Editing Leonard Bernstein (section)

==Early life and education==
=== 1918–1935: Early life and family ===
Bernstein was born in [[Lawrence, Massachusetts]], to [[Russian Jewish]]/[[Ukrainian Jewish]] parents, Jennie (née Resnick)<ref name="Jennieobit">{{cite news |author1=NYT Staff |title=Bernstein's Mother Dies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/31/obituaries/bernstein-s-mother-dies.html |access-date=July 2, 2023 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=December 31, 1992 |page=B6}}</ref> and Samuel Joseph Bernstein, both of whom immigrated to the United States<ref name=Oliver /> from [[Rivne]], [[Russian Empire]] (now in Ukraine).<ref>{{cite news|last=Dougary|first=Ginny|title=Leonard Bernstein: 'charismatic, pompous&nbsp;– and a great father'|newspaper=[[The Times]]|location=UK|date=March 13, 2010|url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/uk-travel/leonard-bernstein-charismatic-pompous-and-a-great-father-7pn3lvf6kkg|access-date=March 17, 2020 |url-access=subscription}}; also {{cite web |url=http://www.ginnydougary.co.uk/leonard-bernstein-%E2%80%98charismatic-pompous-and-a-great-father/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803024733/http://www.ginnydougary.co.uk/leonard-bernstein-%E2%80%98charismatic-pompous-and-a-great-father/ |archive-date=August 3, 2020 |title=Leonard Bernstein: 'charismatic, pompous – and a great father' |work=[[The Times]] |date=March 13, 2010 |last=Dougary |first=Ginny |via=ginnydougary.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Rovner|first=Adam|title=So Easily Assimilated: The New Immigrant Chic|journal=[[AJS Review]]|volume=30|issue=2|date=November 2006|pages=313–324|doi=10.1017/S0364009406000158|s2cid=162547428}}</ref> His grandmother insisted that his first name be [[Louis (given name)|Louis]], but his parents always called him [[Leonard]]. Bernstein legally changed his name from Louis to Leonard when he was 16.{{sfn|Peyser|1987|pages=22–23}} To his friends and many others, Bernstein was simply known as "Lenny".<ref>{{cite news|first=Edwina |last=Pitman|date=August 12, 2018|title='Lenny changed my life': why Bernstein still inspires|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/aug/12/leonard-bernstein-composer-legacy-inspiration-documentary|access-date=August 10, 2019}}</ref>

His mother had moved to stay with her parents in Lawrence toward the end of her first pregnancy and, since he was sickly as an infant, he stayed there until he was strong enough to join his father in [[Boston]], where he attended the [[William Lloyd Garrison School]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Laird |first1=Paul R. |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/leonard-bernstein-in-context/education/9EAB3910F7414C455BDBB5487F3841FF |title=Leonard Bernstein in Context |date=2024 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-83570-1 |editor1-last=Wells |editor1-first=Elizabeth A. |chapter=Education |pages=3–10 |doi=10.1017/9781108891349.002 |access-date=May 16, 2024}}</ref> and then the [[Boston Latin School]], for which Bernstein and classmate Lawrence F. Ebb wrote the Class Song.{{sfn|Peyser|1987|pp=34-35}} When he was 15, the family moved to nearby [[Newton, Massachusetts]].<ref>{{Cite web|work=[[Boston Globe]]|date=August 10, 2018|first=Judith |last=Rogan|title=From Humble Beginnings to Bernstein the Legend|url= https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/globelocal/2018/08/17/practicing-piano-waking-neighbors/xfMBSaxqSYPY1lShYQ9juI/story.html|access-date=December 15, 2023}}</ref>

Bernstein's father was the owner of the Samuel J. Bernstein Hair Company. It held the exclusive distribution rights for the Frederick's Permanent Wave Machine in the 1920s and 1930s, which made Samuel wealthy.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Oja |first1=Carol J. |last2=Shelemay |first2=Kay Kaufman |date=February 7, 2009 |title=Leonard Bernstein's Jewish Boston: Cross-Disciplinary Research in the Classroom |url=https://dash.harvard.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/7312037c-4cd1-6bd4-e053-0100007fdf3b/content |journal=Journal of the Society for American Music |language=en |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=3–33 |doi=10.1017/S1752196309090026 |issn=1752-1971}}</ref>

In Bernstein's early youth, his main exposure to music was on Friday nights at Congregation Mishkan Tefila in [[Roxbury, Boston|Roxbury]], Boston.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sarna |first=Jonathan D. |title=Leonard Bernstein and the Music of Boston's Congregation Mishkan Tefila |url=https://www.brandeis.edu/arts/festival/history/bernstein-brandeis/remembering/bernstein-congregation-mishkan-tefila.html |access-date=June 20, 2024 |website=Brandeis University |language=en}}</ref> When Bernstein was ten years old, Samuel's sister Clara deposited her upright piano at her brother's house. Bernstein asked for lessons, and subsequently had a variety of piano teachers in his youth, including Helen Coates, who later became his secretary.{{sfn|Peyser|1987|pp=24-25,30}} In the summers, the Bernstein family would go to their vacation home in [[Sharon, Massachusetts]], where Leonard conscripted all the neighborhood children to put on shows ranging from Bizet's ''[[Carmen]]'' to Gilbert and Sullivan's ''[[H.M.S. Pinafore]]''.{{sfn|Peyser|1987|pp=26,29-30}} Bernstein and his two younger siblings, Shirley and Burton, remained close their entire lives.<ref>{{Cite web |title=By the People Family correspondence (Leonard Bernstein: Writings By, From, and To) |url=https://crowd.loc.gov/campaigns/bernstein/family/ |access-date=June 20, 2024 |website=crowd.loc.gov |language=en}}</ref>

Samuel was initially opposed to Leonard's interest in music and attempted to discourage his son's interest by refusing to pay for his piano lessons. Leonard then took to giving lessons to young people in his neighborhood.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bernstein on Teaching and Learning |url=https://bernstein.classical.org/collections/always-teaching-and-learning/ |access-date=June 20, 2024 |website=Classical.org |language=en-US}}</ref> One of his students, [[Sid Ramin]], became Bernstein's [[orchestrator]] for [[West Side Story|''West Side Story'']] with [[Irwin Kostal]] and a lifelong beloved friend.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Asprou |first=Helena |date=July 3, 2019 |title=Composer Sid Ramin dies aged 100 – musical tributes pour in |url=https://www.classicfm.com/music-news/composer-sid-ramin-dies-aged-100-musical-tributes/ |access-date=June 20, 2024 |website=Classic FM |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bernstein |first=Jamie |date=January 18, 2019 |title=Happy 100th birthday to American composer, arranger and orchestrator Sid Ramin! |url=https://leonardbernstein.com/news/blog/83/happy-100th-birthday-to-american-composer-arranger-and-orchestrator-sid-ramin |access-date=August 23, 2023 |website=Leonard Bernstein Office}}</ref>

Samuel took his son to orchestral concerts in his teenage years and eventually supported his music education.{{sfn|Peyser|1987|p=26}} In May 1932, Leonard attended his first orchestral concert with the [[Boston Pops]] conducted by [[Arthur Fiedler]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Schwartz|first=Penny|date=April 26, 2018|title=Boston Pops to celebrate the magic of Leonard Bernstein|work=[[The Jewish Journal (Boston North)|Jewish Journal]]|url=https://jewishjournal.org/2018/04/26/boston-pops-to-celebrate-the-magic-of-leonard-bernstein/}}</ref> It was at this concert that Bernstein first heard Ravel's ''[[Boléro]]'', which made a big impression on him.{{sfn|Simeone|2013|page=8}}

Another strong musical influence for him was [[George Gershwin]]. Bernstein was working as a music counselor at a summer camp when news came of Gershwin's death. Bernstein interrupted lunch in the mess hall, and then played Gershwin's second [[Three Preludes (Gershwin)|''Prelude'']] as a memorial.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Swed |first=Mark|author-link=Mark Swed|date=September 3, 1998 |title=A Joyful Linkage |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-sep-03-ca-19040-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=November 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231111120501/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-sep-03-ca-19040-story.html |archive-date=November 11, 2023}}</ref>

On March 30, 1932, Bernstein played [[Brahms]]'s [[Rhapsodies, Op. 79 (Brahms)|''Rhapsody in G minor'']] at his first public piano performance in Susan Williams's studio recital at the [[New England Conservatory of Music]]. Two years later, he made his solo debut with orchestra playing [[Grieg]]'s [[Piano Concerto (Grieg)|Piano Concerto in A minor]] with the Boston Public School Orchestra.{{sfn|Shawn|2014|p=28}}

=== 1935–1941: College years ===

'''Harvard University '''

In 1935, Bernstein enrolled at [[Harvard College]], where he studied music with, among others, [[Edward Burlingame Hill]] and [[Walter Piston]]. Bernstein's first extant composition, [[Psalm 148 (Bernstein)|Psalm 148]], set for voice and piano, is dated 1935.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gottlieb |first=Jack |year=2008 |title=Leonard Bernstein: A Jewish Legacy |url=https://bernstein.carnegiehall.org/leonardbernstein/faith.aspx.html |access-date=April 30, 2025 |website=BERNSTEIN: THE BEST OF ALL POSSIBLE WORLDS}}</ref> He majored in music with a final year thesis titled "The Absorption of Race Elements into American Music" (1939; reproduced in his book ''Findings''). One of Bernstein's intellectual influences at Harvard was [[aesthetics]] professor [[David Prall]], and one of his friends at the school was future philosopher [[Donald Davidson (philosopher)|Donald Davidson]]. Bernstein wrote and conducted the musical score for the production Davidson mounted of [[Aristophanes]]' play ''[[The Birds (play)|The Birds]]'', performed in the original Greek. Bernstein recycled some of this music in future works. While a student, Bernstein composed for the [[Harvard Glee Club]] and was briefly its president as well as serving as an unpaid pianist for Harvard Film Society's [[silent film]] presentations.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Swan |first=Claudia |url=https://archive.org/details/leonardbernstein0000unse_q9y6/mode/2up |title=Leonard Bernstein : the Harvard years 1935–1939 |date=1999 |publisher=Eos Orchestra |isbn=0-9648083-4-X |location=New York |oclc=41502300}}</ref>

Bernstein mounted a student production of ''[[The Cradle Will Rock]]'', directing its action from the piano as the composer [[Marc Blitzstein]] had done at the premiere. Blitzstein, who attended the performance, subsequently became a close friend and mentor to Bernstein.{{sfn|Burton|1995|pages=52–55}} As a [[sophomore]] at Harvard, Bernstein met the conductor [[Dimitri Mitropoulos]], who was an influence on Bernstein's eventual decision to become a conductor.{{sfn|Burton|1995|pages=35–36}} Mitropoulos invited Bernstein to come to [[Minneapolis]] for the 1940–41 season to be his assistant, but the plan fell through because of union issues.{{sfn|Laird|Lin|2019|p={{page needed|date=March 2022}}}} In 1937, Bernstein sat next to [[Aaron Copland]] at a dance recital at [[The Town Hall (New York City)|Town Hall]] in New York City. Copland invited Bernstein to his birthday party afterwards, where Bernstein impressed the guests by playing Copland's challenging [[Piano Variations (Copland)|Piano Variations]]. Although he was never a formal student of Copland's, Bernstein regularly sought his advice, often citing him as "the closest thing to a composition teacher [Bernstein] ever had."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bernstein |first=Leonard |year=1970 |title=An Intimate Sketch |url=https://www.loc.gov/collections/aaron-copland/articles-and-essays/an-intimate-sketch/ |access-date=May 1, 2025 |website=Library of Congress}}</ref><ref name="teachers">{{Cite AV media |title=Teachers and Teaching: An Autobiographical Essay by Leonard Bernstein |year=1988 |type=DVD}}</ref> Bernstein graduated from Harvard in 1939 with a Bachelor of Arts, [[Latin honors#United States|''cum laude'']].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Predota |first=Georg |date=August 25, 2023 |title=On This Day {{!}} August 25: Lenny Bernstein Was Born |url=https://interlude.hk/on-this-day-25-august-lenny-bernstein-was-born/ |access-date=May 1, 2025 |website=Interlude |language=en-US}}</ref>

'''Curtis Institute of Music '''

After graduating from Harvard, Bernstein enrolled at the [[Curtis Institute of Music]] in [[Philadelphia]]. At Curtis, Bernstein studied conducting with [[Fritz Reiner]]; piano with [[Isabelle Vengerova]]; orchestration with [[Randall Thompson]]; [[counterpoint]] with [[Richard Stöhr]]; and score reading with [[Renée Longy|Renée Longy-Miquelle]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Wilson |first=Kristina |year=2018 |title=A Deeply Moving Experience |url=https://res.cloudinary.com/curtisinstitute/image/upload/v1653664853/pdf/about/overtones/2018/2018_Spring_4_bernstein_dlbxn9.pdf |access-date=April 30, 2025 |magazine=Overtones}}</ref> In 1940, Bernstein attended the inaugural year of the [[Berkshire Music Center]], the [[Boston Symphony Orchestra]]'s summer home.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Benedett |first=Barbara |date=November 29, 2017 |title=Bernstein at Tanglewood |url=https://www.curtis.edu/news/bernstein-blog-tanglewood/ |access-date=May 1, 2025 |website=Curtis Institute of Music |language=en-US}}</ref> Bernstein studied conducting with the BSO's music director, [[Serge Koussevitzky]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Leonard Bernstein |url=https://www.sonyclassical.com/artists/artist-details/leonard-bernstein |access-date=May 1, 2025 |website=Sony Classical |language=en}}</ref> who became a profound lifelong inspiration to Bernstein.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Tanglewood |url=https://leonardbernstein.com/about/educator/tanglewood |access-date=July 1, 2020 |website=Leonard Bernstein Office}}</ref> He became Koussevitzky's conducting assistant at Tanglewood<ref name=":0" /> and later dedicated his [[Symphony No. 2 (Bernstein)|Symphony No. 2: ''The Age of Anxiety'']] to Koussevitzky.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Symphony No. 2: The Age of Anxiety (1949) |url=https://www.leonardbernstein.com/works/view/16/symphony-no-2-the-age-of-anxiety |access-date=May 1, 2025 |website=Leonard Bernstein}}</ref> One of Bernstein's classmates, both at Curtis and at Tanglewood, was [[Lukas Foss]], who remained a lifelong friend and colleague.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rubin |first=Susan Goldman |url=https://archive.org/details/musicwasityoungl0000rubi/mode/2up?q=foss |title=Music was it: Young Leonard Bernstein |date=2011 |publisher=Charlesbridge |isbn=978-1-58089-344-2 |location=Watertown, MA |pages=142–143}}</ref> Bernstein returned to Tanglewood nearly every summer for the rest of his life to teach and conduct the young music students.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Johnson |first=Jenn |date=June 19, 2018 |title=A Man for All Seasons {{!}} Timeless New England |url=https://newengland.com/yankee/magazine/a-man-for-all-seasons-timeless-new-england/ |access-date=May 1, 2025 |website=New England |language=en-US}}</ref> Bernstein received a diploma in conducting from Curtis in 1941.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About the Leonard Bernstein Collection |url=https://www.loc.gov/collections/leonard-bernstein/about-this-collection/ |access-date=May 1, 2025 |website=Library of Congress}}</ref>