101 Memories of Leonard Bernstein

"The opening notes to the overture of West Side Story, and how it reminded my sister and I of the t'kiya call of the shofar during Rosh Hashanna. We would learn much later in life that that's exactly where his inspiration came from!

"In March 1986, I met Maestro Bernstein back stage at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia. I introduced myself, and I told him that I was conducting the Chichester Psalms at my congregation, Beth Sholom Congregation of Elkins Park, in a few weeks. He said, "Of course, you are presenting the small version," referring to the reduced accompaniment arrangement for organ, harp, and percussion. I said, "NO, Maestro! I am conducting the full orchestration with my Beth Sholom Chorale. He grabbed my face with both hands, rubbed my cheeks with great energy, and said, "ATTA BOY!" This was a memory I shall cherish forever."

"Singing the Bernstein "Kaddish" with the L.A. Zimriyah Chorale at the 1998 World Choir Festival in Jerusalem in 1998."

"I grew up in Mexico City and remember vividly the first time I got to see Leonard Bernstein in concert at Bellas Artes. I remember the passion and energy with which he conducted. This was THE event. My parents and grandparents were all excited about the music and proud of the prominent Jewish Maestro, more so since they had fled the pogroms and pre-Nazi aggression on Jews in Eastern Europe."

"Listening to West Side Story in East Germany - Living in New York today, this was my very first encounter of New York. I love to think back to that memory."

"When he conducted Beethoven's 9th in Berlin just after the Berlin Wall came down. 'Freiheit!'"

"Watching his back as he conducted the New York Philharmonic, in the then Philharmonic Hall, Lincoln Center c. 1967, going to a political event at his and his wife Felicia's sumptuous apartment with Civil Rights leaders; Black Panthers, and all... 'Lenny' was never far from the center of contemporary issues, he was an activist!"

"In 1967, July, I was at the kotel hamaaravi. All rubble after Zahal cleared the area. Very crowded with many people who came to see the miracle. As I was standing next to the Wall, a group of people were moving towards where I was standing. Very strange looking group following the leading man who was obviously in great awe and waving his hands in he air. The group had a man with a movie camera, a boom, and they were filming the leading man. They were moving towards the wall brushing other people aside. I turned to the man next to me and asked him if he knew who that was coming with the group.

'Oh,' said he, 'that's just Lenny. He always does things like that.' I took a better look at the man to whom I had spoken and I was shocked when I realized that he was Isaac Stern. I realized that 'Lenny' was his friend, Leonard Bernstein, who was filming his visit to Israel after the Six Day War. That's how how I shook hands with the worlds greatest violinist and met Leonard Bernstein."

"While I loved the children's programs, what I remember most is his conducting of the Israel orchestra on Mt. Scopus when the State of Israel was created. That was unforgettable!"

"Music class in my Israeli high school introduced me to Bernstein's music. I remember dancing in class to the Latin rhythm of 'America' from West Side Story and being deeply moved by 'Kaddish.' His ability to express emotion and connect to cultures through his music remain with me."

"The Young People Concerts were something that we were allowed to watch whenever they were on. I'd lost my father several years previous and, in many ways, Leonard Bernstein became a father figure for me. During one program Bernstein was discussing Beethoven's 3rd Symphony and how, after the first 3 notes, how did Beethoven decide what the 4th note would be. It became a discussion of making the next best choice. This concept became key to my life. Thank you, Maestro."

"Attending the Young Peoples series and having him explain what you need to be a conductor. I remember he was keeping 4 different measures of time on his feet and hands. That was about 55 years ago, and I have never forgotten it."

"My dad got a copy of West Side Story, and for a couple of years our family would sit at the dinner table and sing excerpts. The best ones were when my mom, an Irish immigrant, sang 'I Like to Be In America', and we would all fall out when she sang/shouted 'I know a BOAT you can GET ONNNN!'"

"Watching West Side Story as a young girl. I am Latina and it was thrilling to see young Spanish-speaking men and women dancing and singing in a modern-day opera!"

"Receiving a personal letter from him as a 10-year-old."

"Bernstein was a born teacher. His dynamic presentation of facts others could make dull was one of the inspirations for me when I became a music teacher."

"When my uncle, who was part of the NY Philharmonic under Bernstein, died suddenly, Bernstein gave my aunt a significant personal gift to help provide for my two cousins' college education."

"I have a telegram from Leonard Bernstein recommending my dad, Philmore Gilbert, for a job as a tympanist with the then Palestine Symphony Orchestra. My parents had a young baby and the circumstances seemed too unsure at the time, so he declined the offer. My dad was one year older than Lenny, but they knew each other from playing together. They both also attended the first year of the Tanglewood Music Center and I have an amazing photograph of all the luminaries that were there."

"I saw Leonard Bernstein at Tanglewood and when he did Tchaikovsky's fifth symphony it looked like he began to levitate off the podium! He also conducted the Haydn 88 with only his face and no hands! After the concert although he was visibly tired, he shook hands and signed autographs for everyone!"

"Thrill of a lifetime: playing violin in the student orchestra at Tanglewood—conducted by Bernstein himself!"

"Seeing and hearing the maestro perform Beethoven's 9th Symphony live in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, in the middle 1960s. At the end of the performance I stood up absolutely stunned and declared to my new young wife...we are getting a stereo!!!!"

"In November of 1989, I attended a special program at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in which Bernstein himself dedicated a performance of his music, "in memorium to those I love who have died to AIDS." His appearance had enormous resonance to me and my family because my husband and I were, and still are, AIDS researchers and physicians and our daughter, aged four at the time, had already been educated about Bernstein."

"My husband was offered a full scholarship to Boston U. because he had played for Leonard Bernstein as an extra in the Israel Philharmonic. Later Lenny remembered him when he played at Tanglewood, and invited him to play for important teachers. So it's all because of Lenny that my husband came to North America and we met!"

"Saturday afternoon many decades ago. Mom was vacuuming the living room, I'm a bored adolescent. TV is on but I can't hear it. Suddenly, Mom turns off the vacuum, turns up the TV; she's seen WHO is on the screen and together we watch and listen, enchanted and transported, as the great conductor talks and then brings us the concert. Bonus: I began flute lessons, played in youth orchestras and have had a lifetime of beauty, thanks to Leonard Bernstein coming into our living room."