August 25: Leonard Bernstein, conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist was born on this day in 1918...

... he died in Oct, 1990 at the age of 72.

Leonard Bernstein (born Louis Bernstein in Lawrence, Massachusetts) (was among the first conductors born and educated in the U.S. to receive worldwide acclaim. He was probably best known to the public as the longtime music director of the New York Philharmonic, for conducting concerts by many of the world's leading orchestras, and for writing the music for West Side Story, Candide, Wonderful Town, and On the Town. He was also the first classical music conductor to appear regularly on TV.

In 1985 the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences honored Mr. Bernstein with the Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award. He won eleven Emmy Awards in his career.
In 1990, Bernstein received the Praemium Imperiale, an international prize created in 1988 by the Japan Arts Association and awarded for lifetime achievement in the arts. Bernstein used the $100,000 prize to establish The Bernstein Education Through the Arts (BETA) Fund, Inc.

World peace was a particular concern of Bernstein, and he supported Amnesty International from its inception.
 
Bernstein recorded extensively from the 1950s until just a few months before his death. According to The New York Times, he was "one of the most prodigally talented and successful musicians in American history."

 

-- Gene Kelly dances to Bernstein music in On the Town

-- "Overture to Candide"

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