Leonard Bernstein

Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990) was the most charismatic American musician of the twentieth century, a phenomenon who refused to choose between his many gifts. He was a great conductor (music director of the New York Philharmonic, and a legendary Mahlerian), a brilliant pianist, a beloved music educator whose televised Young People’s Concerts taught a generation, and a composer who moved effortlessly between the concert hall and Broadway. His concert works include three symphonies, the Chichester Psalms and the theatre-piece Mass; on Broadway he created On the Town, Wonderful Town, Candide and, above all, West Side Story. What unites them is an irrepressible energy, a love of jazz and Latin rhythm, a gift for soaring melody, and a very American blend of sophistication and exuberance. Few musicians have ever communicated such sheer joy in music-making.