Latest News
- Explore The Bernstein Experience on Classical.org! Bernstein was a conductor, a pianist, a composer, a lyricist, a teacher, a poet, a writer, a father, a friend, a colleague, an activist, a humanist, and a concerned citizen. He was a man of his amazing times, whose echo still resounds, perhaps more loudly today than ever before. The Bernstein Experience, powered by Classical.org, aims to be as reflective of this Renaissance man as any experience without him here to host it himself could possibly be. Read January 25, 2018
- Lang Lang To Celebrate Leonard Bernstein: GRAMMY Salute To Classical Music Recognizing a synergetic opportunity, the Recording Academy and CAMI Music will produce GRAMMY Salute To Classical Music, a special GRAMMY Week event taking place in New York at Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium on Jan. 26, 2018. Read January 4, 2018
- PBS Now Streaming NY Philharmonic's New Year's Eve Gala "BERNSTEIN ON BROADWAY" In case you missed PBS's Live from Lincoln Center - "Bernstein on Broadway" this New Year's Eve, you can now stream the entire broadcast! In the show, stars from Broadway, including Annaleigh Ashford, Laura Osnes, Chris Jackson and Aaron Tveit joined the Philharmonic in tribute to the legendary composer. Read January 1, 2018
- The New Yorker: “West Side Story” and the American Idea of Getting Along From “West Side Story” I learned about tragedy, and love, and sex—there were broken hearts all over the place, like broken glass—and the idea that things can go very, very wrong, in an instant, but that the most important thing in the world was that we all learned to get along. Read December 21, 2017
- The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts Honors Leonard Bernstein in New Exhibition To celebrate the centennial of America’s greatest classical composer and conductor, the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts is partnering with the GRAMMY Museum® on a new, exciting exhibition opening December 9th. Read December 9, 2017
- SONY Releases Leonard Bernstein Remastered Ahead of his centennial in 2018, Sony Classical has released a 100 CD box set of Leonard Bernstein's classic American Columbia recordings, remastered from their original 2- and multi-track analogue tapes. Read November 10, 2017
- Let the festivities begin! Leonard Bernstein at 100 The Leonard Bernstein at 100 Centennial celebrations kicked off this weekend! Read September 25, 2017
- TUNE IN MAY 9 AT 12PM ET FACEBOOK LIVE: Leonard Bernstein at 100 Centennial Press Event! Join Alec Baldwin, Whoopi Goldberg, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, members of the Bernstein Family, and other guests for musical performances and an important announcement about centennial celebration programming around the world. Read May 3, 2017
- Finally Returning Bernstein’s Overdue Mahler It was more than 50 years overdue, but Leonard Bernstein’s score of Mahler’s “Das Lied von der Erde” was finally returned to the Vienna Philharmonic on Tuesday. Read March 28, 2017
- WNYC Studio 360 - American Icons: Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts Leonard Bernstein’s “Young People’s Concerts” with the New York Philharmonic were presented in Manhattan concert halls and broadcast live on national television for 14 seasons. There had been similar “music appreciation” efforts before, but Bernstein — 40 years old at the outset, deeply passionate about teaching, and a natural showman — made them into a reliably exciting franchise for family classical music viewing. The story of these iconic programs and how they were put together in the early, daring days of live TV is told by participants, Bernstein-watchers, family members, and inspired musicians. Read March 2, 2017
- How Leonard Bernstein Opposed Richard Nixon With 1973 "Anti-inaugural" Concert "... But at the exact same time a free and unofficial inauguration concert at the National Cathedral took place thanks to legendary conductor Leonard Bernstein. He led 'A Concert for Peace,' which became widely known as the 'Anti-inaugural Concert.'" via Laurie L. Dove for Howstuffworks Read January 20, 2017
- Review: The Adventures of ‘Candide,’ and of City Opera Anthony Tommasini of The New York Times reviews the latest production of Candide by the New York City Opera: "Since New York City Opera emerged from bankruptcy a year ago, it’s been hard to know what to make of it. Is this venture truly a renaissance of the venerable company that went out of business in 2013 after 70 adventurous years? Or should the quite variable productions that have been offered over the past year be seen as the first steps of a completely reconceived City Opera?" Read January 9, 2017
- "On The Town" with the Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony "On The Town" with the Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony In this classic American musical comedy, follow three wartime soldiers on 24-hour shore leave around the Big Apple, with music by Leonard Bernstein, and book and lyrics by the famous Betty Comden and Adolph Green. A talented musical theater cast will join the Symphony for this semi-staged event, with unforgettable show tunes like "New York, New York (it's a helluva town!)." May 25-29, 2016 at Davies Symphony Hall Read April 21, 2016
- Estelle Parsons to front HV Philharmonic for Bernstein’s Kaddish Estelle Parsons to front Hudson Valley Philharmonic for Bernstein's Kaddish by John Burdick Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead, has lent its complex themes and functions, as well as its title, to at least two monumental achievements of 20th-century Western art: Allen Ginsberg's best poem and Leonard Bernstein's ambitious, tense and dramatic third symphony with spoken-word narration and a vast choral component. As to the former, read Ginsberg's devastating lament for his mother, Naomi, if you haven't. As to the latter, the Bardavon continues the Hudson Valley Philharmonic's 56th season with a performance of Bernstein's Kaddish on Saturday, April 16 at 8 p.m. Read April 8, 2016
- Review: Carnegie Hall’s ‘West Side Story’ at the Knockdown Center Charles Isherwood reviewed Carnegie Hall's 'West Side Story' at the Knockdown Center in The New York Times. "The sound of so many voices added a layer of emotional plushness to the songs that was goose-pimple-inducing, and utterly irresistible. So, really, was the entire production, which may have been conceived in part as a public-spirited educational project, but ultimately became a simple yet transporting production of a great musical." Read March 8, 2016
- Leonard Bernstein inducted into Carnegie Hall's Digital Hall of Fame 2015 Leonard Bernstein has been inducted into Carnegie Hall's Digital Hall of Fame 2015! The Carnegie Hall Digital Hall of Fame 2015 represents the inaugural year of an annual celebration in which we recognize individuals intrinsic to the founding and continued existence of the Hall and whose lives or careers are inextricably woven into the fabric of the Hall's 125-year history. Read February 4, 2016
- What Makes It Great? From "On the Town" to "West Side Story" - Theater Songs of Leonard Bernstein "What Makes It Great?" From "On the Town" to "West Side Story" - Theater Songs of Leonard Bernstein at the Kaufman Music Center in New York City on Monday, February 8th. Hosted by NPR Commentator/Conductor/Pianist Rob KapilowFeaturing Broadway stars Sally Wilfert (Assassins) & Michael Winther (Mamma Mia!) Today it seems incomprehensible that Leonard Bernstein endured brutal criticism for throwing away his talent on Broadway musicals like On the Town and West Side Story. His attempts to bring a classical compositional technique into the world of the popular theater ruffled more than a few feathers, and though Bernstein expected other classical composers to follow his lead, his extraordinary blend of the serious and the popular remains unique in Broadway history. Host Rob Kapilow explores Bernstein's attempts to reimagine the possibilities of musical theater in a program that will forever change the way you see Tony and Maria! Read January 28, 2016
- West Side Story at the Signature Theatre runs through January 24, 2016 Arlington, Virginia's Signature Theatre has released production photos from its ongoing production of the classic Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, and Arthur Laurents musical West Side Story. The cast of 30 is joined by a 17-piece orchestra in a run that concludes January 24, 2016. Read December 17, 2015
- Carol J. Oja's "Bernstein Meets Broadway" Wins American Musicological Society Award Carol J. Oja's Bernstein Meets Broadway: Collaborative Art in a Time of War won the American Musicological Music in American Culture Award. This award was first presented in 2009 and each year honors a book of exceptional merit that both illuminates some important aspect of the music of the United States and places that music in a rich cultural context. Read November 19, 2015
- Leonard Bernstein's 'Candide' from Glimmerglass Tune in at 1pm on Saturday, November 21st for Leonard Bernstein's Candide, the final broadcast from the 2015 Glimmerglass Festival. This glittering production stars Andrew Stenson as Candide, Kathryn Lewek as Cunegonde, and veteran actor David Garrison as Voltaire & Pangloss. Host Naomi Lewin talks to the cast during the intermission, including conversations with Andrew Stenson, David Garrison, Joseph Colaneri, Marietta Simpson, Kathryn Lewek, and Glimmerglass Artistic & General Director Francesca Zambello. Read November 19, 2015