This is the year we celebrate what would have been Leonard Bernstein’s 100th birthday. All around the world musicians are celebrating with special concerts and performances, and here in Hampton Roads it is no different! We are in for some amazing performances coming up with the Virginia Arts Festival and other local groups who are celebrating the occasion. Leonard Bernstein was a brilliant conductor, composer, pianist, and educator. He set himself apart from the crowd and created an identity and path for himself that brought him international respect.

Leonard Bernstein was born on August 25, 1918, in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He studied at Harvard and went on to study with Fritz Reiner at the Curtis Institute of Music. In 1940 he studied at the Tanglewood festival, where he began his studying with Serge Koussevitzky, a mentor he would stay very close to throughout Koussevitzky’s life. In 1943 he was appointed as the Assistant Conductor of the New York Philharmonic. At one performance, on November 14, Bernstein was unexpectedly asked to conduct the performance because Bruno Walter had become ill. The concert was broadcast nationally on radio and brought Bernstein critical acclaim.

Bernstein’s open-mindedness as a musician was one thing that set him apart at the time. His interest in American dance music set his path as one very different from most other. Even his mentor Serge Koussevitzky in a letter once that “I advise you to be careful and don’t forget this kind of music form is not the most interesting and useful form to exercise oneself on it. I feel sorry if the most part of your composing is devoted to such a poor form of music.” Despite this unpopularity of dance music from other classical musicians, Bernstein didn’t let that influence him. Bernstein was also a huge advocate of American composers. Aaron Copland and Lenny remained very close friends, after meeting at a party where Lenny sat down at a piano and played through Copland’s Piano Variations. Bernstein was always a big supporter of Copland and they stayed in close contact throughout their lives.

Bernstein’s composing career began just as early as his conducting career. In 1939 while finishing at Harvard he composed and conducted incidental music for the movie The Birds. As a composer Bernstein’s style was very eclectic. He incorporated a lot of different styles in his own pieces. In 1944 Bernstein and choreographer Jerome Robbins premiered the first of three major ballets. Fancy Free premiered in 1944, and later would inspire the famous movie On The Town in 1954, the same year he released his Serenade for Violin and orchestra, and recorded it with his friend Isaac Stern. Of course perhaps the best known of all of Bernstein’s musicals is West Side Story. This musical brought huge success to its creators. This collaboration was with the artists he had worked with previously for Candide. Arthur Laurents was the author, Stephen Sondheim wrote the lyrics, Jerome Robbins choreographed it and Bernstein created a magical score for it. Bernstein did not actually conduct the full score himself until 1985.

One of the biggest reasons for me that Bernstein has always stood out from other conductors was because of his thirst for knowledge, not just in music but in all fields. He studied literature, music, religion, Shakespeare and much more. This thirst for knowledge created a well rounded and very intelligent mind. Bernstein was a dedicated educator. After the death of his mentor Serge Koussevitzky he headed the orchestral and conducting departments at the Tanglewood festival. He reached a far larger audience though with his hit television series Leonard Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts with the New York Philharmonic. This television show created a huge following and on its premiere in 1957 created with it a generation of music lovers and musicians. These television shows reached out to young children to teach them about music. If you have never seen any of these videos I recommend looking them up. Lenny makes the music accessible while still appealing to all music lovers.

For the Bernstein centennial the Virginia Arts Festival as well as other groups will be bringing us amazing performances.  On Monday, January 29, the Norfolk Chamber Consort will present Lenny and His Friends, a program of music by Lenny himself and some of his friends and colleagues. The concert concludes with WHRO’s own Wayla Chambo performing Bernstein’s Halil for Flute, Piano, and three Percussionists, a powerful piece. The VA Arts Festival with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra will be bringing two fantastic events. On April 13 and 14 the VSO will have special guest Jamie Bernstein, Leonard’s daughter. They will be performing several of Bernstein’s masterpieces, including the Symphonic Dances from West Side Story. On May 12, the brilliant Broadway director, arranger and conductor Rob Fisher will bring with him leading Broadway stars with him for a night celebrating Bernstein on Broadway. You will not want to miss out on celebrating an amazing musician and human being.

For more information about any of these events or for more about Bernstein you can find more at these links:

Bernstein at 100 website: https://leonardbernstein.com/at100

Virginia Arts Festival: https://www.vafest.org/

Norfolk Chamber Consort: http://ncconsort.org/