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01
Leonard Bernstein was a fan of The Beatles. Whenever his daughter Jamie brought home a Beatles album, he would urge her to put it on the record player and listen with his children.
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02
President Richard Nixon named Bernstein to his enemies list after Bernstein hosted a 1970 fundraiser for the Black Panthers, an event covered by Tom Wolfe in his book Radical Chic.
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03
From 1954 until his death in 1990, Bernstein made at least one television appearance nearly every year, either conducting or teaching music.
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04
Through his pioneering New York Philharmonic Young People’s Concerts, which began in 1958, Bernstein became the most famous conductor in the US and introduced classical music to millions of families.
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05
Bernstein did not begin playing the piano until age ten.
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06
His professional conducting debut on November 14, 1943, without rehearsal, created a sensation due in part to his performance of Richard Strauss’s complex Don Quixote.
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07
Bernstein died at home of a heart attack due to progressive lung failure.
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08
He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972.
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09
Bernstein was the first American-born and American-trained conductor to be appointed music director of the New York Philharmonic and to conduct at La Scala in Milan.
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10
Only 25 of Bernstein’s more than 50 Young People’s Concerts have been issued on video; the rest remain unreleased as of 2004.
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11
He led the New York Philharmonic in 40 works they had never performed before.
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12
British composer Howard Goodall argued in his 2004 series that Bernstein was one of the four most important composers of the 20th century, alongside Cole Porter, Bernard Herrmann, and Lennon-McCartney.
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13
A sickly infant, Bernstein suffered from asthma throughout his life, often heard wheezing above the orchestra.
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14
In 1945, Bernstein considered acting and discussed playing Tchaikovsky in a film opposite Greta Garbo.
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15
In April 1962, Bernstein caused a stir by telling the audience he assumed no responsibility for the performance of Brahms’ D Minor Concerto with Glenn Gould.
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16
His final work for the musical theater, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue 1976, was a failure, running only seven performances on Broadway; the score was later recorded as White House Cantata.
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17
West Side Story at Chicago’s Paramount Theatre won the 2016 Joseph Jefferson Award for Large Musical Production.
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18
Bernstein was the first conductor to make stereophonic recordings with the New York Philharmonic.
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19
He conducted the world premiere of Charles Ives’ Second Symphony in 1951.
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20
Bernstein was great friends with Aaron Copland.
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21
He was the first conductor to conduct more than 1,000 concerts with the New York Philharmonic.
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22
The 2000 production of Candide won a Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Musical Production.
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23
Three of his New York Philharmonic albums won consecutive Grammys for Best Children’s Album between 1962 and 1964.
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24
He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 6200 Hollywood Boulevard.
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25
Bernstein conducted Mozart’s overture to The Marriage of Figaro on four Young People’s Concerts.
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26
He was the father of Jamie, Alexander, and Nina Bernstein.
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27
Bernstein was also a concert pianist.
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28
Musicians like Andre Watts, Seiji Ozawa, and Kenneth Schermerhorn were first introduced to the public on his Young People’s Concerts.
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29
He served as music director of the New York Philharmonic from 1958 to 1969, took a sabbatical in 1964-65, and was named laureate conductor for life upon stepping down.
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30
Appointed assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic in 1943, he made his debut on November 14 substituting for Bruno Walter and awoke famous.
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31
He was one of the first 20th-century conductors to record Bizet’s Carmen without recitatives, restoring the spoken dialogue.
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32
Bernstein won three Tony Awards: in 1953 for Wonderful Town, and a Special Tony in 1969; he was also nominated for Candide and West Side Story.
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33
He was the first American-trained conductor to achieve household-name fame, rivaled only by Arthur Fiedler, but Bernstein led major symphonic repertoire.
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34
He was a lifelong liberal Democrat.
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35
His biography appears in The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Volume Two 1999.
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36
The 2011 Goodman Theatre production of Candide won the Equity Joseph Jefferson Award for Musical Production.
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37
The Boston Symphony Orchestra dedicated several 2018 programs to Bernstein for his 100th birthday.
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38
On August 25, 2018, a Google Doodle honored what would have been his 100th birthday.
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39
Bernstein composed music for West Side Story and many other musicals.
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40
He selected November 14, 1954, for his first television lecture on Omnibus because it was the 11th anniversary of his professional debut.
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41
In 1961, Bernstein, with Bruno Walter and Dimitri Mitropoulos, led the first all-Mahler symphonic cycle in New York, spurring a revival of interest in Mahler.
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42
The 1995 Ahmanson Theatre production of Candide won the Drama-Logue Award.
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43
Bernstein was a conductor and composer.
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44
He graduated from Harvard.
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45
He was not related to composer Elmer Bernstein, but they were friends.
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46
He was the brother of Shirley Bernstein.
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47
Leonard Bernstein is buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York.
