Leonard Bernstein was a world renowned American pianist, conductor and composer, and music educator. On August 25th of 1918, Bernstein was born in Lawrence Massachusetts originally with the name Louis, honoring his grandmother’s wishes, but his parents preferred to call him Leonard. It was officially changed soon after his grandmother’s death.
Leonard was the son of Ukrainian Jews, and his father, Sam, was initially averse to the idea of Leonard’s interest in music. Sam himself worked as a fish cleaner when he first arrived in America and persevered in an effort to finally build up his own business. Throughout most Leonard’s upbringing, Sam tried his best to stifle Leonard’s attraction to music, inculcating in him that a career in a music, over one in business, was not a plausible option. However, Leonard’s budding passion for music was not one that could be snuffed out.
At ten years old, Leonard began to play the piano. His love for the instrument was unequivocal, and he even took it upon himself to raise money for piano lessons when his father refused to pay for them. Leonard’s intrinsic gift for playing was very apparent and was enough to change his father’s once disapproving attitude towards music. Sam began to embrace his son’s musical abilities, buying him a baby grand piano around the time of Leonard’s bar mitzvah. The young
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He studied music theory along with counterpoint. In 1937, Leonard was invited by conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos to attend his rehearsals after Dmitri very much enjoyed listening to Leonard play a sonata. Just the day before, Leonard attended the Boston Symphony concert that Dimitri was conducting and was mesmerized by the vivacity he emanated. Leonard jumped at the chance to closely observe Dimitri as he practiced his craft, and after spending a week with him, Leonard had a new found resolve to make music the center of his