Leonard Bernstein was born on August 25, 1918 in Lawrence (Massachusetts, USA), in a family of Jewish immigrants from Russia. From the age of ten, he learned to play the piano, sang in the choir, played in the orchestra, later gave music lessons himself, organized an amateur troupe that staged operas and operettas. In 1935, Leonard Bernstein entered Harvard University, where he studied piano, studied musicology, and sometimes preferred classes in philosophy and languages of music theory. After passing
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Leonard Bernstein was born on August 25, 1918 in Lawrence (Massachusetts, USA), in a family of Jewish immigrants from Russia. From the age of ten, he learned to play the piano, sang in the choir, played in the orchestra, later gave music lessons himself, organized an amateur troupe that staged operas and operettas. In 1935, Leonard Bernstein entered Harvard University, where he studied piano, studied musicology, and sometimes preferred classes in philosophy and languages of music theory. After passing the exams with honors, he studied conducting and piano at the Curtis Institute of Music, and in 1940 he began studying at the conductor course of Sergei Kusevitsky at the Berkshire Music Center. Since 1941, Bernstein, because of chronic asthma recognized unfit for military service, began to act as a pianist and conductor. In 1942 he completed the sonata "Seven Piano Anniversaries" and the symphony "Jeremiah". On November 14, 1943, the sensational conductor debut of Bernstein, then the second conductor of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, took place at Carnegie Hall (he later served as the principal conductor of this orchestra for more than a decade). In 1944, the composer based on the music for the ballet "Unloving" created the musical "In the city". He was the first performer of many works by contemporary American composers, including his own music; gave about a thousand concerts around the world; proved himself as a musical teacher. The composer composed operas, musicals, serenades, wrote music for cinema. A huge fame brought Leonard Bernstein the musical “West Side Story”. In 1957, director Robert Wise and choreographer Jerome Robbins staged the film of the same name, which gained incredible success. From 1969, Bernstein began working as a guest conductor, particularly at the Vienna Philharmonic. In 1971, the premiere of his multimedia theatrical play "Mass", in 1976 his last Broadway musical - "Pennsylvania Avenue, 1600", seven years later the premiere of the opera "A Quiet Place" was held. Leonard Bernstein died on October 14, 1990 in New York City.