Leonard Bernstein (born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music teacher, writer, and humanitarian. He was considered one of the most important conductors of his time and the first American-born conductor to gain international recognition. Music critic Donal Henahan called Bernstein "one of the most extremely talented and successful musicians in American history." Bernstein received many honors, including seven Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, 16 Grammy Awards (including a Lifetime Achievement Award), and an Academy Award nomination. He was awarded the Kennedy Center Honor in 1981.

As a composer, Bernstein created music in many styles, such as symphonic and orchestral music, ballet, film and theater scores, choral works, opera, chamber music, and piano pieces. His works include the Broadway musical West Side Story, which is still performed worldwide and adapted into two films (1961 and 2021). He also composed three symphonies, Serenade (after Plato's Symposium) (1954) and Chichester Psalms (1965), the score for the film On the Waterfront (1954), and theater works such as On the Town (1944), Wonderful Town (1953), Candide (1956), and Mass (1971).

Bernstein was the first American-born conductor to lead a major American symphony orchestra. He directed the New York Philharmonic and conducted orchestras around the world, leaving behind many recordings. He played a key role in bringing the music of Gustav Mahler back into popularity, as he was deeply interested in Mahler’s work. Bernstein was also a skilled pianist and often conducted piano concertos from the keyboard. He introduced classical music to large audiences through television programs, such as Young People's Concerts with the New York Philharmonic.

Bernstein supported civil rights, opposed the Vietnam War, worked to end nuclear weapons, raised money for HIV/AIDS research, and promoted Janis Ian’s song Society’s Child, which discusses interracial love, on his CBS television show. He also participated in international efforts for human rights and world peace. Bernstein conducted Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony to honor the death of President John F. Kennedy and performed Hatikvah on Mt. Scopus in Israel after the Six-Day War. These events were recorded in a documentary called Journey to Jerusalem. He was part of the executive committee for Writers and Artists for Peace in the Middle East, a group that supported Israel. On Christmas Day, 1989, Bernstein conducted Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in Berlin to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall. Less than a year later, in October 1990, he died from a heart attack caused by mesothelioma in New York at the age of 72.

Early life and education

Leonard Bernstein was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, to Jewish parents from Russia and Ukraine named Jennie (born Resnick) and Samuel Joseph Bernstein. Both of his parents moved to the United States from Rivne, Russian Empire (now in Ukraine). His grandmother wanted his official name to be Louis, but his parents always called him Leonard. When he was 16, he legally changed his name to Leonard. Many people, including his friends, knew him as "Lenny."

His mother moved in with her parents in Lawrence near the end of her pregnancy with Leonard, her first child. Because Leonard was often sick as a baby, he stayed with his grandparents until he was strong enough to join his father in Boston. There, he attended William Lloyd Garrison School and later Boston Latin School, where he and a classmate named Lawrence F. Ebb wrote the class song. When Leonard was 15, the family moved to Newton, Massachusetts.

Samuel Bernstein became a wealthy businessman by owning the Samuel J. Bernstein Hair Company. During the 1920s and 1930s, his company had the only rights to sell the Frederick's Permanent Wave Machine in the United States.

In his early years, Leonard’s first exposure to music was at Congregation Mishkan Tefila, a synagogue in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood. When he was 10 years old, his Aunt Clara brought an upright piano to their home. Leonard asked for piano lessons and later studied with several teachers, including Helen Coates, who later became his secretary. During summers, the Bernstein family vacationed in Sharon, Massachusetts, where Leonard organized performances for neighborhood children, including plays like Bizet’s Carmen and Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore. He remained close to his younger siblings, Shirley and Burton, throughout his life.

Samuel initially did not support Leonard’s interest in music and refused to pay for his piano lessons. To earn money, Leonard taught piano lessons to neighborhood children. One of his students, Sid Ramin, became a lifelong friend and later worked with Bernstein as an orchestrator for West Side Story.

Over time, Samuel came to support Leonard’s musical interests, taking him to orchestral concerts during his teenage years and helping him study music. In May 1932, Leonard attended his first orchestral concert with the Boston Pops, conducted by Arthur Fiedler. There, he heard Ravel’s Boléro for the first time, which deeply impressed him.

On March 30, 1932, Leonard played Brahms’s Rhapsody in G minor at his first public piano performance at a recital at the New England Conservatory of Music. Two years later, he made his debut as a soloist with an orchestra, performing Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor with the Boston Public School Orchestra.

George Gershwin was one of Leonard’s strongest musical influences. When news of Gershwin’s death in July 1937 reached him, Leonard, who was working as a music counselor at a summer camp, played Gershwin’s Second Prelude during lunch as a tribute.

In 1935, Leonard enrolled at Harvard College, where he studied music with composers Edward Burlingame Hill and Walter Piston. His first known composition, Psalm 148 for voice and piano, was written in 1935. He majored in music and completed a senior thesis titled The Absorption of Race Elements into American Music (1939; later published in his book Findings). At Harvard, he was influenced by professor David Prall and became friends with future philosopher Donald Davidson. Bernstein composed the music for Davidson’s production of the Greek play The Birds and reused parts of this music in later works. While at Harvard, he also composed for the Harvard Glee Club, briefly served as its president, and played piano for silent film screenings.

Bernstein directed a student production of The Cradle Will Rock, performing from the piano as the composer Marc Blitzstein had done during the premiere. Blitzstein, who attended the performance, later became a close friend and mentor to Bernstein. As a sophomore at Harvard, Bernstein met conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos, who influenced his decision to become a conductor. Mitropoulos invited Bernstein to be his assistant in Minneapolis for the 1940–41 season, but the plan did not happen due to union issues. In 1937, Bernstein sat next to Aaron Copland at a dance recital in New York City. Copland invited Bernstein to his birthday party, where Bernstein impressed guests by playing Copland’s difficult Piano Variations. Although Bernstein was never a formal student of Copland, he often sought his advice and considered him "the closest thing to a composition teacher [he] ever had." Bernstein graduated from Harvard in 1939 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude.

Curtis Institute of Music

After graduating from Harvard, Bernstein enrolled at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. At Curtis, he studied conducting with Fritz Reiner, piano with Isabelle Vengerova, orchestration with Randall Thompson, counterpoint with Richard Stöhr, and score reading with Renée Longy-Miquelle. In 1940, Bernstein attended the first year of the Berkshire Music Center, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. There, he studied conducting with the BSO’s music director, Serge Koussevitzky, who became a lifelong inspiration. Bernstein became Koussevitzky’s conducting assistant at Tanglewood and later dedicated his Symphony No. 2: The Age of Anxiety to him. A classmate at Curtis and Tanglewood was Lukas Foss, who remained a lifelong friend and colleague. Bernstein returned to Tanglewood nearly every summer for the rest of his life to teach and conduct young musicians. In 1941, Bernstein received a diploma in conducting from Curtis.

Career

After leaving Curtis, Bernstein moved to New York City and lived in several apartments in Manhattan. He earned money by teaching singers, giving piano lessons, and playing piano for dance classes at Carnegie Hall. He worked for Harms-Witmark, writing down jazz and pop music and publishing his work under the fake name "Lenny Amber." (The word "Bernstein" means "amber" in German.)

Bernstein briefly shared an apartment in Greenwich Village with his friend Adolph Green. Green was part of a satirical music group called The Revuers, which included Betty Comden and Judy Holliday. Bernstein sometimes played piano for their performances. The Revuers often performed at the famous jazz club the Village Vanguard. On April 21, 1942, Bernstein gave the first performance of his first published work, Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, with clarinetist David Glazer at the Institute of Modern Art in Boston.

Later, Bernstein made his first major conducting appearance with the New York Philharmonic. On November 14, 1943, he conducted a concert at short notice after guest conductor Bruno Walter became ill. The concert included music by Robert Schumann, Miklós Rózsa, Richard Wagner, and Richard Strauss.

The next day, The New York Times reported the event on its front page and called it a "good American success story." Many newspapers across the country covered the story, and the concert was broadcast live on CBS Radio Network, which helped make Bernstein famous. Over the next two years, Bernstein conducted with ten different orchestras in the United States and Canada, expanding his musical knowledge and continuing to perform concertos from the piano.

On January 28, 1944, Bernstein conducted the premiere of his Symphony No. 1: Jeremiah with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and soloist Jennie Tourel. In the fall of 1943, Bernstein and Jerome Robbins began working on their first collaboration, Fancy Free, a ballet about three sailors on leave in wartime New York City. Fancy Free premiered on April 18, 1944, with the Ballet Theatre (now the American Ballet Theatre) after Bernstein completed the score in eight days. The ballet had scenery by Oliver Smith and costumes by Kermit Love.

Bernstein and Robbins later expanded Fancy Free into a musical and invited Comden and Green to write the book and lyrics. On the Town opened on Broadway on December 28, 1944. The show was popular during World War II and broke race barriers on Broadway, featuring a Japanese-American dancer in a leading role, a multiracial cast, and a Black concertmaster who later became the show’s music director. On the Town became an MGM movie in 1949, starring Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Jules Munshin. Only part of Bernstein’s score was used in the film, and additional songs were added by Roger Edens.

From 1945 to 1947, Bernstein was the music director of the New York City Symphony, which had been founded the previous year by conductor Leopold Stokowski. The orchestra offered modern programs and affordable tickets with support from Mayor Fiorello La Guardia. In 1946, Bernstein made his first overseas appearance with the Czech Philharmonic at the Prague Spring International Music Festival. He also recorded Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major as both soloist and conductor with the Philharmonia Orchestra. On July 4, 1946, Bernstein conducted the European premiere of Fancy Free with the Ballet Theatre at the Royal Opera House in London. On August 6, he conducted opera for the first time, performing the American premiere of Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes at Tanglewood. 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.

In 1947, Bernstein conducted in Tel Aviv for the first time, beginning a long relationship with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, then called the Palestine Symphony Orchestra. The next year, he performed an open-air concert for Israeli troops in the desert during the Arab-Israeli war. In 1957, he conducted the first concert at the Mann Auditorium in Tel Aviv. In 1967, he performed a concert on Mount Scopus to celebrate the Reunification of Jerusalem, featuring Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 and Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with soloist Isaac Stern. The city of Tel Aviv honored Bernstein by naming a square in the city center after him. On December 10, 1949, Bernstein made his first television appearance as conductor with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. The concert celebrated the first anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly’s approval of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and included the premiere of Aaron Copland’s Preamble for a Solemn Occasion, narrated by Laurence Olivier. The concert was televised by NBC. In April 1949, Bernstein performed as piano soloist in the world premiere of his Symphony No. 2: The Age of Anxiety with Koussevitzky conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra. On December 2, 1949, Bernstein conducted the world premiere of Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Symphonie with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the New York premiere took place in Carnegie Hall on December 10. Part of the rehearsal was recorded and released by the orchestra. When Koussevitzky died in 1951, Bernstein became head of the orchestra and conducting departments at Tanglewood.

The 1950s were the busiest years of Bernstein’s career. He created five new works for Broadway, composed several symphonic pieces, and an iconic film score. He was also named music director of the New York Philharmonic, leading the orchestra on worldwide tours, including concerts behind the Iron Curtain. Bernstein used television to teach audiences about music and married, starting a family. In 1950, he composed music for a Broadway production of Peter Pan, which opened on April 24, 1950, and

Personal life

Leonard Bernstein had two younger brothers and sisters, Shirley and Burton. He lived with his parents, Samuel and Jennie, in the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts, in a neighborhood where many people were Eastern European Jewish immigrants.

Bernstein had asthma, which prevented him from joining the military during World War II. Because of this, he was classified as 4-F and felt troubled by his inability to serve.

Bernstein married actress Felicia Montealegre-Cohn on September 9, 1951. Together, they had three children: Jamie, Alexander, and Nina. The Bernstein family lived in New York City and Fairfield, Connecticut, and kept a close family environment with many relatives and friends nearby. They owned a home in Redding, Connecticut, which they sold in 1964. Bernstein had a studio with a piano in every home he lived in. Items from his old studio in Fairfield, Connecticut, are now kept at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

Throughout his life, Bernstein had relationships with both men and women. In April 1943, he asked Aaron Copland for advice about living as a gay man in the public eye. He mentioned this again in a letter to David Oppenheim in July of the same year. After their marriage, Felicia wrote a personal letter to Bernstein, acknowledging his sexual orientation. She wrote: "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?"

In 1976, Bernstein left Felicia for a while to live in Northern California with Tom Cothran, a music scholar who helped him with research for the Charles Eliot Norton Lectures Bernstein gave at Harvard. The next year, Felicia was diagnosed with lung cancer. Bernstein returned to live with her and cared for her until her death on June 16, 1978.

Bernstein continued to have relationships with men until his death on October 14, 1990.

When he was not composing or conducting, Bernstein enjoyed skiing, playing tennis, and playing word games, especially anagrams.

Death and legacy

Bernstein announced his retirement from conducting on October 9, 1990. He passed away five days later at the age of 72 in his New York apartment at the Dakota due to a heart attack caused by a pleural tumor. A long-time heavy smoker, Bernstein had emphysema beginning in his mid-50s. On the day of his funeral procession through Manhattan, construction workers removed their hats and waved, saying "Goodbye, Lenny." Bernstein is buried near the top of Battle Hill at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York, next to his wife, with a copy of the score of Mahler's Fifth Symphony placed across his heart.

On August 25, 2018, which marked the 100th anniversary of his birth, Bernstein was honored with a Google Doodle. The Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles created an exhibition titled Leonard Bernstein at 100 to celebrate his centennial.

Bradley Cooper's drama film Maestro (2023) tells the story of Bernstein (played by Cooper) and his wife, Felicia Montealegre (played by Carey Mulligan). Produced by Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese, the film premiered at the Venice International Film Festival. It was shown as the Spotlight Gala feature of the 61st New York Film Festival, becoming the first film presentation at the recently renovated David Geffen Hall in Lincoln Center. This location was also where Bernstein conducted as music director of the New York Philharmonic from its opening as Philharmonic Hall in 1962 until 1969.

Bernstein aimed to make music easy to understand and enjoyable for everyone. Through his educational work, including several books and the creation of two major international music festivals, Bernstein influenced many generations of young musicians.

Social activism and humanitarian efforts

Leon Bernstein worked to improve society throughout his life. He supported many political and humanitarian causes, including the civil rights movement, protests against the Vietnam War, efforts to stop nuclear weapons, and support for people affected by the AIDS crisis.

In 1939, while studying at Harvard University, Bernstein organized and led a performance of The Cradle Will Rock, a musical about the struggles of working people. The musical had been banned, but Bernstein believed in its message and shared it with others.

From the 1940s onward, Bernstein supported left-wing causes and groups. The FBI watched Bernstein’s activities for many years because of his connections to organizations linked to communism. In the 1980s, Bernstein saw his FBI file, which had more than 800 pages. In the early 1950s, Bernstein was briefly prevented from working with the U.S. Department of State and CBS, but he was never asked to speak before a government committee.

Bernstein supported civil rights in the United States in many ways. For example, he cast people of different races in On the Town in the 1940s, helped the New York Philharmonic use blind auditions in the 1960s, and supported artists of color in classical music.

On March 24, 1965, Bernstein performed at the Stars for Freedom Rally, an event supporting the Selma to Montgomery march for voting rights. The next day, Martin Luther King Jr. gave one of his most famous speeches, "How Long, Not Long."

In 1970, Bernstein and his wife, Felicia, hosted an event in their Manhattan apartment to raise awareness and money for the Black Panther Party, known as the Panther 21. The New York Times first reported on the event in its society section, but later published an article that criticized Bernstein. This led to widespread attention, including an article titled Radical Chic: That Party at Lenny’s in New York Magazine. The article introduced the term "radical chic," and Bernstein and his wife received hate mail. Later, Bernstein’s FBI file showed that the FBI had created the letters and sent agents to make protests seem more serious.

In 1968, Bernstein and Paul Newman co-hosted Broadway for Peace at Lincoln Center to support the Congressional Peace Campaign Committee, which helped fund efforts to end the Vietnam War. Bernstein wrote a song called So Pretty, which was performed by Barbra Streisand with Bernstein playing the piano.

In 1973, Bernstein conducted 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 happened on the day before Richard Nixon’s second inauguration and was a protest against the Vietnam War.

In 1974, Bernstein helped free the famous cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich from the Soviet Union. Rostropovich had been punished for supporting free speech and democracy. During a trip to the USSR, U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy and his wife, Joan, spoke to Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev about Rostropovich’s situation. Two days later, Rostropovich was given permission to leave the country.

Bernstein worked hard to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. In 1980, he warned students at Johns Hopkins University about the dangers of nuclear weapons. In 1983, he used his 65th birthday to focus on nuclear disarmament. In 1985, he led the European Community Youth Orchestra on a "Journey for Peace" tour across Europe and Japan, including a performance at the Hiroshima Peace Ceremony to mark the 40th anniversary of the atomic bombing.

In the 1980s, Bernstein was upset that the Reagan administration ignored the AIDS crisis. He worked to help in any way he could. In 1983, he wrote a statement saying, "AIDS is not, repeat 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."

In 1983, Bernstein participated in an early HIV/AIDS fundraiser at Madison Square Garden, raising over $250,000 for the Gay Men’s Health Crisis. He conducted the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Orchestra with Shirley Verrett singing The Star-Spangled Banner.

In 1987, Bernstein performed at a concert for the Gay Men’s Health Crisis at Carnegie Hall, called Music for Life. The event honored Dr. Mathilde Krim and her work with the American Foundation for AIDS Research. Bernstein was joined by other famous musicians, including Luciano Pavarotti and Yo-Yo Ma.

In 1989, Bernstein refused the National Medal of Arts from President George H. W. Bush because the government had taken away a grant for an art exhibit about AIDS.

Bernstein helped fund many scholarships and funds, including ones at Tanglewood Music Center, the Jacobs School of Music, Brandeis University, and the ASCAP Foundation. Some of these funds were named after his wife, Felicia Montealegre, and supported students at Juilliard School, Columbia University, New York University, and Amnesty International USA.

Bernstein

Influence and characteristics

Leonard Bernstein was one of the most important conductors of the 20th century. Musicians around the world respected him, including 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 mainly at Tanglewood for over 50 years; the London Symphony Orchestra, where he was president; and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, where he often performed as a guest conductor. People all over the world looked forward to Bernstein's performances, from New York to Tokyo to Caracas to Sydney.

In 1943, Bernstein made his first conducting appearance at Carnegie Hall with the New York Philharmonic. This performance, which was broadcast live nationwide, made him famous very quickly. Soon after, Bernstein became the first American-born and American-trained conductor to gain international recognition, at a time when most conductors came from Europe.

Three important conductors who taught Bernstein were Serge Koussevitzky, Dimitri Mitropoulos, and Fritz Reiner. Bernstein's conducting style was known for his dramatic way of moving on the podium. Orchestra members often said that every movement he made helped them understand the music better.

Bernstein performed a wide range of classical music, from the Baroque era to the music of his own time. He conducted and recorded well-known versions of works by composers like Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, and Tchaikovsky. He also supported music by composers who were not well-known, such as Mahler, Sibelius, and Nielsen. He promoted modern composers like Stravinsky, Hindemith, Shostakovich, and Ligeti. He included American composers in every place he conducted, sharing the music of Gershwin, Copland, and Ives. He expanded the types of music played in concert halls by including jazz, musical theater, and Latin American works.

A skilled pianist, Bernstein often conducted piano concertos while playing the piano. He performed works by Gershwin, Mozart, Beethoven, and Ravel.

Bernstein was also a respected teacher and mentor. At Tanglewood, Schleswig-Holstein, and other places, he 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.

Bernstein's influence as a teacher went beyond his students. Through television, Bernstein introduced millions of people worldwide to symphonic music. His Young People's Concerts with the New York Philharmonic attracted younger audiences, while his programs on Omnibus, Ford Presents, and Lincoln Presents shared musical ideas with general audiences.

In the 1950s, Bernstein taught at Brandeis University for several years and started their Festival of the Creative Arts, which the university later named after him. Throughout his career, Bernstein taught at many places around the world, including the Tanglewood Institute. He also founded three summer festivals: the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute, the Orchestral Academy of the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, and the Pacific Music Festival.

Bernstein's music mixed different types of music. He combined classical, jazz, popular, Broadway, Latin, Jewish music, and other styles to create a unique sound.

Jewish influences can be heard in both

Audio recordings

From 1945 to 1950, Bernstein recorded many musical works for RCA Victor, mostly his own compositions and those by other American composers. During this time, he also recorded for Decca Records and Hargail Records. His recordings for Decca Records included some recordings that explained musical ideas in a way similar to his Young People's Concerts.

On April 2, 1956, Bernstein signed a long-term contract with Columbia Records to work as a conductor, piano player, and commentator. Between 1956 and 1979, Bernstein recorded more than 500 compositions for Columbia Records, 455 of which were performed by the New York Philharmonic. At that time, Bernstein usually recorded major works in the studio right after the orchestra’s subscription concerts or during one of the Young People’s Concerts. Any remaining studio time was used to record short orchestral pieces and other works.

In 1990, Sony Classical bought Columbia/CBS Records. Between 1992 and 1993, Sony released and improved Bernstein’s complete Columbia recordings as part of a 125-CD collection called the “Royal Edition,” which included artwork by Charles, Prince of Wales.

Between 1997 and 2001, Sony released the “Bernstein Century” series, which combined new recordings and selections from the “Royal Edition.” After Sony bought Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) in 2008, it gained the rights to Bernstein’s RCA Victor recordings. The complete Bernstein Columbia and RCA Victor recordings were released on CD in a three-volume box set series (released in 2010, 2014, and 2018) called the “Leonard Bernstein Edition,” which included 198 discs.

In 1972, Bernstein recorded his first work for Deutsche Grammophon: Bizet’s Carmen. On October 17, 1976, Bernstein made his first live recording for Deutsche Grammophon, starting a 14-year partnership that ended with his death in 1990. Most of the Deutsche Grammophon recordings were of live performances, which became Bernstein’s preferred method. From the 1970s onward, Bernstein’s recordings were also paired with films made by Amberson Productions and Unitel, which were later released on LaserDisc and DVD.

Bernstein recorded music for other labels as well. Examples include recordings of Gustav Mahler’s Song of the Earth and Mozart’s 15th piano concerto and “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. In total, Bernstein received 63 Grammy Award nominations and won 16 Grammy Awards in different categories, including for recordings released after his death. He was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 1985.

Written works

• Bernstein, Leonard (1993) [1982]. Findings. Published by Anchor Books in New York. ISBN 978-0-385-42437-0.
• — (1993) [1966]. The Infinite Variety of Music. Published by Anchor Books in New York. ISBN 978-0-385-42438-7.
• — (2004) [1959]. The Joy of Music. Published by Amadeus Press in Pompton Plains, New Jersey. ISBN 978-1-57467-104-9.
• — (2006) [1962]. Young People's Concerts. Published by Amadeus Press in Milwaukee and Cambridge. ISBN 978-1-57467-102-5.
• — (1976). The Unanswered Question: Six Talks at Harvard. Published by Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-92001-5.
• — (2013). The Leonard Bernstein Letters (paperback). Published by Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-20544-2. Archived on September 8, 2021. Retrieved on September 8, 2021.

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. (A videotape of lectures given by Charles Eliot Norton 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, New Jersey: Kultur Video. DVD.
• Leonard Bernstein: Omnibus – The Historic TV Broadcasts, 2010. E1 Ent.
• Rosen, Peter (1978). Bernstein: Reflections (DVD). 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 later releases. Deutsche Grammophon. DVD.
• "The Rite of Spring" in Rehearsal (1996). Kultur. VHS.
• 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). A documentary about his life and music. Originally aired on PBS's American Masters series. DVD.

Awards and honors

Throughout his long and successful career, Bernstein received seven Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, and 16 Grammy Awards. He also received a nomination for an Academy Award. Bernstein is a member of the American Theater Hall of Fame and the Television Hall of Fame. In 1998, he was inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame. In 2015, he was inducted into the Legacy Walk.

• Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1951)
• Fellow at the MacDowell (1962, 1970, 1972)
• Sonning Award from Denmark (1965)
• Ditson Conductor's Award (1958)
• George Peabody Medal – Johns Hopkins University (1980)
• Ernst von Siemens Music Prize (1987)
• Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal (UK) (1987)
• Edward MacDowell Medal (1987)
• 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
• 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
• Commandeur de la Légion d'honneur (1986)