Editing Leonard Bernstein (section)

=== 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}}