Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) was an American composer, conductor, pianist and educator, and one of the most charismatic musical figures of the twentieth century. Born in Massachusetts, he rose to fame as a conductor in New York and became a public advocate for music with unusually wide reach.

As a composer he wrote across concert hall, theatre, ballet and film. His works include West Side Story, Candide, On the Town, three symphonies, the Chichester Psalms and the film score for On the Waterfront.

Bernstein’s music draws on classical technique, jazz, Broadway, Jewish liturgical inflection and American vernacular rhythm. At its best it is urgent, theatrical and emotionally open, with a restless desire to communicate.

His conducting sometimes overshadowed his composing, but the two were linked by the same energy and dramatic intelligence. Bernstein remains a defining American musical voice, able to move between sophistication and direct address without apology.