Leonard Bernstein

Leonard Bernstein (born August 25, 1918, died October 14, 1990) was an American composer and orchestra conductor.

Bernstein was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts on August 25, 1918, and died in 1990. Bernstein was highly regarded as a director, composer, pianist, and educator. He is probably best known to the public as long time music director of the New York Symphony Orchestra; for conducting concerts by many of the world's leading orchestras; and for writing the music for the musical West Side Story. All told he wrote three symphonies, two operas, five musicals, and numerous other pieces. Bernstein's politics were decidedly left wing, but unlike some of his contemporaries, he was not blacklisted in the 1950s. Bernstein married actress and author Felicia Montealegre in 1951. The couple had three children.