[Edie Adams]] as Eileen Sherwood, and [[George Gaynes]] as Robert Baker. It won five [[Tony Awards]], including Best Musical and Best Actress.<ref>{{Cite web|title=''Wonderful Town'' – Broadway Original – Winter Garden Theatre|url=https://www.playbill.com/production/wonderful-town-winter-garden-theatre-vault-0000011590|access-date=May 31, 2022|website=[[Playbill]]}}</ref>

''' ''Candide'' (1956) '''
{{main|Candide (operetta)}}
In the three years leading up to Bernstein's appointment as music director of the New York Philharmonic, Bernstein was simultaneously working on the scores for two Broadway shows. The first of the two was the [[operetta]]-style musical ''[[Candide (operetta)|Candide]].'' [[Lillian Hellman]] originally brought Bernstein her idea of adapting [[Voltaire]]'s [[Candide|novella]].{{sfn|Simeone|2013|page=311}} The original collaborators on the show were book writer [[John La Touche (lyricist)|John Latouche]] and lyricist [[Richard Wilbur]]. ''Candide'' opened on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] on December 1, 1956, at the [[Martin Beck Theatre]], in a production directed by [[Tyrone Guthrie]]. Anxious about the parallels Hellman had deliberately drawn between Voltaire's story and the ongoing hearings conducted by the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]], Guthrie persuaded the collaborators to cut their most incendiary sections prior to opening night.{{sfn|Burton|1995|page=260}} While the production was a box office disaster, running for only two months for a total of 73 performances,<ref>{{IBDB title|2591|Candide|(1956/57)}}</ref> the cast album became a cult classic, which kept Bernstein's score alive. There have been several revivals, with modifications to improve the book. The elements of the music that have remained best known and performed over the decades are the Overture, which quickly became one of the most frequently performed orchestral compositions by a [[20th-century classical music|20th century]] [[Music of the United States|American]] composer; the coloratura aria "Glitter and Be Gay", which [[Barbara Cook]] sang in the original production; and the grand finale "Make Our Garden Grow".

''' ''West Side Story'' (1957)'''
{{main|West Side Story}}
[[File:Original West Side Story.jpg|thumb|left|Bernstein gained prominence for the Original Broadway production of ''[[West Side Story]]'' in 1957]]
The other musical Bernstein was writing simultaneously with ''Candide'' was ''[[West Side Story]]''. Bernstein collaborated with director and choreographer [[Jerome Robbins]], book writer [[Arthur Laurents]], and lyricist [[Stephen Sondheim]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Authors|url=https://www.westsidestory.com/authors|access-date=November 15, 2021|website=West Side Story}}</ref> The story is an updated retelling of [[Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'', set in the mid-1950s in the slums of New York City's [[Upper West Side]]. The Romeo character, Tony, is affiliated with the Jets gang, who are of white Northern European descent. The Juliet character is Maria, who is connected to the Sharks gang, recently arrived from [[Puerto Rico]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=September 16, 2015|title=West Side Story|url=https://www.mtishows.com/west-side-story|access-date=November 15, 2021|website=Music Theatre International}}</ref> The original Broadway production opened at the [[Winter Garden Theatre]] on September 26, 1957, and ran 732 performances. Robbins won the [[Tony Award]] for Best Choreographer, and [[Oliver Smith (designer)|Oliver Smith]] won the Tony for Best Scenic Designer.<ref>{{IBDB show|9232|West Side Story|(1957)}}</ref>

Bernstein's score for ''West Side Story'' blends "jazz, Latin rhythms, symphonic sweep and musical-comedy conventions in groundbreaking ways for Broadway".<ref>{{Cite web|date=May 24, 2019|title=60-plus years later, ''West Side Story'' endures and thrives, including a new production at 5th Avenue Theatre|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/theater/60-plus-years-later-west-side-story-endures-and-thrives/|access-date=November 15, 2021|website=[[The Seattle Times]]}}</ref> It was [[orchestrated]] by [[Sid Ramin]] and [[Irwin Kostal]] following detailed instructions from Bernstein. The dark theme, sophisticated music, extended dance scenes, and focus on social problems marked a turning point in musical theatre. In 1960, Bernstein prepared a [[Suite (music)|suite]] of orchestral music from the show, titled ''Symphonic Dances from West Side Story'', which continues to be popular with orchestras worldwide.<ref>{{Cite web|year=2019|title=Classical Music in 2018: The year in statistics|url=https://bachtrack.com/files/96739-EN-Classical-music-statistics-2018.pdf|work=[[Bachtrack]]|access-date=November 15, 2021|archive-date=March 29, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329182507/https://bachtrack.com/files/96739-EN-Classical-music-statistics-2018.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> A [[West Side Story (1961 film)|1961 United Artists film adaptation]], directed by [[Robert Wise]] and Robbins, starred [[Natalie Wood]] as Maria and [[Richard Beymer]] as Tony. The film won ten [[Academy Awards]], including [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]] and a ground-breaking Best Supporting Actress award for Puerto Rican-born [[Rita Moreno]] playing the role of Anita.<ref>{{YouTube|title=Rita Moreno winning Best Supporting Actress|id=ZaOy0eb0Tbs}}</ref> A [[West Side Story (2021 film)|film adaptation directed by Steven Spielberg]] opened in 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|title=''West Side Story'' (2021) – About the Movie|publisher=[[Amblin Entertainment]]|url=https://amblin.com/movie/west-side-story/|access-date=November 15, 2021}}</ref>

[[File:I Feel Pretty from West Side Story 1957.JPG|thumb|right|upright=1.3|L–R: [[Frances Taylor Davis|Elizabeth Taylor]],<ref>Dancer and actress [[Frances Taylor Davis]] was billed as Elizabeth Taylor</ref> Carmen Gutierrez, [[Marilyn Cooper]], and [[Carol Lawrence]] from the original Broadway cast sing "[[I Feel Pretty]]" (1957)]]
In addition to Bernstein's compositional activity for the stage, he wrote a symphonic work, ''[[Serenade after Plato's "Symposium"]]'' (1954); the score ''[[On the Waterfront]]'' (1954); and ''[[Prelude, Fugue and Riffs]]'', composed in 1949, but only premiered in 1955, for jazz big band and solo clarinet. In 1953, Bernstein became the first American conductor to appear at [[La Scala]] in Milan, conducting Cherubini's ''[[Médée (Cherubini)|Medea]]'', with [[Maria Callas]] in the title role. Callas and Bernstein reunited at La Scala to perform Bellini's ''[[La sonnambula]]'' in 1955. On November 14, 1954, Bernstein presented the first of his television lectures for the CBS Television Network arts program ''[[Omnibus (American TV program)|Omnibus]]''. The live lecture, entitled "Beethoven's Fifth Symphony", involved Bernstein explaining the symphony's first movement with the aid of musicians from the "Symphony of the Air" (formerly [[NBC Symphony Orchestra]]). The program featured manuscripts from Beethoven's own hand, as well as a giant painting of the first page of the score covering the studio floor. Six more ''Omnibus'' lectures followed from 1955 to 1961 (later on ABC and then NBC) covering a broad range of topics: jazz, conducting, American musical comedy, modern music, [[J. S. Bach]], and [[grand opera]].

''' Music director of the New York Philharmonic '''
[[File:Leonard Bernstein NYWTS 1955.jpg|thumb|left|Bernstein at the piano, annotating a musical score, 1955]]
Bernstein was appointed the music director of the New York Philharmonic in 1957, sharing the post jointly with [[Dimitri Mitropoulos]] until he took sole charge in 1958. Bernstein held the music directorship until 1969 when he was appointed "Laureate Conductor". He continued to conduct and make recordings with the orchestra for the rest of his life.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nyphil.org/about-us/artists/leonard-bernstein|title=Leonard Bernstein|website=nyphil.org}}</ref> Bernstein's television teaching took a quantum leap when, as the new music director of the New York Philharmonic, he put the orchestra's traditional Saturday afternoon [[Young People's Concerts]] on the CBS Television Network. Millions of viewers of all ages and around the world enthusiastically embraced Bernstein and his engaging presentations about classical music. Bernstein often presented talented young performers on the broadcasts. Many of them became celebrated in their own right, including conductors [[Claudio Abbado]] and [[Seiji Ozawa]]; flutist [[Paula Robison]]; and pianist [[André Watts]]. From 1958 until 1972, the 53 Young People's Concerts comprised the most influential series of music education programs ever produced on television.<ref>{{cite web|title=Young People's Concerts|url=http://www.leonardbernstein.com/ypc_publications.htm|access-date=September 20, 2010|publisher=Leonard Bernstein}}</ref> They were highly acclaimed by critics and won numerous [[Emmy Awards]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=''Young People's Concerts'' with the New York Philharmonic|url=https://www.emmys.com/shows/new-york-philharmonic-young-peoples-concerts|access-date=September 24, 2021|website=Television Academy}}</ref>

Some of Bernstein's scripts, all of which he wrote himself, were released in book form and on records.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bernstein|first=Leonard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d-zwOLoDIcEC|title=Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts|date=2005|publisher=Hal Leonard|isbn=978-1-57467-102-5}}</ref> A recording of ''Humor in Music'' was awarded a [[Grammy]] award for Best Documentary or Spoken Word Recording (other than comedy) in 1961.<ref>{{cite web|title=Honors: A Selected List – Grammy Awards|url=http://www.leonardbernstein.com/honors.htm|access-date=November 12, 2015|website=The Leonard Bernstein Office, Inc.}}</ref> The programs were shown in many countries around the world, often with Bernstein dubbed into other languages, and the concerts were later released on home video by [[Kultur Video]].
[[File:Bernstein with TV Camera.jpg|thumb|upright=1|Bernstein with members of the New York Philharmonic rehearsing for a television broadcast, {{c.|1958}}]]
In 1958, Bernstein and Mitropoulos led the New York Philharmonic on its first tour south of the border, through 12 countries in Central and South America. The [[United States Department of State]] sponsored the tour to improve the nation's relations with its southern neighbors.{{sfn|Laird|Lin|2019|p={{page needed|date=March 2022}}}} In 1959, the Department of State also sponsored Bernstein and the Philharmonic on a 50-concert tour through Europe and the Soviet Union, portions of which were filmed by the [[CBS]] Television Network. A highlight of the tour was Bernstein's performance of [[Shostakovich]]'s [[Symphony No. 5 (Shostakovich)|Fifth Symphony]], in the presence of the composer, who came on stage at the end to congratulate Bernstein and the musicians.

=== 1960s: Innovations and Lincoln Center ===
''' New York Philharmonic Innovations '''

Bernstein's innovative approach to themed programming included introducing audiences to composers less-performed at the time such as [[Gustav Mahler]], [[Carl Nielsen]], [[Jean Sibelius]], and [[Charles Ives]] (including the world premiere of his [[Symphony No. 2 (Ives)|Symphony No. 2]]). Bernstein actively advocated for the commission and performance of works by contemporary composers, conducting over 40 world premieres by a diverse roster of composers ranging from [[John Cage]] to [[Alberto Ginastera]] to [[Luciano Berio]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nyphil.org/~/media/pdfs/about-us/history/PREM-WOR_for-web.ashx?la=en|title=New York Philharmonic World Premieres|publisher=New York Philharmonic|access-date=January 20, 2022|archive-date=April 14, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220414120119/https://nyphil.org/~/media/pdfs/about-us/history/PREM-WOR_for-web.ashx?la=en|url-status=dead}}</ref> He also conducted US premieres of 19 major works from around the globe, including works by [[Dmitri Shostakovich]], [[Pierre Boulez]], and [[György Ligeti]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nyphil.org/~/media/pdfs/about-us/history/PREM-US_for-web.ashx?la=en|title=New York Philharmonic United States Premieres|publisher=New York Philharmonic|access-date=January 20, 2022|archive-date=April 14, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220414120034/https://nyphil.org/~/media/pdfs/about-us/history/PREM-US_for-web.ashx?la=en|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Leonard-Bernstein-1959.jpg|thumb|left|Bernstein during a visit to Finland, 1959]]
Bernstein championed American composers, especially those with whom he had a close friendship, such as [[Aaron Copland]], [[William Schuman]], and [[David Diamond (composer)|David Diamond]]. This decade saw a significant expansion of Bernstein and the Philharmonic's collaboration with [[Columbia Records]], together they released [[#Recordings|over 400 compositions, covering a broad swath of the classical music canon]]. Bernstein welcomed the Philharmonic's additions of its first Black musician, [[Sanford Allen]], and its second woman musician, [[Orin O'Brien]]. Bernstein also shared the Philharmonic's commitment to connecting with as many New Yorkers as possible. That vision became a reality with the launch of the Concerts in the Parks in 1965, which Bernstein conducted often. Another milestone was the Philharmonic's first visit to Japan in 1961, when Bernstein led acclaimed Philharmonic concerts and engaged in cultural exchange. Over the years, he led the Orchestra on tours to 144 cities in 38 countries.

Bernstein initiated the Philharmonic's informal Thursday Evening Preview Concerts, which included Bernstein's talks from the stage, a practice that was unheard of at the time.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Thursday Evening Previews, Performing Arts Encyclopedia, Library of Congress|url=https://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/search?sort=titlesort&view=thumbnail&query=thursday+evening+previews&search_button=GO|access-date=February 24, 2022|website=memory.loc.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Robin|first=William|date=May 31, 2013|title=Looking Back at 'Lenny's Playlist'|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/02/arts/music/new-york-philharmonic-archives-on-leonard-bernstein.html|access-date=February 24, 2022}}</ref> In one oft-reported incident, on April 6, 1962,<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Truth About a Legend|author=Leonard Bernstein|url=https://leonardbernstein.com/lectures/writings/the-truth-about-a-legend-glenn-gould|access-date=February 24, 2022|website=leonardbernstein.com}}</ref> Bernstein appeared on stage before [[New York Philharmonic concert of April 6, 1962|a performance]] of the [[Piano Concerto No. 1 (Brahms)|Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor]] to explain that the soloist, [[Glenn Gould]], had chosen an idiosyncratic approach to the work. Bernstein explained that while he did not totally agree with it, he thought Gould's interpretation was an artistically worthy exploration.<ref>{{Cite web|date=September 25, 2018|title=Who is the Boss of a Concerto? Bernstein on Gould's Historic Brahms Performance|url=https://bernstein.classical.org/features/who-is-the-boss-of-a-concerto-bernstein-on-goulds-historic-brahms-concerto/|access-date=February 24, 2022|website=Classical.org}}</ref> Bernstein questioned: "In a concerto, who is the boss: the soloist or the conductor?"<ref>[http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~mwatts/glenn/lennie.html Transcription of Bernstein's Glenn Gould Introduction] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001031125032/http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~mwatts/glenn/lennie.html|date=October 31, 2000}} (from a [[Rutgers University]] webpage).</ref> The incident created a stir that reverberated in the press for decades; see {{section link|New York Philharmonic concert of April 6, 1962|Legacy}}.

In 1960, Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic marked the centennial of Gustav Mahler's birth with a series of performances. The composer's widow, [[Alma Mahler|Alma]], attended some of Bernstein's rehearsals. That same year, Bernstein made his first commercial recording of a [[Symphony No. 4 (Mahler)|Mahler symphony (the Fourth)]]. Over the next seven years, he recorded the entire [[Bernstein–Mahler cycle|Mahler symphony cycle]] with the New York Philharmonic (except for [[Symphony No. 8 (Mahler)|the 8th Symphony]], which was recorded with the [[London Symphony Orchestra]]). The combination of concert performances, television talks, and recordings led to a renewed interest in Mahler, especially in the United States.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Keller|first=James|title=Bernstein and Mahler: Channeling a Prophet|url=https://nyphil.org/~/media/pdfs/legacy/Bernstein_and_Mahler.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221010/https://nyphil.org/~/media/pdfs/legacy/Bernstein_and_Mahler.pdf|publisher=New York Philharmonic|archive-date=October 10, 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> Bernstein claimed that he identified with the works on a personal level, and once wrote of the composer: "I'm so sympathetic to Mahler: I understand his problem. It's like being two different men locked up in the same body; one man is a conductor and the other a composer ... It's like being a double man."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Who is Gustav Mahler?|author=Leonard Bernstein|date=February 7, 1960|type=episode transcript of ''Young People's Concert''|url=https://leonardbernstein.com/lectures/television-scripts/young-peoples-concerts/who-is-gustav-mahler|access-date=February 24, 2022|website=leonardbernstein.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Mahler: His Time Has Come|author=Leonard Bernstein|work=The Library of Congress |type=typewritten manuscript for an article in ''[[High Fidelity (magazine)|High Fidelity]]'', April 16, 1967|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/musbernstein.100020134/}}</ref>

[[File:Leonard Bernstein in gepeins, Bestanddeelnr 921-6974.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Bernstein in Amsterdam, 1968]]
''' Opening Lincoln Center '''

On May 14, 1959, President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] broke ground for [[Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts]]. On September 23, 1962, the New York Philharmonic moved from Carnegie Hall to its new home, Philharmonic Hall (now [[David Geffen Hall]]). Bernstein conducted the gala opening concert featuring works by [[Mahler]], [[Beethoven]], and [[Vaughan Williams]], as well as the premiere of Aaron Copland's ''[[Connotations (Copland)|Connotations]]''. In 1964, Bernstein conducted at the [[Metropolitan Opera]] for the first time in [[Franco Zeffirelli]]'s production of Verdi's ''[[Falstaff (opera)|Falstaff]]''. In subsequent years, Bernstein returned to The Met to conduct ''[[Cavalleria rusticana]]'' (1970) and ''[[Carmen]]'' (1972), as well as at the [[The Metropolitan Opera Centennial Gala|Centennial Gala]] in 1983.<ref>{{Cite web|title=BiblioTech PRO V3.2b|url=http://69.18.170.204/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=220100&limit=3000&xBranch=ALL&xsdate=&xedate=&theterm=Mellow,%20William%20%5BTenor%5D&x=0&xhomepath=http://69.18.170.204/archives/&xhome=http://69.18.170.204/archives/bibpro.htm|access-date=February 24, 2022|website=69.18.170.204|archive-date=April 14, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220414120001/http://69.18.170.204/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=220100&limit=3000&xBranch=ALL&xsdate=&xedate=&theterm=Mellow,%20William%20%5BTenor%5D&x=0&xhomepath=http://69.18.170.204/archives/&xhome=http://69.18.170.204/archives/bibpro.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

''' An Artist's Response to Violence '''

In 1961, Bernstein composed and conducted a fanfare for President [[John F. Kennedy]]'s pre-inaugural gala.

On November 23, 1963, the day after the [[assassination of President John F. Kennedy]], Bernstein conducted the New York Philharmonic and the Schola Cantorum of New York in a nationally televised memorial featuring the [[Symphony No. 2 (Mahler)|Mahler's Symphony No. 2: "Resurrection"]]. Later that week, in a speech to the United Jewish Appeal, Bernstein said: "[[Tribute to John F. Kennedy|This will be our reply to violence]]: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before."<ref>{{Cite web |title=An Artist's Response to Violence {{!}} Humanitarian {{!}} About {{!}} Leonard Bernstein |url=https://leonardbernstein.com/about/humanitarian/an-artists-response-to-violence |access-date=March 30, 2022 |website=leonardbernstein.com}}</ref> After Senator [[Robert F. Kennedy]] was assassinated in 1968, Bernstein conducted the "Adagietto" movement from [[Symphony No. 5 (Mahler)|Mahler's Symphony No. 5]] at the funeral mass.<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 5, 2018 |title=June 6 & 8, 1968: Bernstein, Mahler, and Remembering Robert F. Kennedy |url=https://bernstein.classical.org/features/june-1968-remembering-robert-f-kennedy/}}</ref>

''' ''Kaddish'' and ''Chichester Psalms'' '''
[[File:P Kolbe-01 Bernstein 01.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Audio recording for CBS of [[Symphony No. 3 (Nielsen)|Symphony No. 3]] by Danish composer [[Carl Nielsen]] in Copenhagen, 1965]]
Due to his commitment to the New York Philharmonic and his many other activities, Bernstein had little time for composition during the 1960s, composing just two major works. His [[Symphony No. 3 (Bernstein)|Symphony No. 3: ''Kaddish'']] was written in 1963; Bernstein dedicated the work: "To the Beloved Memory of [[John F. Kennedy]]." The work features a large orchestra, a full choir, a boys' choir, a soprano soloist, and a narrator. "[[Kaddish]]" refers to the Jewish prayer recited for the dead. Bernstein wrote the text of the narration himself; his wife, Felicia Montealegre, narrated the US premiere of the work.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Leonard Bernstein's 'Kaddish' Symphony: A Crisis Of Faith |language=en |publisher=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2012/09/29/161824558/leonard-bernsteins-kaddish-symphony-a-crisis-of-faith |access-date=March 30, 2022}}</ref>

In 1965, Bernstein took a sabbatical year from the New York Philharmonic to concentrate on composition, during which he composed ''[[Chichester Psalms]].'' Commissioned by the Dean of [[Chichester Cathedral]], [[Walter Hussey]], the work premiered at [[Avery Fisher Hall|Philharmonic Hall]] in New York City on July 15, 1965, conducted by Bernstein himself, and subsequently at Chichester Cathedral, conducted by the cathedral's Organist and Master of the Choristers, [[John Birch (musician)|John Birch]]. For his text, Bernstein chose excerpts from the [[Book of Psalms]] in the original [[Hebrew]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=''Chichester Psalms'' (Leonard Bernstein) |url=https://www.laphil.com/musicdb/pieces/257/chichester-psalms |access-date=March 30, 2022|publisher=[[Los Angeles Philharmonic]]}}</ref> In 2018, Bernstein's Centennial year, ''Chichester Psalms'' was cited as the 5th-most performed concert work worldwide.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Classical Music in 2018, the year in statistics |url=https://bachtrack.com/files/96739-EN-Classical-music-statistics-2018.pdf |access-date=November 15, 2021 |archive-date=March 29, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329182507/https://bachtrack.com/files/96739-EN-Classical-music-statistics-2018.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

''' Vienna Philharmonic debut '''

In 1966, Bernstein began a lifelong rich relationship with the [[Vienna Philharmonic]], conducting concerts as well as making his debut at the [[Vienna State Opera]] in [[Luchino Visconti]]'s production of ''Falstaff'' with [[Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau]] in the title role. Bernstein was largely responsible for restoring the works of Mahler to the Vienna Philharmonic's core repertoire. Bernstein recorded Mahler's Symphonies numerous times with the orchestra.<ref>{{Cite web |title=6th Subscription Concert – Vienna Philharmonic |url=https://www.wienerphilharmoniker.at/en/konzerte/6th-subscription-concert/7744/ |access-date=May 3, 2022 |website=wienerphilharmoniker.at}}</ref> Bernstein returned to the State Opera in 1968 for a production of ''[[Der Rosenkavalier]]'' and in 1970 for [[Otto Schenk]]'s production of Beethoven's ''[[Fidelio]]''.

=== 1970s: ''Mass'', ''Dybbuk'' and international acclaim ===
During the 1970s, Bernstein's company, Amberson, in partnership with [[Unitel GmbH & Co.KG|Unitel]], produced and coordinated filmed recordings of his symphonic concerts around the world. For the rest of his life, Bernstein preferred to derive his audio recordings from live performances. Nearly 80% of Bernstein's recordings with his new recording partner, [[Deutsche Grammophon]], were recorded live.{{sfn|Chapin|1992}}

Bernstein's major compositions during the 1970s were his ''[[Mass (Bernstein)|Mass: A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players, and Dancers]]''; his score for the ballet ''[[Dybbuk (ballet)|Dybbuk]]''; his orchestral vocal work ''[[Songfest: A Cycle of American Poems for Six Singers and Orchestra|Songfest]]''; and his U.S. bicentennial musical ''[[1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (musical)|1600 Pennsylvania Avenue]]'', with lyrics by [[Alan Jay Lerner]], which was his last Broadway show and only theatrical flop.

''' ''Mass: A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players, and Dancers'' (1971) '''
{{main|Mass (Bernstein)}}
[[File:Leonard Bernstein 1971.jpg|thumb|upright|Bernstein in rehearsal of his ''Mass'', 1971]]
In 1966, [[Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis]] commissioned Bernstein to compose a work for the inauguration of the [[John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts]] in Washington, D.C., Bernstein began writing ''Mass'' in 1969 as a large-scale theatrical work based on the [[Tridentine Mass]] of the [[Catholic Church]], and in 1971, Bernstein invited the young composer and lyricist [[Stephen Schwartz]], who had recently opened the musical ''[[Godspell]]'' off-Broadway, to collaborate as co-lyricist. The world premiere took place on September 8, 1971, conducted by [[Maurice Peress]], directed by [[Gordon Davidson (director)|Gordon Davidson]], and choreographed by [[Alvin Ailey]].<ref>{{Cite news |author=[[Harold C. Schonberg]] |date=September 9, 1971 |title=Bernstein's New Work Reflects His Background on Broadway |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/09/09/archives/bernsteins-new-work-reflects-his-background-on-broadway.html |access-date=September 1, 2021}}</ref>

Bernstein's score combines elements of musical theater, jazz, gospel, blues, folk, rock, and symphonic music, and the libretto combines Latin and English liturgy, Hebrew prayer, and additional lyrics written by Bernstein and Schwartz.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Leonard Bernstein – Mass (full version) |url=https://www.boosey.com/cr/music/Leonard-Bernstein-Mass-full-version/4084 |access-date=September 1, 2021 |website=boosey.com}}</ref>

''Mass'' received both rapturous and critical reactions, from audiences and music critics alike. While some members of the Catholic Church praised the piece's expression of contemporary crises of faith, others considered it blasphemous. (In 2000, [[Pope John Paul II]] requested a performance of ''Mass'' at the Vatican itself.)<ref>{{Cite magazine|date=July 20, 2018 |title=Review: Leonard Bernstein's liturgy for the world|author=Kevin McCabe|url=https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2018/07/20/review-leonard-bernsteins-liturgy-world |access-date=March 25, 2024|magazine=[[America (magazine)|America]]}}</ref> [[President Richard Nixon]] declined to attend the premiere due to its anti-[[Vietnam War]] message.<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=Things Get Broken – Leonard Bernstein's ''MASS'' at Fifty|author=Stephen Schloesser|magazine=[[Commonweal (magazine)|Commonweal]]|url=https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/things-get-broken|access-date=March 25, 2024|date=September 24, 2021}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=March 2024|reason=No mention of Nixon.}} Viewpoints on ''Mass'' continue to evolve over time, and [[Edward Seckerson]] wrote in 2021, 50 years after its premiere: "Put simply, no other work of Bernstein's encapsulates exactly who he was as a man or as a musician; no other work displays his genius, his intellect, his musical virtuosity and innate theatricality quite like ''Mass''."<ref>{{Cite web |author=Maggie Stapleton |date=July 30, 2021 |title=Aug 27: Sony Classical Releases Leonard Bernstein's ''MASS'' at 50 – Celebrating the Anniversary of its Premiere at the Kennedy Center |url=https://www.musicalamerica.com/news/newsstory.cfm?archived=0&storyID=48298&categoryID=5 |access-date=January 31, 2022 |publisher=[[Musical America]] |type=press release Jensen Artists}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=January 2022|reason=No sign of Seckerson's quote there.}}

The album ''Mass'' peaked at No. 53 on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' Top LPs]], during a twenty-week run on the chart.<ref name="Whitburn">{{cite book | last = Whitburn | first = Joel | title = Top LPs, 1955–1972 | year = 1973 | publisher = Record Research | page = 18 | url = https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstoplp00whit/page/18/mode/2up | access-date = July 10, 2025}}</ref>

''' The Unanswered Question: Six Talks at Harvard '''

In the 1972–73 academic year, Bernstein was appointed to the [[Charles Eliot Norton]] Chair as Professor of Poetry at Harvard, where he delivered six lectures, ''[[The Unanswered Question (lecture series)|The Unanswered Question]]'', which explored such elements as tonality, harmony, and form through the lens of [[Noam Chomsky]]'s linguistic theories. Bernstein provided musical examples from the piano, and pre-recorded musical works with the [[Boston Symphony Orchestra]].{{sfn|Burton|1995|page=410}} Amberson arranged for the lectures to be videotaped at the WGBH studios in Boston. The six lectures were broadcast on PBS in 1976, and subsequently released on home video<ref>{{Citation |title=The Unanswered Question: Six Talks at Harvard |date=January 11, 1976 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0318253/ |type=Music |access-date=August 24, 2022}}</ref> and published as a book.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Unanswered Question – Leonard Bernstein |url=https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674920019 |access-date=August 24, 2022| series=The Charles Eliot Norton Lectures | date=April 15, 1981 | publisher=Harvard University Press | isbn=9780674920019}}</ref>
{{Gallery
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'''''Dybbuk'' (1974)'''
{{main|Dybbuk (ballet)}}
Bernstein collaborated with Jerome Robbins to create ''[[Dybbuk (ballet)|Dybbuk]]'', a ballet based on [[S. Ansky]]'s play of the same name. The ballet depicts Ansky's tale of a young woman possessed by a malicious spirit, known in Jewish folklore as a "dybbuk". ''Dybbuk'' was premiered by the [[New York City Ballet]] at the [[New York State Theater]] on May 16, 1974, with Bernstein conducting. A revision of the choreography and the score was made later the same year, titled ''Dybbuk Variations''. It received its premiere in November 1974.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dybbuk|publisher=[[New York City Ballet]]|url=https://www.nycballet.com/discover/ballet-repertory/dybbuk/ |access-date=May 3, 2022}}</ref>

''' ''Songfest: A Cycle of American Poems for Six Singers and Orchestra'' '''

Bernstein's ''Songfest: A Cycle of American Poems for Six Singers and Orchestra'' premiered on October 11, 1977, the [[Kennedy Center]] in Washington, D.C., with the composer conducting the [[National Symphony Orchestra]]. The work was intended as a tribute to the 1976 [[American Bicentennial]], but was not finished in time. The work sets an array of texts by 13 American poets spanning three centuries. Bernstein deliberately selected the widest possible array of literary voices to express the nation's essential diversity; the poets include [[June Jordan]], [[Julia de Burgos]], [[Walt Whitman]], and [[Langston Hughes]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Schonberg|first=Harold C.|author-link=Harold C. Schonberg|date=December 16, 1977 |title=Music: A Songfest|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/12/16/archives/music-a-songfest.html |access-date=August 24, 2022}}</ref> On July 4, 1985, Bernstein conducted a nationally televised performance of ''Songfest'' as part of the National Symphony's annual ''[[A Capitol Fourth]]'' concert.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Holland|first=Bernard|author-link=Bernard Holland|date=July 9, 1985 |title=Music: Bernstein at Jones Beach|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/07/09/arts/music-bernstein-at-jones-beach.html |access-date=August 24, 2022}}</ref>

''' International conducting and recordings '''

After becoming Conductor Laureate of the New York Philharmonic in 1969, Bernstein took advantage of his freed-up schedule to increase the pace of his world travel, conducting twenty-nine orchestras throughout Europe, Asia, and the Americas, and making live recordings with them for both [[Unitel GmbH & Co.KG|Unitel]] and [[Deutsche Grammophon]].{{sfn|Burton|1995|page={{page needed|date=July 2023}}}} Bernstein founded Amberson Productions in 1969. In partnership with Unitel, Amberson created many video productions of concert performances, starting with [[Verdi's Requiem Mass]] in St. Paul's Cathedral with the [[London Symphony Orchestra]] in 1970, produced and directed by [[Humphrey Burton]]. Burton would go on to collaborate with Bernstein on his music video projects for the rest of Bernstein's life.<ref>{{IMDb title|tt1487872|Bernstein in London: Verdi's Requiem|(1970)}}</ref>

In 1972, Bernstein recorded Bizet's ''[[Carmen]]'', with [[Marilyn Horne]] in the title role and [[James McCracken]] as Don Jose, after leading several stage performances of the opera at the [[Metropolitan Opera]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schonberg|first=Harold C.|author-link=Harold C. Schonberg|date=September 20, 1972 |title=Opera: A New ''Carmen'', Daring and Provocative|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/09/20/archives/opera-a-new-carmen-daring-and-provocative.html |access-date=October 20, 2022}}</ref> The recording was one of the first in stereo to use the original spoken dialogue between the sung portions of the opera. The recording was Bernstein's first for Deutsche Grammophon and won a [[Grammy]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bizet ''Carmen'' / Bernstein |url=https://www.deutschegrammophon.com/en/catalogue/products/bizet-carmen-bernstein-9037 |access-date=October 20, 2022 |website=deutschegrammophon.com}}</ref> In working with Unitel and Deutsche Grammophon, Bernstein made a host of video and audio recordings with such orchestras as [[Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra]], [[Orchestre de Paris]], [[Boston Symphony Orchestra]], [[RAI National Symphony Orchestra|Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma della Rai]], [[Israel Philharmonic Orchestra]], and [[Orchestre National de France]]. In the late 1970s, Bernstein conducted a complete Beethoven symphony cycle with the Vienna Philharmonic, and cycles of Brahms and Schumann were to follow in the 1980s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Catalogue |url=https://www.deutschegrammophon.com/en/catalogue |access-date=February 2, 2023 |website=deutschegrammophon.com}}</ref>

Among the many noteworthy Amberson productions with Unitel were Bernstein conducting Mahler's Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection" with the [[London Symphony Orchestra]] at [[Ely Cathedral]] in 1973 and ''Fidelio'' at the Vienna State Opera in 1978.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Leonard Bernstein: Unitel Catalogue |url=http://www.unitel.de/media/files/catalogue/brosch_bernstein_seiten_WEB.pdf |access-date=October 20, 2022 |website=Unitel.de}}</ref> In 1970, Bernstein wrote and narrated "Bernstein on Beethoven: A Celebration in Vienna," an in-depth exploration of Beethoven on the composer's 200th birthday, filmed on location in and around Vienna.<ref>{{Citation |last=Burton |first=Humphrey|author-link=Humphrey Burton|title=Beethoven's Birthday: A Celebration in Vienna with Leonard Bernstein |date=December 24, 1971 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0175478/ |type=Documentary, Music |publisher=Amberson Productions Inc. |access-date=October 20, 2022}}</ref> It features excerpts of Bernstein's rehearsals and performance of ''[[Fidelio]]'' at the [[Vienna State Opera]], directed by [[Otto Schenk]] (which was later revived and filmed in 1978); Bernstein playing the [[Piano Concerto No. 1 (Beethoven)|Piano Concerto No. 1]] and conducting from the piano; and a performance of [[Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)|Symphony No. 9]] with the [[Vienna Philharmonic]], featuring the young [[Plácido Domingo]] among the soloists. The show, produced and directed by Humphrey Burton, was broadcast around the world and won an [[Emmy Award]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Outstanding Musical Program Nominees / Winners 1972 |url=https://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/1972/outstanding-musical-program |access-date=October 20, 2022 |website=Television Academy |language=en}}</ref>

Also recorded by Unitel, in October 1976, was Bernstein's concert in Munich with the [[Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra]] and pianist [[Claudio Arrau]] to benefit [[Amnesty International]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Classical Net Review – Beethoven – The Amnesty International Concert |url=http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/d/dgg776690a.php |access-date=February 2, 2023 |website=Classical Net}}</ref> To honor his late wife and to continue their joint support for human rights, Bernstein subsequently established the Felicia Montealegre Bernstein Fund of Amnesty International USA to provide aid for human rights activists.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barbara |first=Hendricks |title=Lifting My Voice : A Memoir |date=June 1, 2014 |isbn=978-1-61374-852-7 |location=Chicago|publisher=Chicago Review Press|oclc=879372080 |author-link=Barbara Hendricks}}</ref>

In 1979, Bernstein conducted the [[Berlin Philharmonic]] for the first and only time, in two charity concerts for Amnesty International featuring performances of Mahler's [[Symphony No. 9 (Mahler)|Ninth Symphony]], recorded live on Deutsche Grammophon.<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=Mahler Symphony No 9 |url=https://www.gramophone.co.uk/reviews/review?slug=mahler-symphony-no-9-28 |access-date=February 2, 2023 |magazine=[[Gramophone (magazine)|Gramophone]]}}</ref> The invitation for the concerts had come from the orchestra and not from its principal conductor [[Herbert von Karajan]]. There has been speculation about why Karajan never invited Bernstein to conduct his orchestra. The full reasons will probably never be known—they were on friendly terms and respected each other, but sometimes practiced a little mutual [[one-upmanship]] such that they were described as fierce rivals.<ref name="Burton">{{harvnb|Burton|1995|pages=158–160}}</ref> It was often suggested that Bernstein could not conduct in Berlin while Karajan was alive (the Berlin Philharmonic was regarded as Karajan's own), the truth was that Berlin Philharmonic's managing director Wolfgang Stresemann actually invited Bernstein but as part of a subscription concert series, which Bernstein disliked.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatermania.com/news/leonard-bernstein-and-herbert-von-karajan-will-cross-paths-in-last-call_1759815/|title=Leonard Bernstein and Herbert von Karajan Will Cross Paths in Last Call |date=January 7, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.berliner-philharmoniker.de/en/stories/leonard-bernstein/|title=A one-time event – Leonard Bernstein with the Berliner Philharmoniker|website=berliner-philharmoniker.de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://watch.symphony.live/m/xzw0BzLz/karajan-vs-bernstein|title=Symphony.live|website=watch.symphony.live}}</ref>

=== 1980s: ''A Quiet Place'', and Tanglewood ===
[[File:1985-9-3 Leonard BernsteinImg、Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in Osaka Festival Hall, Mahler Symphony No. 9 in D major 861☆彡.jpg|thumb|Bernstein visited Japan with the [[Israel Philharmonic Orchestra]] in 1985 and conducted Mahler's Symphony No. 9]]
During the 1980s, Bernstein pursued a packed schedule, continuing to conduct, teach, compose, and produce several television documentaries. Bernstein's most significant compositions of the decade were his opera ''[[A Quiet Place (opera)|A Quiet Place]]''; ''[[Divertimento (Bernstein)|Divertimento for Orchestra]]''; ''[[Ḥalil (Bernstein)|Ḥalil]]'' for flute and orchestra; ''Concerto for Orchestra "Jubilee Games"''; and the song cycle ''Arias and Barcarolles''. Bernstein received the [[Kennedy Center Honors]] award in 1980, a [[Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award]] in 1985, France's [[Legion of Honour]] (Commander) in 1985, and Japan's [[Praemium Imperiale]] in 1990, among others.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Accolades {{!}} About {{!}} Leonard Bernstein |url=https://www.leonardbernstein.com/about/accolades |access-date=February 2, 2023 |website=www.leonardbernstein.com}}</ref>

In the 1980s, Bernstein cemented his educational legacy by co-founding three music academies: [[Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute]], [[Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival]] Orchestral Academy, and the [[Pacific Music Festival]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Leonard Bernstein: Life, Musical Compositions & Writings|date=1998|author=Jack Gottlieb|isbn=0-913932-82-5|edition=3rd|location=New York|publisher=Leonard Bernstein Music Publishing Company|oclc=40803989}}</ref> Bernstein continued his longtime relationship with [[Tanglewood]] to the end of his life, including a lavish televised gala in 1988 to celebrate his 70th birthday, as well as his final concert performance in August 1990.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tanglewood {{!}} Educator|url=https://www.leonardbernstein.com/about/educator/tanglewood |access-date=May 9, 2023 |website=www.leonardbernstein.com}}</ref>

''' ''A Quiet Place'' (1983) '''
{{main|A Quiet Place (opera)}}
In 1983, Bernstein wrote a new opera, ''[[A Quiet Place (opera)|A Quiet Place]]'', with a libretto by Stephen Wadsworth. The opera premiered at the [[Houston Grand Opera]] on June 17, 1983, conducted by [[John DeMain]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Leonard Bernstein Quiet Place – Opera |url=https://www.boosey.com/opera/moreDetails?musicID=3304 |access-date=February 2, 2023 |website=boosey.com}}</ref> The opera was a sequel to Bernstein's 1951 opera ''Trouble in Tahiti'', which preceded the new opera at the premiere. In 1984, Bernstein and Wadsworth reconfigured ''A Quiet Place'' to include ''Trouble in Tahiti'' in its middle. This version was performed at La Scala and the Kennedy Center, with [[John Mauceri]] conducting. In 1986, Bernstein himself conducted and recorded the work at the Vienna State Opera.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Burton |first=Humphrey|author-link=Humphrey Burton|date=January 14, 2011 |title=Bernstein's ''A Quiet Place'': silence is golden|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jan/14/leonard-bernstein-opera-quiet-place |access-date=February 2, 2023}}</ref>

''' Conducting activities '''
[[File:Schell and Bernstein-83-1.jpg|thumb|Bernstein with [[Maximilian Schell]] on PBS Beethoven TV series, 1983]]
During the 1980s, in addition to continuing his productive relationship with the New York, Israel, and Vienna Philharmonics, Bernstein was also a regular guest conductor with several other major orchestras around the world.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Orchestras Conducted|url=https://leonardbernstein.com/about/conductor/orchestras-conducted |access-date=May 9, 2023 |website=leonardbernstein.com}}</ref> In Munich with the [[Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra]], Bernstein recorded works including Wagner's ''[[Tristan und Isolde]]''; Haydn's ''[[The Creation (Haydn)|Creation]]''; and Mozart's [[Requiem (Mozart)|Requiem]] and ''[[Great Mass in C minor]]''.{{sfn|Laird|Lin|2019|page=27}} In Rome with the [[Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia]], Bernstein recorded works by Debussy, as well as Puccini's ''[[La bohème]]'', featuring an all-American cast.<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 27, 2015 |title=Rome Accademia di Santa Cecilia Orchestra |url=https://mahlerfoundation.org/mahler/locations/italy/rome/orchestra-of-santa-cecilia/ |access-date=May 9, 2023 |website=Mahler Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref> In Amsterdam with [[Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra]], Bernstein recorded [[Bernstein–Mahler cycle|Mahler's Symphonies No. 1, 4, and 9]], among other works.{{sfn|Laird|Lin|2019|page=237}}

In May 1986, the [[London Symphony Orchestra]] mounted a Bernstein Festival at the [[Barbican Centre]], featuring a concert in which Bernstein conducted his own works. [[Queen Elizabeth II]] attended the performance.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Lelyveld|first=Joseph|author-link=Joseph Lelyveld|date=May 8, 1986|title=London Cheers Both Roles of Leonard Bernstein|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/05/08/arts/london-cheers-both-roles-of-leonard-bernstein.html|access-date=May 9, 2023}}</ref> In December 1989, Bernstein conducted the [[London Symphony Orchestra]] in his operetta ''[[Candide (operetta)|Candide]]'' and subsequently recorded the work at [[Abbey Road Studios]]. The recording starred [[Jerry Hadley]], [[June Anderson]], [[Christa Ludwig]], and [[Adolph Green]] in the leading roles.<ref>{{Citation |title=Leonard Bernstein / London Symphony Orchestra / London Symphony Chorus & Various – ''Candide'' Leonard Bernstein |year=1991 |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/13115132-Leonard-Bernstein-London-Symphony-Orchestra-London-Symphony-Chorus-Various-Candide-Leonard-Bernstein |access-date=May 9, 2023|website=Discogs |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20231213194002/https://www.discogs.com/release/13115132-Leonard-Bernstein-London-Symphony-Orchestra-London-Symphony-Chorus-Various-Candide-Leonard-Bernstein |archive-date= December 13, 2023 }}</ref> The live concert from the [[Barbican Centre]] in London was captured on video.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Candide (Barbican Concert) |url=https://www.filmedlivemusicals.com/candide-1989.html |access-date=May 9, 2023 |website=Filmed Live Musicals }}</ref>

''' Ode to "Freedom" (1989)'''

On December 25, 1989, Bernstein conducted Beethoven's [[Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)|Symphony No. 9]] in East Berlin's [[Konzerthaus Berlin|Konzerthaus]] as part of a celebration of the fall of the [[Berlin Wall]]. He had conducted the same work in [[West Berlin]] the previous day. The orchestra consisted of members representing the two German States and the four [[Allied Control Council|occupying powers]] of post-war Berlin. The Christmas Day concert was broadcast live to an estimated audience of 100 million people in more than twenty countries.<ref name="Kelly">{{Cite web |last=Kelly |first=Sharon |date=November 8, 2019 |title=Bernstein's Legendary 'Ode To Freedom', Marking Fall of Berlin Wall, Out Now |url=https://www.udiscovermusic.com/classical-news/bernstein-beethoven-ode-to-freedom/ |access-date=May 9, 2023 |website=uDiscover Music}}</ref> For the occasion, Bernstein reworded [[Friedrich Schiller]]'s text of the ''[[Ode to Joy]]'', replacing the word {{lang|de|Freude}} (joy) with the word {{lang|de|Freiheit}} (freedom).<ref name="Kelly" /> Bernstein added, "I'm sure that Beethoven would have given us his blessing."<ref>{{Cite web |last=International |first=EuroArts Music |date=October 7, 2019 |title=DVD + Blu-Ray: Leonard Bernstein – Ode to Freedom |url=https://news.imz.at/music-dance-releases/news/dvd-blu-ray-leonard-bernstein-ode-to-freedom-5697606/ |access-date=May 9, 2023 |website=IMZ International Music + Media Centre}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|agency=[[Associated Press]]|date=December 26, 1989|title=Upheaval in the East: Berlin; Near the Wall, Bernstein Leads an Ode to Freedom|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/26/world/upheaval-in-the-east-berlin-near-the-wall-bernstein-leads-an-ode-to-freedom.html|access-date=July 15, 2020}}</ref>

''' Final concert at Tanglewood '''

Bernstein conducted his last concert on August 19, 1990, with the [[Boston Symphony Orchestra]] at [[Tanglewood]]. He led [[Benjamin Britten]]'s ''Four Sea Interludes'' from ''[[Peter Grimes]]'' and Beethoven's [[Symphony No. 7 (Beethoven)|Symphony No. 7]]. The program also included Bernstein's own ''[[Arias and Barcarolles]]'' in a new orchestration by [[Bright Sheng]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Garrison Keillor |author-link=Garrison Keillor |date=August 25, 2003 |title=The Writer's Almanac |url=http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/programs/2003/08/25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311205836/http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/programs/2003/08/25/ |archive-date=March 11, 2007 |access-date=January 17, 2007 |publisher=American Public Media }}</ref> However, poor health prevented Bernstein from preparing it, and Tanglewood Conducting Fellow [[Carl St. Clair]] was engaged to conduct the work in his stead.<ref>{{Cite web |last=pacificsymphony |date=February 22, 2018 |title=Interview: Carl St.Clair remembers Leonard Bernstein (Part 1) |url=https://pacificsymphony.blog/2018/02/22/interview-carl-st-clair-remembers-leonard-bernstein-part-1/ |access-date=May 9, 2023 |website=The Pacific Symphony Blog |language=en-US}}</ref>

Bernstein suffered a coughing fit during the third movement of the Beethoven, but continued to conduct the piece to its conclusion, leaving the stage during the ovation, appearing exhausted and in pain.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kozinn |first=Allan |author-link=Allan Kozinn |date=October 10, 1990 |title=Bernstein Retires From Performing, Citing Poor Health |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/10/arts/bernstein-retires-from-performing-citing-poor-health.html |access-date=October 12, 2015}}</ref> The concert was later issued on CD as ''Leonard Bernstein – The Final Concert'' by Deutsche Grammophon.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Clark |first1=Sedgewick |date=June 13, 1993 |title=Recording View: Bernstein: Yet More Surprises? |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/13/arts/recordings-view-bernstein-yet-more-surprises.html |access-date=October 20, 2015}}</ref>

''' Amberson Productions '''

Bernstein's Amberson Productions continued its collaborations with Unitel throughout the 1980s. In 1982, [[PBS]] aired an Emmy-nominated series ''[[Bernstein/Beethoven]]'' featuring all nine Beethoven symphonies and other works using films that Unitel had recorded of Bernstein conducting the Vienna Philharmonic in the late 1970s.<ref>{{IMDb title|tt0083385|Bernstein/Beethoven|(TV Mini Series 1982–)}}</ref> The series includes conversations between Bernstein and actor [[Maximilian Schell]], who also read from Beethoven's letters.<ref>{{YouTube|OuYY1gV8jhU|"Leonard Bernstein and Maximilian Schell discussing Beethoven's 6th and 7th Symphony"}}, video clip, 9 minutes.</ref>

[[File:Holland Festival dirigent Leonard Bernstein zal het met het Concertgebouworkes, Bestanddeelnr 933-3399.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Bernstein conducting the Concertgebouw Orchestra, 1985]]
In 1984, Bernstein conducted a [[Deutsche Grammophon]] recording of ''West Side Story'', his only recording of the entire work.<ref>{{Citation |title=Leonard Bernstein, Kiri Te Kanawa, José Carreras, Tatiana Troyanos, Kurt Ollmann, Marilyn Horne – Leonard Bernstein Conducts ''West Side Story''|year=1989 |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/5326663-Leonard-Bernstein-Kiri-Te-Kanawa-José-Carreras-Tatiana-Troyanos-Kurt-Ollmann-Marilyn-Horne-Leonard- |access-date=May 9, 2023|website=Discogs |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20231213195551/https://www.discogs.com/release/5326663-Leonard-Bernstein-Kiri-Te-Kanawa-Jos%C3%A9-Carreras-Tatiana-Troyanos-Kurt-Ollmann-Marilyn-Horne-Leonard- |archive-date= December 13, 2023 }}</ref> The album, featuring opera singers [[Kiri Te Kanawa]], [[José Carreras]], [[Marilyn Horne]], and [[Tatiana Troyanos]], was an international bestseller.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Leonard Bernstein conducting ''Westside Story''|author=Susesch Bayat|url=https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/leonard-bernstein-conducting-westside-story-©-susesch-bayat/YAF3A2cktkGOXA |access-date=May 9, 2023 |website=Google Arts & Culture |year=1988 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20231213200301/https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/leonard-bernstein-conducting-westside-story-%C2%A9-susesch-bayat/YAF3A2cktkGOXA |archive-date=December 13, 2023 }}</ref> An Emmy-nominated film ''[[The Making of West Side Story]]'' documented the recording process.<ref>{{IMDb title|tt0308495|The Making of West Side Story|(TV Movie 1985)}}</ref>

Other documentaries that Bernstein made during the 1980s include ''The Little Drummer Boy'',<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Little Drummer Boy|url=https://www.medici.tv/en/documentaries/bernstein-mahler-little-drummer-boy|url-access=subscription|access-date=May 9, 2023 |publisher=[[medici.tv]]}}</ref> which delved into the music of [[Gustav Mahler]], and ''The Love of Three Orchestras'',<ref>{{IMDb title|tt0258773|The Love of Three Orchestras|(TV Movie 1993)}}</ref> exploring his work with the New York, Vienna, and Israel Philharmonics.

''' Educational activities'''

Bernstein's nurturing experience at the Tanglewood Music Festival inspired him to use his international influence to recreate that environment for young musicians in the final years of his life.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Educator|url=https://leonardbernstein.com/about/educator |access-date=February 2, 2023 |website=leonardbernstein.com}}</ref> During summer 1987, Bernstein celebrated the 100th anniversary of [[Nadia Boulanger]] at the [[American Conservatory]] in Fontainebleau. Bernstein gave a master class inside the castle of Fontainebleau.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Marion Kalter |url=http://www.marionkalter.com/1986-2/ |access-date=April 7, 2021 |website=marionkalter.com}}</ref>

''' Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute '''

In 1982, Bernstein, with [[Los Angeles Philharmonic]] general manager [[Ernest Fleischmann]] and University of Southern California professor [[Daniel Lewis (conductor)|Daniel Lewis]], co-founded the [[Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute]], a summer training academy inspired by Tanglewood. Bernstein served as artistic co-director and taught conducting classes for two summers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Constructive Force in Practical Music Education |url=https://www.laphil.com/about/watch-and-listen/a-constructive-force-in-practical-music-education |access-date=March 2, 2023 |website=LA Phil |language=en}}</ref> During that time, he performed and recorded American works, including some of his own, with the [[Los Angeles Philharmonic]] for Deutsche Grammophon.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bernstein Conducts Gershwin, Barber, and Copland (CD) |url=https://www.laphilstore.com/bernstein-conducts-gershwin-barber-and-copland-cd.html |access-date=March 2, 2023 |website=laphilstore.com |language=en}}</ref>

''' Orchestra Academy of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival '''

In May 1986, Bernstein conducted the [[Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra]] and Chorus for the inaugural concert of the [[Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival]], in a performance of Haydn's ''Die Schöpfung'' (''[[The Creation (Haydn)|The Creation]]''). He returned the following year when he founded the festival's Orchestra Academy, once again recreating the nurturing atmosphere of Bernstein's Tanglewood experience.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About the Festival Orchestra|url=https://www.shmf.de/en/about-orchestral-academy |access-date=March 2, 2023|publisher=[[Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival]]}}</ref> Over three summers, Bernstein took the students on international tours to Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Schleswig Holstein Musik Festival {{!}} Educator {{!}} About {{!}} Leonard Bernstein |url=https://leonardbernstein.com/about/educator/schleswig-holstein-musik-festival |access-date=March 2, 2023 |website=leonardbernstein.com}}</ref>

To commemorate Bernstein's legacy as an educator and founder of the Orchestra Academy, the festival created the Leonard Bernstein Award in 2002, which has honored young musicians including [[Lang Lang]], [[Jonathan Biss]], and [[Alisa Weilerstein]], among many others.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sparkassen- und Giroverband für Schleswig-Holstein {{!}} Leonard Bernstein Award |url=https://www.sgvsh.de/engagement/kunst-kultur/leonard-bernstein-award |access-date=March 2, 2023 |website=www.sgvsh.de}}</ref>

''' Founding of the Pacific Music Festival '''

In 1990, Bernstein's final summer, he founded the [[Pacific Music Festival]] in Sapporo, Japan with [[Michael Tilson Thomas]] and the [[London Symphony Orchestra]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=What is PMF? {{!}} PMF Organizing Committee |url=https://www.pmf.or.jp/en/about/ |access-date=March 2, 2023 |website=PMF |language=en}}</ref> The Festival's goal was to emphasize musical training for young students in the Pacific region.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1990–1999 {{!}} Archive |url=https://www.pmf.or.jp/en/archive/1990.html |access-date=March 2, 2023 |website=PMF }}</ref>

In his opening address, Bernstein said: "And my decision has been, without too much thought, to spend most of the remaining energy and time the Lord grants me in education and sharing, as much as possible, with younger people."<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=Bernstein Legacy Persists in Music-Education Video |magazine=[[The Christian Science Monitor]]|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/1993/0825/25141.html |access-date=March 2, 2023}}</ref> As artistic director, Bernstein worked with the students in that first summer, but had to cut his time short due to ill health.{{sfn|Burton|1995|page={{page needed|date=July 2023}}}}

''' Bernstein Education Through the Arts (BETA) Fund '''

In 1990, Bernstein received the [[Praemium Imperiale]], an international prize awarded by the Japan Arts Association for lifetime achievement in the arts. Bernstein used the $100,000 prize to establish The Bernstein Education Through the Arts (BETA) Fund.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.leonardbernstein.com/pfr/pfr_FALL05_rev2.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130601115140/http://www.leonardbernstein.com/pfr/pfr_FALL05_rev2.pdf |archive-date=June 1, 2013 |url-status=dead|title=Leonard Bernstein Center for Learning Moves to Gettysburg College|pages=1–2|magazine=Prelude, Fugue & Riffs|date=Fall–Winter 2005|publisher=The Leonard Bernstein Society}}</ref> He provided this grant to develop an arts-based education program. The Leonard Bernstein Center was posthumously established in April 1992, and initiated extensive school-based research, ultimately leading to the current Leonard Bernstein [[Artful Learning]] Program.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://webadrenaline.com/artful-2-3-04/about/mission.html |title=History of the Leonard Bernstein Center for Learning |access-date=January 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150102155050/http://webadrenaline.com/artful-2-3-04/about/mission.html |archive-date=January 2, 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Personal life==
{{stack|[[File:Leonard and Felicia Bernstein leaving for Israel, 1957 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Leonard and Felicia Bernstein leaving for Israel, 1957]]}}
Bernstein had two younger siblings, Shirley and Burton.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bernstein |first=Shirley |title=Family matters, Sam, Jennie, and the kids |year=1982 |publisher=1982 |isbn=0671422766}}</ref> The three children lived with their parents, Samuel and Jennie, in the suburbs of [[Boston]], Massachusetts, in a community of mostly [[Eastern European Jewish]] immigrants.{{sfn|Shawn|2014|pp=15-20}}

Bernstein had [[asthma]], and the condition kept him from serving in the military during World War II.<ref>{{cite web |title=Leonard Bernstein, A Total Embrace of Music, Classical Notes, Peter Gutmann |url=http://www.classicalnotes.net/features/bernstein.html |website=classicalnotes.net}}</ref>
[[File:Leonard Bernstein and family, Fairfield, CT 1966.png|thumb|right|Bernstein with his wife (Felicia) and three children at their Fairfield, Connecticut home, 1966]]
Bernstein married actress [[Felicia Montealegre]] on September 9, 1951.{{sfn|Burton|1995|page=212}} They had three children: Jamie, Alexander, and Nina.{{sfn|Peyser|1987|pp=196, 204, 322}} The Bernstein family lived in New York City and [[Fairfield, Connecticut]], and maintained a close-knit atmosphere surrounded by extended family and friends.<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 9, 2023 |title=At Home with Jamie Bernstein|author=Allegra Anderson|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2023/05/09/realestate/at-home-with-jamie-bernstein.html |access-date=June 26, 2023}}</ref> The family owned a house in [[Redding, Connecticut]], which they sold in 1964.<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 1, 1964 |title=Leonard Bernstein Sells House|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/10/01/archives/leonard-bernstein-sells-house.html |access-date=November 26, 2023}}</ref> Bernstein had a studio with a piano in each of his dwellings. The contents of his former studio at Fairfield, Connecticut are housed at the [[Indiana University Jacobs School of Music]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bernstein Collection|website=[[William and Gayle Cook Music Library]]|url=https://music.indiana.edu/about/cook-music-library/bernstein.html|access-date=June 26, 2023|publisher=[[Jacobs School of Music]], Indiana University Bloomington}}</ref>

Throughout his life, Bernstein had [[affair]]s with both men and women. In April 1943, he sought advice from [[Aaron Copland]] about living as a gay man in the public eye, a notion he brought up again in a letter to [[David Oppenheim (musician)|David Oppenheim]] in July of that year.{{sfn|Simeone|2013|page=133}} In a private letter written after their marriage, Felicia acknowledged her husband's sexual orientation. She wrote him: "You are a homosexual and may never change – you don't admit to the possibility of a double life, but if your peace of mind, your health, your whole nervous system depend on a certain sexual pattern what can you do?"<ref>{{Cite web |title=Felicia Bernstein to Leonard Bernstein, n.d. |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/musbernstein.100060233/ |access-date=June 26, 2023 |publisher=Library of Congress |location=Washington, D.C.}}</ref>{{sfn|Simeone|2013|page=294}}

In 1976, Bernstein left Felicia for a period to live in Northern California with [[Tom Cothran]], a music scholar who had assisted him on research for the [[The Unanswered Question (lecture series)|Charles Eliot Norton Lectures that Bernstein delivered at Harvard]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Swed |first=Mark|author-link=Mark Swed|date=November 1, 1999 |title=Invoking Spirit of Bernstein |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-nov-01-ca-28507-story.html |access-date=June 26, 2023 |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Leonard Bernstein a gay man who dabbled in the straight world |url=http://gayinfluence.blogspot.com/2011/07/leonard-bernstein.html |access-date=November 20, 2015 |date=July 12, 2011}}</ref> The following year, Felicia was diagnosed with lung cancer. Bernstein moved back in with her and cared for her until her death on June 16, 1978.{{sfn|Burton|1995|pages=441-442,445-446}}

Bernstein continued to have relationships with men until his death on October 14, 1990.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bernstein |first=Jamie |title=Famous father girl: a memoir of growing up Bernstein |date=2018 |publisher=Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers |isbn=978-0-06-264135-9 |edition=First |location=New York, NY}}</ref>

When he was not composing and conducting, Bernstein enjoyed skiing, playing tennis, and engaging in all manner of word games, especially [[anagram]]s.{{sfn|Burton|1995|loc=''passim''}}

==Death and legacy==
Bernstein announced his retirement from conducting on October 9, 1990.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://themusicsover.wordpress.com/2009/10/14/leonard-bernstein/ |title=Died On This Date (October 14, 1990) Leonard Bernstein / World Renowned Composer The Music's Over |date=October 14, 2009 |access-date=May 3, 2012}}</ref> He died five days later at the age of 72, in his New York apartment at [[The Dakota]], of a heart attack brought on by [[mesothelioma|pleural tumor]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9eEPAQAAQBAJ&q=leonard+bernstein+mesothelioma&pg=PA29 |title=The Tombstone Tourist: Musicians |first=Scott |last=Stanton |date=September 1, 2003 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |via=Google Books |isbn=978-0-7434-6330-0}}</ref><ref name="obit">{{cite news |last=Henahan |first=Donal |author-link=Donal Henahan |date=October 15, 1990 |title=Leonard Bernstein, 72, Music's Monarch, Dies|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/15/obituaries/leonard-bernstein-72-music-s-monarch-dies.html|access-date=December 24, 2023}}</ref><ref name="Barnes">{{cite web | last=Barnes | first=Bart | title=Conductor Leonard Bernstein dies at 72 | website=[[The Washington Post]] | date=October 15, 1990 | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1990/10/15/conductor-leonard-bernstein-dies-at-72/03a60013-4a1d-4d0c-a0a6-131d3215133c/ | access-date=October 4, 2025}}</ref> A longtime heavy smoker, Bernstein had [[emphysema]] from his mid-50s. On the day of his funeral procession through the streets of Manhattan, construction workers removed their hats and waved, calling out "Goodbye, Lenny".<ref name="reaching">See the TV Documentary, ''Leonard Bernstein: Reaching for the Note'', originally shown in the series ''[[American Masters]]'' on PBS in the U.S., now on DVD.</ref> Bernstein is buried near the summit of [[Battle Hill (Brooklyn)|Battle Hill]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.green-wood.com/2009/alec-baldwin-leonard-bernstein/|title=Alec Baldwin on Leonard Bernstein|author=Jeff Richman|date=September 16, 2009|access-date=December 24, 2023}}</ref> at [[Green-Wood Cemetery]] in Brooklyn, New York,<ref>Wilson, Scott. ''Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons'', 3rd ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 3707–3708). McFarland & Company. Kindle Edition.</ref> next to his wife and with a copy of the score of Mahler's [[Symphony No. 5 (Mahler)|Fifth Symphony]] lying across his heart.<ref>{{cite news |author-link=Peter G. Davis |last=Davis |first=Peter G. |date=May 17, 2011 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/18/opinion/18Davis.html |title=When Mahler Took Manhattan |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=August 28, 2018 |quote=Small wonder that Bernstein is buried with the score of Mahler's Fifth Symphony placed over his heart.}}</ref>

On August 25, 2018 (the 100th anniversary of his birth), Bernstein was honored with a [[Google Doodle]].<ref>[https://time.com/5378131/leonard-bernstein-google-doodle/ "Google Doodle Celebrates Leonard Bernstein's 100th Birthday with ''West Side Story'' Video"] by Annabel Gutterman, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', August 25, 2018; [https://doodles.google/doodle/leonard-bernsteins-100th-birthday/ "Leonard Bernstein's 100th Birthday"], Google, August 25, 2018.</ref> The [[Skirball Cultural Center]] in Los Angeles created an exhibition titled ''Leonard Bernstein at 100'' for his centennial.<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.skirball.org/exhibitions/leonard-bernstein-100|title = Leonard Bernstein at 100|date = August 17, 2017|access-date = November 22, 2019|archive-date = February 1, 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200201231202/https://www.skirball.org/exhibitions/leonard-bernstein-100|url-status = dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.laweekly.com/leonard-bernstein-at-100-exhibition-comes-to-skirball-cultural-center/ |title = 'Leonard Bernstein at 100' Exhibition Comes to Skirball Cultural Center|date = April 26, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/skirball-cultural-center-celebrates-leonard-bernstein-at-100-1106543 |title = Skirball Cultural Center Celebrates 'Leonard Bernstein at 100'|website = [[The Hollywood Reporter]]|date = April 27, 2018}}</ref>

[[Bradley Cooper]]'s drama film ''[[Maestro (2023 film)|Maestro]]'' (2023) chronicles the relationship between Bernstein (played by Cooper) and his wife, Felicia Montealegre (played by [[Carey Mulligan]]). Produced by [[Steven Spielberg]] and [[Martin Scorsese]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.classicfm.com/composers/bernstein-l/maestro-movie-trailer-bradley-cooper/|title=First ''Maestro'' movie trailer starring Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein finally released|author=Maddy Shaw Roberts|website=[[Classic FM (UK)]]|date=August 15, 2023|access-date=August 19, 2023}}</ref> the film premiered at the [[Venice International Film Festival]]. As the Spotlight Gala feature of the 61st [[New York Film Festival]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.filmlinc.org/nyff2023/films/maestro/|title=Maestro|website=[[Film at Lincoln Center]]|access-date=October 3, 2023}}</ref> it was the first film presentation at the recently renovated [[David Geffen Hall]] in [[Lincoln Center]], which was also where Bernstein had conducted as music director of the New York Philharmonic from its opening as Philharmonic Hall in 1962 until 1969.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/bradley-cooper-desperately-wanted-maestro-venice-premiere-1234899896/|title= Bradley Cooper 'Desperately' Wanted ''Maestro'' to Premiere at Venice, Says Festival Director|website= [[IndieWire]]|date= August 28, 2023|access-date= August 28, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.filmlinc.org/nyff2023/daily/bradley-cooper-maestro-announced-as-spotlight-gala-of-the-61st-new-york-film-festival/|title= Bradley Cooper's ''Maestro'' Announced as Spotlight Gala of the 61st New York Film Festival|website= Film at Lincoln Center|date= August 16, 2023|accessdate= August 28, 2023}}</ref>

Bernstein sought to make music both intelligible and enjoyable to all. Through his educational efforts, including several books and the creation of two major international music festivals, Bernstein influenced several generations of young musicians.
{{Gallery
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|File:Leonard Bernstein Grave, Sunset, Green-Wood Cemetery.jpg
 |Bernstein's grave in Green-Wood Cemetery
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 |Place Léonard-Bernstein, a square in the [[12th arrondissement of Paris]]
}}

==Social activism and humanitarian efforts==
Since earliest adulthood, Bernstein was committed to furthering social change and making the world a better place.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Humanitarian {{!}} About {{!}} Leonard Bernstein |url=https://leonardbernstein.com/about/humanitarian |access-date=September 8, 2023 |website=leonardbernstein.com}}</ref> Throughout his life, Bernstein fought for a variety of political and humanitarian causes, from the [[civil rights movement]] to the [[Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War|Vietnam War protests]] to [[nuclear disarmament]] to advocacy during the AIDS crisis.<ref>{{cite web |author=Bernstein:The Best of All Possible Worlds |title=Causes and Effecting Change |url=http://www.carnegiehall.org/bernstein/leonardbernstein/essays/nr_socialactivist.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101224044931/http://www.carnegiehall.org/bernstein/leonardbernstein/essays/nr_socialactivist.html |archive-date=December 24, 2010 }}</ref>

Bernstein's first public efforts for social change became apparent in 1939 when, as a college student at Harvard, he organized and led a performance of [[Marc Blitzstein]]'s recently banned musical, ''[[The Cradle Will Rock]]'', about the struggles of the working class.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Cradle Will Rock |url=http://usopera.com/operas/cradle.html |access-date=September 8, 2023 |website=usopera.com}}</ref>

=== FBI file ===
Bernstein was involved in numerous left-wing causes and organizations since the 1940s, at which time the FBI began its decades-long monitoring of Bernstein's activities "for his ties to communist organizations."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Leonard Bernstein |url=https://vault.fbi.gov/leonard-bernstein |access-date=September 8, 2023 |website=FBI |language=en-us}}</ref> In the 1980s, through the Freedom of Information Act, he was able to view his FBI file, which was over 800 pages long.<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Ross|first=Alex|author-link=Alex Ross (music critic)|date=April 13, 2009 |title=Bernstein and the F.B.I.|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/bernstein-and-the-f-b-i |access-date=September 8, 2023}}</ref> In the early 1950s, he was briefly blacklisted by the [[United States Department of State]] and [[CBS]], but he was never asked to testify before the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]].{{sfn|Seldes|2009|p=50}}

=== Civil rights ===
Bernstein expressed his support of civil rights in the United States in numerous ways. Some examples include multiracial casting in ''[[On the Town (musical)|On the Town]]'' in the 1940s, instigating blind auditions at the New York Philharmonic in the 1960s and the robust support of artists of color in classical music.<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 19, 2019 |title=Leonard Bernstein's Black America {{!}} WQXR Features |url=https://www.wqxr.org/story/leonard-bernsteins-black-america |access-date=December 5, 2023 |publisher=[[WQXR-FM|WQXR]]}}</ref>

On March 24, 1965, at the invitation of [[Harry Belafonte]], Bernstein participated in the Stars for Freedom Rally, a star-studded performance in support of the marchers heading from [[Selma to Montgomery marches|Selma to Montgomery]] to demand voting rights. The next day, [[Martin Luther King Jr.]], the leader of the march, delivered one of his most famous speeches, "[[How Long, Not Long]]".<ref name=Alabama />

==== "Radical Chic" ====
On January 14, 1970, Bernstein and his wife Felicia held an event at their Manhattan apartment seeking to raise awareness and funds for the defense of members of the [[Black Panther Party]], known as the [[Panther 21]].<ref name="loc2010">{{cite web |title=Radical Chic |url=http://myloc.gov/Exhibitions/hopeforamerica/causesandcontroversies/polarization/ExhibitObjects/RadicalChic.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725171227/http://myloc.gov/Exhibitions/hopeforamerica/causesandcontroversies/polarization/ExhibitObjects/RadicalChic.aspx |archive-date=July 25, 2012 |access-date=December 12, 2010 |work=Hope for America: Performers, Politics and Pop Culture |publisher=Library of Congress}}</ref> ''[[The New York Times]]'' initially covered the gathering in its society section, but later published an editorial harshly unfavorable to Bernstein.<ref name="nyt_false_note">{{cite news|title=False Note on Black Panthers|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/01/16/archives/false-note-on-black-panthers.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 16, 1970|page=38}}</ref><ref name="nymag_html">{{cite web |last=Wolfe |first=Tom |author-link=Tom Wolfe |id="Tom Wolfe on Radical Chic and Leonard Bernstein's Party for the Black Panthers" |url= https://nymag.com/news/features/46170/index15.html |title=Radical Chic: That Party at Lenny's |work=[[New York (magazine)|New York]] |date=April 15, 2008 |access-date=December 11, 2010}}</ref>

The story became widely publicized, climaxing in June of that year with the appearance of "[[Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers|Radical Chic: That Party at Lenny's]]", a cover story by journalist [[Tom Wolfe]] in ''[[New York Magazine]]''.<ref name="nymag1970">{{cite news |url=https://nymag.com/docs/07/05/070529radical_chic.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221010/https://nymag.com/docs/07/05/070529radical_chic.pdf |archive-date=October 10, 2022 |url-status=live |title=Radical Chic: that Party at Lenny's |last=Wolfe |first=Tom |author-link=Tom Wolfe |date=June 8, 1970 |work=[[New York (magazine)|New York]] |access-date=March 1, 2010}}</ref> The article led to the popularization of the pejorative term "[[radical chic]]".<ref name="economist2009">{{cite news |title=Leonard Bernstein: A political life |url=https://www.economist.com/culture/2009/05/28/a-political-life |newspaper=[[The Economist]]|access-date=December 12, 2010 |date=May 28, 2009}}</ref> Bernstein and his wife Felicia received hate mail, and their building was picketed by [[Jewish Defense League]] protesters. Bernstein's FBI file later revealed that the Bureau had generated the letters, and had implanted agents to make the protests look more substantial.<ref name="nyt_letter">{{cite news|last=Bernstein|first=Felicia M.|author-link=Felicia Montealegre Bernstein|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1970/01/21/79095992.html?pageNumber=46|title=Letters to the Editor of ''The Times'': Panthers' Legal Aid|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|page=46|date=January 21, 1970}}</ref><ref name="carnegie_best">{{cite web |title=The Social Activist |url=http://www.carnegiehall.org/bernstein/leonardbernstein/socialactivist.aspx |work=Bernstein: The Best of All Possible Worlds |publisher=[[Carnegie Hall]] Corporation |access-date=December 12, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101223194131/http://www.carnegiehall.org/bernstein/leonardbernstein/socialactivist.aspx |archive-date=December 23, 2010 }}</ref>

=== Anti-Vietnam war efforts ===
[[File:Program from "A Concert For Peace at Washington Cathedral," January 19, 1973.jpg|thumb|Program from "A Concert For Peace at Washington Cathedral", January 19, 1973]]
On January 21, 1968, Bernstein and [[Paul Newman]] co-hosted "Broadway for Peace" at Lincoln Center's Philharmonic Hall to support the Congressional Peace Campaign Committee, which funded congressional campaigns opposing the Vietnam War. For the occasion, Bernstein composed a song, "[[So Pretty (song)|So Pretty]]", sung by [[Barbra Streisand]] accompanied by Bernstein on the piano.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Barbra Archives {{!}} Broadway For Peace 1968 Concert |url=https://www.barbra-archives.info/broadway-for-peace-1968 |access-date=December 5, 2023 |website=www.barbra-archives.info}}</ref>

On January 19, 1973, Bernstein conducted members of the [[National Symphony Orchestra]] in a "Concert of Peace" at the [[Washington National Cathedral]]. The free performance of Haydn's ''[[Mass in Time of War]]'', which took place on the eve of the [[second inauguration of Richard Nixon]], was in protest of Nixon's failure to bring an end to the Vietnam War.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Episode 10: A Plea for Peace: Leonard Bernstein, Richard Nixon, and the Music of the 1973 Inauguration|website=The Echo Chamber|url=http://theechochamberpodcast.com/a-plea-for-peace-leonard-bernstein-richard-nixon-and-the-music-of-the-1973-inauguration/|access-date=December 5, 2023|archive-date=December 5, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231205195937/http://theechochamberpodcast.com/a-plea-for-peace-leonard-bernstein-richard-nixon-and-the-music-of-the-1973-inauguration/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Rostropovich and the Soviet Union ===
Bernstein played a key role in the release of renowned cellist and conductor [[Mstislav Rostropovich]] from the [[USSR]] in 1974. Rostropovich, a strong believer in free speech and democracy, had been officially held in disgrace; his concerts and tours both at home and abroad cancelled; and in 1972 he was prohibited to travel outside of the Soviet Union. During a trip to the USSR in 1974, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts [[Ted Kennedy]] and his wife [[Joan Bennett Kennedy|Joan]], urged by Bernstein and others in the cultural sphere, mentioned Rostropovich's situation to [[Leonid Brezhnev]], the Soviet Union Communist Party Leader. Two days later, Rostropovich was granted his exit visa.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kennedy |first=Joan |title=The Joy of Classical Music: A Guide for You and Your Family |date=September 1, 1994 |publisher=Main Street Books |isbn=978-0-385-41263-6 |edition=Reissue |location=New York |author-link=Joan Bennett Kennedy}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kennedy |first=Edward M. |url=https://archive.org/details/truecompassmemoi00kenn |title=True Compass : A Memoir |date=2009 |publisher=Twelve |isbn=978-0-446-53925-8 |edition=1st |location=New York |oclc=434905205 |author-link=Ted Kennedy}}</ref>

=== Nuclear disarmament ===
Bernstein was a committed and outspoken supporter of [[nuclear disarmament]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hope in the Nuclear Age {{!}} Speeches {{!}} Lectures/Scripts/Writings {{!}} Leonard Bernstein |url=https://leonardbernstein.com/lectures/speeches/hope-in-the-nuclear-age |access-date=September 29, 2023 |website=leonardbernstein.com}}</ref> In 1980, he gave a commencement speech at Johns Hopkins University warning the graduating class of the dangers of nuclear proliferation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Disarmament Activist {{!}} Humanitarian {{!}} About {{!}} Leonard Bernstein |url=https://leonardbernstein.com/about/humanitarian/disarmament-activist |access-date=September 29, 2023 |website=leonardbernstein.com}}</ref> In 1983, he dedicated the activities surrounding his 65th birthday to the issue of nuclear disarmament.{{sfn|Burton|1995|pages=471-472}} In 1985, he brought the [[European Community Youth Orchestra]] on a "Journey for Peace" tour across Europe and Japan, performing at the Hiroshima Peace Ceremony to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the bombing.{{sfn|Burton|1995|page=480}}

=== Advocacy for AIDS research and patient care ===
In the 1980s, Bernstein was frustrated that the [[Reagan Administration]] took so long to acknowledge the existence of the [[AIDS epidemic]], let alone provide resources for research and patient care.{{sfn|Seldes|2009|page=158}} Bernstein was galvanized to provide advocacy however he could. In a written statement for a June 1983 benefit for AIDS advocacy in Houston, Bernstein wrote: "AIDS is {{em|not}}, repeat {{em|not}}, the Gay Plague it is so often made out to be; it is part of the human condition, and must be universally researched and annihilated."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Image 1 of [statement for an AIDS benefit], 1983 June |url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/music.musbernstein-100020187/?sp=1&st=image |access-date=January 16, 2024 |website=Library of Congress}}</ref>

On April 30, 1983, at [[Madison Square Garden]] in New York City, Bernstein participated in one of the earliest HIV / AIDS fundraisers, which raised over $250,000 for the [[Gay Men's Health Crisis]] (GMHC). Bernstein conducted the [[Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus]] Orchestra with mezzo-soprano [[Shirley Verrett]] in "[[The Star-Spangled Banner]]".<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Ross|first=Alex|author-link=Alex Ross (music critic)|date=May 30, 2019 |title=Revisiting a Symphonic AIDS Memorial |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/revisiting-a-symphonic-aids-memorial |access-date=January 16, 2024|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]}}</ref>

On November 8, 1987, Bernstein participated in another event to benefit the Gay Men's Health Crisis. The concert at [[Carnegie Hall]], "Music for Life", was dedicated to Dr. [[Mathilde Krim]] and her work at the [[American Foundation for AIDS Research]] (amFAR).<ref>{{Cite web |title=AIDS Awareness & Funding for Research|url=https://leonardbernstein.com/about/humanitarian/aids-awareness-and-funding-for-research |access-date=February 14, 2024 |website=leonardbernstein.com}}</ref> Bernstein was joined by [[Leontyne Price]], [[Marilyn Horne]], [[Luciano Pavarotti]], and [[Yo-Yo Ma]], among others.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.carnegiehall.org/About/History/Performance-History-Search?q=&dex=prod_PHS_Newest_First&page=7&event=24070&start=562741200&end=567925200|access-date=January 16, 2024|title=Music for Life – Benefit Concert for Gay Men's Health Crisis|type=performance details|publisher=[[Carnegie Hall]]}}</ref>

On November 15, 1989, Bernstein refused the [[National Medal of Arts]] from President [[George H. W. Bush]] in protest against the revoked [[National Endowment for the Arts]] grant for a New York exhibit of AIDS-related art.<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 1, 2024 |title=Bernstein Rejects Medal in Arts Controversy|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1989/11/16/bernstein-rejects-medal-in-arts-controversy/8049c57a-7f0e-4adf-a036-3c429e36752b/ |access-date=February 14, 2024|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref>

=== Philanthropy ===
Bernstein funded a variety of fellowships, funds, and scholarships including ones at the [[Tanglewood Music Center]], [[Jacobs School of Music]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=Endowments & Scholarships: Leonard Bernstein Scholarship Fund|url=https://music.indiana.edu/giving/scholarships/scholarships-bernstein.html |access-date=September 29, 2023|publisher=[[Jacobs School of Music]]}}</ref> [[Brandeis University]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Leonard Bernstein Fellowship |url=https://www.brandeis.edu/admissions/affordability/scholarships-fellowships/bernstein.html |access-date=September 29, 2023 |website=brandeis.edu |language=en}}</ref> and the [[ASCAP Foundation]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The ASCAP Foundation Leonard Bernstein Award |url=https://www.ascapfoundation.org/ascapfoundation/programs/awards/leonard-bernstein-award |access-date=September 29, 2023}}</ref> Several of these funds were named for his late wife Felicia Montealegre, including scholarships at the [[Juilliard School]], [[Columbia University School of the Arts]], [[New York University Tisch School of the Arts]],<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Urquhart|first=Craig|title=The Quiet Legacy|pages=1, 5|magazine=Prelude, Fugue & Riffs|url=https://www.leonardbernstein.com/uploads/pages/files/PFR_1996_Autumn.pdf|access-date=September 29, 2023}}</ref> and the Felicia Montealegre Bernstein Fund of [[Amnesty International USA]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Leonard Bernstein and Amnesty International|author=John G. Healey|year=1992|url=https://leonardbernstein.com/about/humanitarian/human-rights-activist |access-date=September 29, 2023 |website=leonardbernstein.com}}</ref>

Bernstein had a lifelong interest in integrating the arts into general education. When he won the Japan Art Association's [[Praemium Imperiale]] award in 1990,<ref>{{cite web | title=Temple Emanuel | url=http://www.emanuelnyc.org/composer.php?composer_id=28 | access-date=October 12, 2011 | archive-date=November 25, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181125145523/http://www.emanuelnyc.org/composer.php?composer_id=28 | url-status=dead }}</ref> Bernstein used the $100,000 prize money to initiate a project in Nashville, Tennessee that would eventually lead to the current nationwide teaching model known as [[Artful Learning]].<ref>{{Cite news| last=Harrison | first=Eric | title=The maestro's legacy reverberates in Nashville : Leonard Bernstein's dream of creating a center that integrates the arts and the classroom is in full swing|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=October 11, 2011 | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-08-09-mn-22033-story.html | date=August 9, 1993}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/alexander-bernstein/leonard-bernsteins-artsba_b_3427779.html |title=Leonard Bernstein's Arts-Based Education Revolution |website=[[HuffPost]] |date=June 12, 2013 |access-date=June 12, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Artful Learning Model |url=http://www.leonardbernstein.com/artful_learning.htm |publisher=The Leonard Bernstein Center |access-date=February 7, 2015}}</ref>

== Influence and characteristics ==
=== As a conductor ===
[[File:Leonard Bernstein 3 Allan Warren.jpg|thumb|Leonard Bernstein rehearsing at the [[Royal Albert Hall]], London, 1973]]
Leonard Bernstein was one of the most significant conductors of the 20th century.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The 20 Greatest Conductors of All Time |url=https://www.classical-music.com/features/artists/20-greatest-conductors-all-time |access-date=November 10, 2023 |website=BBC Music Magazine |language=en}}</ref> He was held in high regard by musicians around the world, including the members of the [[New York Philharmonic]], which he led for eleven seasons; the [[Vienna Philharmonic]], where he received an honorary membership; the [[Boston Symphony Orchestra]], which he conducted principally at [[Tanglewood]] for over 50 years; the [[London Symphony Orchestra]], of which he was president; and the [[Israel Philharmonic Orchestra]], where he appeared regularly as their guest conductor.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Orchestras Conducted {{!}} Conductor {{!}} About {{!}} Leonard Bernstein |url=https://leonardbernstein.com/about/conductor/orchestras-conducted |access-date=November 10, 2023 |website=leonardbernstein.com}}</ref> Audiences worldwide eagerly anticipated Bernstein's performances, from New York to Tokyo to Caracas to Sydney.<ref>{{Cite news|author=Richard Halloran|date=September 6, 1974 |title=Bernstein Captivates Tokyo Audience|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/09/06/archives/bernstein-captivates-tokyo-audience-dances-on-podium-many-changes.html |access-date=November 10, 2023}}</ref>

In 1943, Bernstein's last-minute conducting debut in [[Carnegie Hall]] with the New York Philharmonic, which was broadcast live nationwide, caused him to become famous overnight. He soon became the first American-born, American-trained conductor to achieve international status, at a time when conductors traditionally came from Europe.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.carnegiehall.org/Explore/Articles/2023/08/30/Leonard-Bernsteins-Carnegie-Hall-Debut|title=Leonard Bernstein's Carnegie Hall Debut|access-date=November 10, 2023|publisher=[[Carnegie Hall]]}}</ref>

Bernstein's three major conducting mentors were [[Serge Koussevitzky]], [[Dimitri Mitropoulos]], and [[Fritz Reiner]].<ref name=GrammyMuseum>{{Cite web |date=May 22, 2020 |title=Revisit: Leonard Bernstein at 100|publisher=[[Grammy Museum]]|url=https://grammymuseum.org/museum-at-home/revisit-leonard-bernstein-at-100/ |access-date=February 14, 2024}}</ref> Bernstein's conducting was characterized by his physically expressive podium manner.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Tommasini|first=Anthony|author-link=Anthony Tommasini|date=August 23, 2018 |title=In Praise of Bernstein as Conductor: Movement That Mesmerized|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/23/arts/music/leonard-bernstein-conductor.html |access-date=November 10, 2023}}</ref> Orchestra members often remarked that Bernstein's every gesture conveyed a specific musical communication for them.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Newton Mansfield {{!}} Interview|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/archive/interview/newton-mansfield/ |access-date=November 10, 2023 |website=[[American Masters]]|publisher=[[PBS]]}}</ref>

Bernstein performed a wide classical music repertoire from the Baroque era to the music of his time.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Discography {{!}} Leonard Bernstein |url=https://www.leonardbernstein.com/discography |access-date=November 10, 2023 |website=www.leonardbernstein.com}}</ref> Bernstein conducted and recorded definitive interpretations of works by traditional composers such as Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, and Tchaikovsky; championed music by lesser known composers such as Mahler, Sibelius, and Nielsen; and advocated modern composers such as Stravinsky, Hindemith, Shostakovich, and Ligeti.<ref>{{cite book |last=Holmes |first=John L. |title=Conductors on Record |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=1982 |isbn=978-0-313-22990-9 |location=UK}}</ref> Bernstein programmed American composers everywhere in the world that he conducted, sharing the music of Gershwin, Copland, and Ives.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Peithman |first=Stephen |title=Composing or Conducting, Bernstein Created Music |url=https://www.capradio.org/121553 |access-date=November 10, 2023 |publisher=[[CapRadio]]}}</ref> He expanded the definitions of the genres that could be included in the concert hall by programming jazz, musical theater, and works from Latin America.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The American Musical Comedy {{!}} Omnibus {{!}} Television Scripts {{!}} Lectures/Scripts/Writings {{!}} Leonard Bernstein |url=https://leonardbernstein.com/lectures/television-scripts/omnibus/the-american-musical-comedy |access-date=November 10, 2023 |website=leonardbernstein.com}}</ref>

A skilled pianist, he often conducted piano concertos from the keyboard, including works by Gershwin, Mozart, Beethoven, and Ravel.<ref>{{YouTube|title=Bernstein in Paris – Ravel Piano Concerto No. 1 in G major, I. Allegramente (excerpt)|id=k2_ATgHmDsY}} {{retrieved|access-date=November 10, 2023}}</ref>

Bernstein was also an influential conducting teacher and mentor. During his many years at Tanglewood, Schleswig-Holstein and elsewhere, Bernstein directly influenced many young conductors, including [[Seiji Ozawa]], [[Claudio Abbado]], [[Lorin Maazel]], [[Marin Alsop]], [[Michael Tilson Thomas]], [[James DePreist]], [[Edo de Waart]], [[Eiji Oue]], [[JoAnn Falletta]], [[Yutaka Sado]], [[Maurice Peress]], [[Carl St. Clair]], [[John Mauceri]], [[Alexander Frey]], and [[Jaap van Zweden]].{{sfn|Laird|Lin|2019}}

=== As an educator ===
Bernstein's impact as an educator stretched far beyond his music students. Through the medium of television, Bernstein introduced millions of viewers worldwide to symphonic music. His ''[[Young People's Concerts|Young People's Concerts with the New York Philharmonic]]'' brought in younger viewers, while his ''[[Omnibus (American TV program)|Omnibus]]'', ''Ford Presents'', and ''Lincoln Presents'' brought musical concepts to general audiences.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chapin |first=Schuyler|author-link=Schuyler Chapin|date=Spring 1992 |title=The Television Journey |url=https://leonardbernstein.com/uploads/pages/files/PFR_1992_Spring.pdf |journal=Prelude, Fugue & Riffs |page=1|ref=none}}</ref>

In the 1950s, Bernstein taught at [[Brandeis University]] for several years, and founded their Festival of the Creative Arts, which the institution later named after him.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bernstein at Brandeis |url=https://www.brandeis.edu/arts/festival/history/bernstein-brandeis/index.html |access-date=April 3, 2024 |website=brandeis.edu}}</ref> Over the course of his career, Bernstein taught at numerous locations worldwide, including at the Tanglewood Institute, and founded three summer festivals of his own: [[Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute]], Orchestral Academy of the [[Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival]], and the [[Pacific Music Festival]].{{sfn|Burton|1995}}

=== As a composer ===
{{further|List of compositions by Leonard Bernstein}}
Bernstein's music combined genres and musical styles. He wove together elements of classical, [[jazz]], popular, [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]], [[Latin music|Latin]], [[Jewish music]], and more to create a musical fabric uniquely his own.<ref>{{Cite book|via=W. W. Norton & Company Study Space|chapter=Leonard Bernstein|chapter-url=https://wwnorton.com/college/music/enj10/complete/content/composers/brnstn.asp?chap=81|title=The Enjoyment of Music|author1=Kristine Forney|author2=Joseph Machlis|date=2007|edition=10th StudySpace|publisher=W. W. Norton|access-date=February 28, 2024|isbn=978-0-393-92888-4|archive-date=February 28, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240228165156/https://wwnorton.com/college/music/enj10/complete/content/composers/brnstn.asp?chap=81|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Bernstein's Jewish influences are clearly audible in both his symphonic and theatre works. Two of his symphonies, ''[[Symphony No. 1 (Bernstein)|Symphony No. 1: "Jeremiah"]]'' and ''[[Symphony No. 3 (Bernstein)|Symphony No. 3: "Kaddish"]]'', incorporated Hebrew texts and sources, as did his ''[[Chichester Psalms]]'', ''[[Hashkiveinu (Bernstein)|Hashkiveinu]]'', ''[[Four Sabras]]'', ''[[Ḥalil (Bernstein)|Halil]]'', and ''[[Dybbuk (ballet)|Dybbuk]]''. In two of his theatre works, ''[[Candide (operetta)|Candide]]'' and ''[[West Side Story]]'', the call of the [[shofar]] can clearly be heard in the score.<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Lessner |first=Joanne Sydney |date=March 5, 2018 |title=A Shofar Sounds in Leonard Bernstein's Work |url=https://www.hadassahmagazine.org/2018/03/05/shofar-sounds-leonard-bernsteins-work/ |access-date=April 3, 2024 |magazine=[[Hadassah Magazine]]}}</ref> Bernstein occasionally turned to Christian sources as well, for example in his ''[[Missa Brevis (Bernstein)|Missa Brevis]]'' and his theatre work ''[[Mass (Bernstein)|MASS]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|date=June 17, 2018 |title=Bernstein: Missa Brevis |url=https://londonconcertchoir.org/musical-works/bernstein-missa-brevis |access-date=April 3, 2024 |publisher=[[London Concert Choir]]}}</ref>

Among the 20th century composers who influenced Bernstein were [[Aaron Copland]], [[Igor Stravinsky]], [[Maurice Ravel]], [[George Gershwin]], and [[Marc Blitzstein]].<ref name=GrammyMuseum /> Bernstein's score for ''West Side Story'' incorporated multiple elements from classical, Latin-Caribbean, and bebop jazz.<ref>Baber, Katherine. ''Leonard Bernstein and the Language of Jazz'' (2019){{page needed|date=February 2024}}</ref> While his music was rooted in tonality, many of his works incorporated [[Twelve-tone technique|12-tone]] elements – from the atonal score of the ballet ''Dybbuk'' to his ''Symphony No. 3: "Kaddish"''.{{sfn|Gottlieb|2010|page=146}}

Bernstein's Broadway shows — ''West Side Story'', ''[[On the Town (musical)|On the Town]]'', ''[[Wonderful Town]],'' and ''Candide'' — as well as his theatre piece ''[[Mass (Bernstein)|MASS]]'' continue to be produced worldwide. In addition to his works for the stage, all three of his symphonies, his ''[[Serenade after Plato's "Symposium"|Serenade]]'', and his song cycles, including ''Songfest'' and ''Arias and Barcaroles'', are inspired by theatrical and literary sources. Bernstein himself said that virtually all his compositions "could in some sense be thought of as 'theatre' pieces".{{sfn|Rosen|1978}}

Bernstein's keen sense of rhythm lent his compositions readily to use for ballet and other dance forms. In addition to his own ballets — ''[[Fancy Free (ballet)|Fancy Free]]'', ''Facsimile'', and ''Dybbuk'' — and musicals, many works were choreographed in his lifetime, as well as afterward, for both stage and film. Choreographers of Bernstein's music include [[Jerome Robbins]], [[Alvin Ailey]], [[John Neumeier]], [[Alexei Ratmansky]], [[Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker]], [[Larry Keigwin]], and [[Justin Peck]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bernstein and Dance {{!}} Composer {{!}} About {{!}} Leonard Bernstein |url=https://leonardbernstein.com/about/composer/bernstein-and-dance |access-date=March 19, 2024 |website=leonardbernstein.com}}</ref>

The eclectic nature of Bernstein's music often generated criticism, particularly from the academic community of the mid-20th century where the [[Second Viennese School]] and its 12-tone approach held sway.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tommasini |first=Anthony |author-link=Anthony Tommasini |title=Critic's Notebook; When Bernstein Saw the Future |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/22/arts/critic-s-notebook-when-bernstein-saw-the-future.html|access-date=May 3, 2024|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=July 22, 1998 |pages=E1–E2}} [https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1998/07/22/992682.html?zoom=15.33 Facsimile]</ref> Bernstein received additional criticism for his theatre work ''MASS'', which some members of the Catholic Church considered offensive. The work's thinly veiled antiwar stance was enough to prevent President Richard Nixon from attending the premiere at the 1971 opening of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.{{sfn|Burton (Doubleday)|1994|pages=406-407}} While his eclecticism, as well as his fearlessness in taking on social issues, generated controversy in his lifetime, Bernstein is now considered a hero and role model for the next generation of composers.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hagen |first=Daron |year=2015 |title=Bernstein's Seemingly Simple Song |url=https://leonardbernstein.com/uploads/pages/files/PFR_2015_SS.pdf |journal=Prelude, Fugue & Riffs |pages=4}}</ref>

Despite frequent criticism in his lifetime, Bernstein's music has endured into the 21st century and is regularly performed, discussed, and recorded around the world. In 2008–09, his 90th anniversary year, Bernstein was the second-most frequently performed American composer (behind Aaron Copland).<ref>{{cite web |title=2008–2009 Season, Orchestra Repertoire Report |url=http://www.americanorchestras.org/images/stories/ORR_0809/ORR_0809.pdf |access-date=January 21, 2011 |publisher=League of American Orchestras}}{{Dead link|date=October 2022|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> In 2018, his centennial year, Bernstein was the third-most played composer worldwide for the year, alongside Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, and Brahms. That year, four of the five most-played concert works worldwide were Bernstein compositions: ''[[Symphonic Dances from West Side Story]]'', ''[[Overture to Candide]]'', ''[[Serenade after Plato's "Symposium"|Serenade (after Plato's Symposium)]]'', and ''[[Chichester Psalms]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Classical Music Statistics for 2018 |url=https://bachtrack.com/classical-music-statistics-2018 |access-date=March 19, 2024 |website=bachtrack.com |language=en}}</ref>

==Audio recordings==
Between 1945 and 1950, Bernstein recorded a variety of works for [[RCA Red Seal|RCA Victor]], primarily consisting of his own compositions and those of other American composers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra (Symphony Orchestra) – Short History |url=https://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/RCA-VSO.htm |access-date=July 17, 2023 |website=bach-cantatas.com}}</ref> During this time, he also recorded for [[Decca Records]] and Hargail Records.<ref name="Discography" /> His recordings for [[Decca Records]] contains some "musical analysis" recordings in a form similar to his ''Young People's Concerts''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.deutschegrammophon.com/en/catalogue/products/bernstein-the-1953-american-decca-recordings-40|title=BERNSTEIN The 1953 American Decca Recordings |website=Deutsche Grammophon}}</ref>

On April 2, 1956, Bernstein signed his first long-term contract with [[Columbia Masterworks|Columbia Records]] regarding services as conductor, piano soloist, and as commentator. Between 1956 and 1979, Bernstein recorded over 500 compositions for Columbia, 455 of which were recorded with the [[New York Philharmonic]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Leonard Bernstein |url=https://www.sonyclassical.com/artists/artist-details/leonard-bernstein |access-date=July 17, 2023 |website=sonyclassical.com |language=en}}</ref> Bernstein's typical pattern of recording at that time was to record major works in the studio immediately following the orchestra's subscription concerts or on one of the ''Young People's Concerts.'' Any spare studio time that remained was used to record short orchestral showpieces and other works.

In 1990, [[Sony Classical]] acquired Columbia/CBS Records. Between 1992 and 1993, Sony reissued and digitally remastered Bernstein's complete Columbia catalog as part of a 100-volume, 125-CD "Royal Edition", featuring watercolors by [[Charles, Prince of Wales]] on the covers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lenny's Back (Slight Return) The Bernstein Century Edition, Classical Notes, Peter Gutmann |url=http://www.classicalnotes.net/columns/bernstein.html |access-date=July 17, 2023 |website=classicalnotes.net}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Royal Edition |url=https://www.discogs.com/label/418701-The-Royal-Edition |access-date=July 17, 2023 |website=Discogs |language=en}}</ref>

Between 1997 and 2001, Sony issued the "Bernstein Century" series, which was a combination of new re-releases and items from the "Royal Edition".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Classical Net Review – Bernstein Century |url=http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/s/sny63154a.php |access-date=July 17, 2023 |website=Classical Net}}</ref> The rights to Bernstein's RCA Victor recordings became owned by Sony following its 2008 acquisition of [[Bertelsmann Music Group]] (BMG). The complete Bernstein Columbia and RCA Victor catalog was reissued on CD in a three-volume series of box sets (released in 2010, 2014, and 2018, respectively) comprising a total of 198 discs under the mantle "Leonard Bernstein Edition".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fazin |first=Leslie |title=Sony Classical Releases Limited Edition 60-CD Set to Honor Leonard Bernstein |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Sony-Classical-Releases-Limited-Edition-60CD-Set-to-Honor-Leonard-Bernstein-20101124 |access-date=July 17, 2023 |website=BroadwayWorld.com |language=en}}</ref>

In 1972, Bernstein made his first recording for [[Deutsche Grammophon]]: Bizet's ''Carmen''. On October 17, 1976, Bernstein made his first live recording on Deutsche Grammophon, leading to a 14-year collaboration until his death in 1990. The vast majority of the DG recordings were of live performances, which had become Bernstein's preferred approach to recording. From the 1970s onward, Bernstein's audio recordings were supplemented with films produced by Amberson Productions and [[Unitel GmbH & Co.KG|Unitel]], which were subsequently released on [[LaserDisc]] and DVD.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About {{!}} {{!}} Conductor {{!}} Deutsche Grammophon|author=Hans Weber|url=https://leonardbernstein.com/about/conductor/deutsche-grammophon |access-date=July 17, 2023 |website=leonardbernstein.com}} (as printed in the 1993 Spring issue of ''Prelude, Fugue & Riffs'')</ref>

Bernstein recorded for other labels as well. Notable exceptions include recordings of Gustav Mahler's ''[[Das Lied von der Erde|Song of the Earth]]'' and Mozart's [[Piano Concerto No. 15 (Mozart)|15th piano concerto]] and [[Symphony No. 36 (Mozart)|"Linz" symphony]] with the [[Vienna Philharmonic]] for [[Decca Records]] (1966); Berlioz's ''[[Symphonie fantastique]]'' and ''[[Harold en Italie]]'' (1976) for [[EMI]]; and Wagner's ''[[Tristan und Isolde]]'' (1981) for [[Philips Records]].<ref name="Discography" /> In total, Bernstein received 63 [[Grammy Award]] nominations and was awarded 16 Grammys in various categories, including for posthumously released recordings. He was awarded a [[Lifetime Achievement Grammy]] in 1985.<ref name=grammy />

==Musical works==
{{main|List of compositions by Leonard Bernstein}}

==Written works==
* {{cite book | last=Bernstein | first=Leonard | title=Findings | location=New York | publisher=Anchor Books | year=1993 | orig-year=1982 | isbn=978-0-385-42437-0|ref=none}}
* {{cite book | last=Bernstein | first=Leonard | title=The Infinite Variety of Music | location= New York | publisher=Anchor Books | year=1993 | orig-year=1966| isbn=978-0-385-42438-7|author-mask=1|ref=none}}
* {{cite book | last=Bernstein | first=Leonard | title=[[The Joy of Music]] | location=Pompton Plains, New Jersey | publisher=Amadeus Press | year=2004| orig-year=1959 | isbn=978-1-57467-104-9|author-mask=1|ref=none}}
* {{cite book | last=Bernstein | first=Leonard | title=Young People's Concerts | location=Milwaukee; Cambridge | publisher=Amadeus Press | year=2006|orig-year=1962 | isbn=978-1-57467-102-5|author-mask=1|ref=none}}
* {{cite book|last=Bernstein|first=Leonard|year=1976|url=http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674920019|title=The Unanswered Question: Six Talks at Harvard|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=0-674-92001-5|author-mask=1|ref=none}}
* {{cite book|last=Bernstein|first=Leonard|year=2013|url=https://yalebooks.co.uk/display.asp?K=9780300205442|title=The Leonard Bernstein Letters|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-20544-2|type=paperback|author-mask=1|ref=none|access-date=September 8, 2021|archive-date=September 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210908145956/https://yalebooks.co.uk/display.asp?K=9780300205442|url-status=dead}}

==Videography==
* ''The Unanswered Question: Six Talks at Harvard''. West Long Branch, New Jersey: Kultur Video. VHS {{ISBN|1-56127-570-0}}. DVD {{ISBN|0-7697-1570-2}}. (videotape of the [[Charles Eliot Norton Lectures]] given at Harvard in 1973.)
* ''Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts with the New York Philharmonic''. West Long Branch, New Jersey: Kultur Video. DVD {{ISBN|0-7697-1503-6}}.
* ''Bernstein on Beethoven: A Celebration in Vienna/Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 1''. West Long Branch, Kultur Video. DVD
* ''Leonard Bernstein: Omnibus&nbsp;– The Historic TV Broadcasts'', 2010, E1 Ent.
* {{cite AV media|title=Bernstein: Reflections|year=1978|last=Rosen|first=Peter|type=DVD|publisher=Euroarts}}
* ''Bernstein/Beethoven'' (1982), Deutsche Grammophon, DVD
* ''[[The Metropolitan Opera Centennial Gala]]'' (1983), Deutsche Grammophon, DVD 00440–073–4538
* ''Bernstein Conducts "West Side Story"'' (1985) (retitled ''The Making of West Side Story'' in re-releases) Deutsche Grammophon. DVD
* ''"The Rite of Spring" in Rehearsal'' (1996), Kultur, VHS
* [[Great Mass in C minor, K. 427 (film)|Mozart's ''Great Mass in C minor'', ''Exsultate, jubilate'' & ''Ave verum corpus'']] (1990), Deutsche Grammophon. DVD 00440–073–4240
* ''"Leonard Bernstein: Reaching for the Note"'' (1998) Documentary on his life and music. Originally aired on PBS's ''[[American Masters]]'' series. DVD

== Awards and honors ==
[[File:Leonard Bernstein in een ontspannen pose, Bestanddeelnr 921-6976.jpg|thumb|Leonard Bernstein receiving the [[Edison Award#Edison Classical Music Awards|Edison Classical Music Award]], 1968]]
{{Main|List of awards and nominations received by Leonard Bernstein}}

Over the course of his distinguished career, Bernstein has received seven [[Emmy Awards]], two [[Tony Awards]], and 16 [[Grammy Awards]] as well as a nomination for an [[Academy Award]].<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1955|title= The 27th Academy Awards|date= October 4, 2014|publisher= [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]]|accessdate= August 28, 2023}}</ref> Bernstein is also a member of both the [[American Theater Hall of Fame]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.theaterhalloffame.org/members.html#B |title=Members |website=Theater Hall of Fame}}</ref> and the [[Television Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.emmys.com/awards/hall-of-fame-honorees |title=Honorees |website=Television Academy |access-date=July 20, 2019 |archive-date=August 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190828154456/https://www.emmys.com/awards/hall-of-fame-honorees |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1998, Bernstein was inducted into the [[American Classical Music Hall of Fame]].;<ref>{{cite web |title=Bernstein, Leonard |url=https://classicalwalkoffame.org/view-inductees/?id=11 |website=[[American Classical Music Hall of Fame]] |access-date=March 4, 2024}}</ref> in 2015, he was inducted into the [[Legacy Walk]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/m/APPredirect.php?AID=53131 |title=Legacy Walk unveils five new bronze memorial plaques |author=Melissa Wasserman |date=October 14, 2015 |work=Windy City Times |access-date=January 15, 2016 |archive-date=April 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200421031425/http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/m/APPredirect.php?AID=53131 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* Fellow of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]], 1951<ref name=AAAS>{{cite web |title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter B |url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterB.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060618085806/http://amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterB.pdf |archive-date=June 18, 2006 |url-status=live |publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences| access-date=June 24, 2011}}</ref>
* Fellow at the [[MacDowell Colony|MacDowell]] 1962, 1970, 1972<ref>[https://www.macdowellcolony.org/artists/leonard-bernstein Leonard Bernstein] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200612005352/https://www.macdowellcolony.org/artists/leonard-bernstein |date=June 12, 2020 }}, [[MacDowell Colony]]</ref>
* [[Sonning Award|Sonning Award (Denmark)]], 1965
* [[Ditson Conductor's Award]], 1958
* [[George Peabody Medal]]&nbsp;– [[Johns Hopkins University]], 1980
* [[Ernst von Siemens Music Prize]], 1987
* [[Royal Philharmonic Society|Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal (UK)]], 1987
* [[Edward MacDowell Medal]], 1987<ref>{{cite news |title=MacDowell Medal winners 1960-2011 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-news/8447621/MacDowell-Medal-winners-1960-2011.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-news/8447621/MacDowell-Medal-winners-1960-2011.html |archive-date=January 11, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |website=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=April 13, 2011}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
* [[OMRI|Knight Grand Cross Order of Merit (Italy)]], 1989
* [[Grammy Award for Best Album for Children]]
* [[Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance]]
* [[Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance]]
* [[Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording]]
* [[Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Performance]]
* [[Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with orchestra)|Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance]]
* [[Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition]]
* [[Grammy Award for Best Classical Album]]
* [[Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award]]
* [[Tony Award for Best Musical]], 1953
* [[Special Tony Award]], 1969
* Japan Arts Association Lifetime Achievement Award
* Gramophone Hall of Fame entrant<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Leonard Bernstein (composer, conductor and pianist) |url=http://www.gramophone.co.uk/HallofFame/ArtistPage/Bernstein |magazine=[[Gramophone (magazine)|Gramophone]]}}</ref>
* Commandeur de la [[Légion d'honneur]], 1986

==References==
===Citations===
{{reflist}}

===Sources===
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* {{Cite book|last=Burton|first=Humphrey|author-link=Humphrey Burton|title=Leonard Bernstein|date=1995|location=London|publisher=Faber and Faber|isbn=978-0-571-17368-6|oclc=32510075}} {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Burton (Doubleday)|1994}}|reference=([https://archive.org/details/leonardbernstein00hump Doubleday edition (1994)])}}
* {{cite book|last=Chapin|first=Schuyler|author-link=Schuyler Chapin|title=Leonard Bernstein: Notes from a Friend|location=New York|publisher=Walker|year=1992|isbn=978-0-8027-1216-5|oclc=25787112|url=https://archive.org/details/leonardbernstein00chap|via=[[Internet Archive]]}}
* {{cite book|last=Gottlieb|first=Jack|year=2010|title=Working With Bernstein|publisher=Amadeus Press|isbn=978-1-57467-186-5}}
* {{cite book|last=Laird|first=Paul R.|author-link=Paul Laird|title=Leonard Bernstein: A Guide to Research|publisher=Routledge|location=New York|year=2002|isbn=978-0-8153-3517-7}}
* {{Cite book|last1=Laird|first1=Paul R.|last2=Lin|first2=Hsun|title=Historical Dictionary of Leonard Bernstein|date=2019|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-5381-1344-8|location=Lanham, Maryland|oclc=1084631326}}
* {{cite book|last=Peyser|first=Joan|author-link=Joan Peyser|title=Bernstein, a Biography|location=New York|publisher=Beech Tree Books/William Morrow|year=1987|isbn=978-0-688-04918-8|url=https://archive.org/details/bernsteinbiograp00peys}}
* {{cite book|last=Seldes|first=Barry|year=2009|title=Leonard Bernstein: The Political Life of an American Musician|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-25764-1}}
* {{cite book|last=Shawn|first=Allen|author-link=Allen Shawn|year=2014|title=Leonard Bernstein: An American Musician|series=Jewish Lives|location=New Haven, Connecticut|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-14428-4}}
* {{cite book|editor-last=Simeone|editor-first=Nigel|title=The Leonard Bernstein Letters|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2013|isbn=978-0-300-17909-5|oclc=861692638}}
{{div col end}}

==Further reading==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* Bernstein, Burton (1982). ''Family Matters: Sam, Jennie, and the Kids''. Simon & Schuster. {{ISBN|978-0-595-13342-0}}.
* {{cite book|editor1-last=Bernstein|editor1-first=Burton|editor2-last=Haws|editor2-first=Barbara|year=2008|title=Leonard Bernstein: American Original|location=New York|publisher=HarperCollins|others=Contains chapters by [[Alan Rich]], [[Paul Boyer (historian)|Paul Boyer]], [[Carol J. Oja]], [[Tim Page (music critic)|Tim Page]], Burton Bernstein, Jonathan Rosenberg, [[Joseph Horowitz]], [[Bill McGlaughlin]], James M. Keller, and [[John Adams (composer)|John Adams]]|isbn=978-0-06-153786-8|url=https://archive.org/details/leonardbernstein00burt|ref=none}}
* Bernstein, Jamie (2018). ''Famous Father Girl: A Memoir of Growing Up Bernstein''. HarperCollins Publishers. {{ISBN|978-0-06-264135-9}}.
* Bernstein, Shirley (1963). ''Making Music: Leonard Bernstein''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Press. {{ASIN|B0007E073Y}}.
* Briggs, John (1961). ''Leonard Bernstein: The Man, His Works and His World''. World Publishing Co. {{ISBN|978-1-163-81079-8}}.
* Burton, William W. (1995)''. Conversations about Bernstein''. New York: Oxford University Press, New York. {{ISBN|978-0-19-507947-0}}.
* Cone, Molly and Robert Galster (1970). ''Leonard Bernstein''. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co. {{ISBN|978-0-690-48786-2}}
* Ewen, David (1960). ''Leonard Bernstein, A Biography for Young People''. Philadelphia: Chilton Co. {{ISBN|978-1-376-19065-6}}
* Fluegel, Jane (ed.) (1991). ''Bernstein: Remembered: a life in pictures''. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers. {{ISBN|978-0-88184-722-2}}.
* Freedland, Michael (1987). ''Leonard Bernstein''. London, England: Harrap. Ltd. {{ISBN|978-0-245-54499-6}}.
* {{cite book|editor-last=Gottlieb|editor-first=Jack|title=Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts|edition=revised|location=New York|publisher=Anchor Books|year=1992|isbn=978-0-385-42435-6|url=https://archive.org/details/leonardbernstein0000bern|ref=none}}
* Green, Diane Huss (1963). ''Lenny's Surprise Piano''. San Carlos, California: Golden Gate Junior Books. {{ASIN|B0006AYE10}}.
* {{cite book |last=Gruen |first=John |author-link=John Jonas Gruen |year=1968 |title=The Private World of Leonard Bernstein |others=Photographs by [[Ken Heyman]] |location=New York |publisher=Viking Press |isbn=978-0-670-57855-9|ref=none}}
* Hurwitz, Johanna (1963). ''Leonard Bernstein: A Passion of Music''. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society. {{ISBN|978-0-8276-0501-5}}.
* Ledbetter, Steven (1988). ''Sennets & Tuckets, A Bernstein Celebration''. Boston: Boston Symphony Orchestra in association with David Godine Publisher. {{ISBN|978-0-87923-775-2}}.
* Reidy, John P. & Norman Richards (1967). ''People of Destiny: Leonard Bernstein''. Chicago: Children's Press. {{ASIN|B0092UTPIW}}.
* Robinson, Paul (1982). ''Bernstein (The Art of Conducting Series)''. New York: Vanguard Press. {{ASIN|B01K92K1OI}}.
* {{cite thesis|last=Rozen|first=Brian D.|title=The Contributions of Leonard Bernstein to Music Education: An Analysis of his 53 Young People's Concerts|type=PhD thesis|location=Rochester, New York|publisher=[[University of Rochester]]|year=1997|oclc=48156751|ref=none}}
* {{cite book|last=Secrest|first=Meryle|author-link=Meryle Secrest|year=1994|title=Leonard Bernstein – A Life|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|isbn=0-679-40731-6|url=https://archive.org/details/leonardbernstein00secr|ref=none}}
* [[Wolfe, Tom]] (1987). ''Radical Chic and Mau Mauing the Flak Catchers''. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux. {{ASIN|B01NAOARU3}}.
{{div col end}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Leonard Bernstein}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{Official website}}
* [https://www.sonyclassical.de/kuenstler/artist-products/Leonard-Bernstein Leonard Bernstein] at [[Sony Classical]]
* {{Discogs artist}}
* {{IMDb name}}
* {{IBDB name}}
* {{IOBDB name}}
* {{Playbill person}}
* {{The Interviews about|leonard-bernstein}}
* [https://brahms.ircam.fr/en/leonard-bernstein Leonard Bernstein] composer's entry on [[IRCAM]]'s database

===Archival records===
* [https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/eadmus.mu998001 Finding aid to the Leonard Bernstein collection, circa 1900–1995], [[Library of Congress]]
* [https://www.loc.gov/collections/leonard-bernstein/about-this-collection/ Leonard Bernstein Collection], [[Library of Congress]] (All available online)
* [https://crowd.loc.gov/campaigns/bernstein/ By the people: Writings By, From, and To Leonard Bernstein] {{--}} Completed transcription campaign of his papers launched by [[Library of Congress]]
* [https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/eadmus.mu013008 Mildred Spiegel Zucker collection of Leonard Bernstein correspondence and related materials, 1936–1991], [[Library of Congress]]
* [https://archives.nyphil.org/ New York Philharmonic Digital Archives] has original program pamphlets, program recordings, scores, images, and business documents (Available online)

{{Leonard Bernstein}}
{{West Side Story}}
{{NYPhil music directors}}
{{Navboxes
| title = [[List of awards and nominations received by Leonard Bernstein|Awards for Leonard Bernstein]]
| list =
{{Ernst von Siemens Music Prize}}
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{{Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award}}
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{{Léonie Sonning Music Prize laureates}}
{{Special Tony Award}}
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}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernstein, Leonard}}
[[Category:Leonard Bernstein| ]]
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