Leonard Bernstein is one of the most versatile and charismatic figures of 20th-century music: a genius conductor, composer, pianist, teacher, and populariser. He felt equally at home in the world of academic music and on Broadway.
His most famous work is the musical “West Side Story” (a modern version of “Romeo and Juliet”), which combined jazz, Latin American rhythms, and symphonic scope. Bernstein also wrote symphonies, ballets, the “Mass,” and film scores. As principal conductor of the New York Philharmonic he became famous for the legendary televised “Young People's Concerts,” with which he taught millions of people to understand music. Bernstein is the embodiment of American musical energy, breadth, and passionate love for music, which he generously shared with the world.
