Bernstein at Carnegie Hall - Bernstein, 1956.

Leonard Bernstein made one of the most dramatic debuts in Carnegie Hall’s history. On November 14, 1943, when he stepped in at the last minute to conduct the New York Philharmonic, replacing the ailing Bruno Walter, he became an international celebrity—at the age of 25. “Lenny” was ready for it, and his name carried superlatives for the rest of his life.

A quintessential New Yorker and one of the most important musicians of the 20th century, Bernstein was uniquely talented as a conductor, pianist, composer, writer, and teacher. In 1958, at age 40, he became one of the youngest—and the first American-born—music directors of the New York Philharmonic, while his West Side Story was playing to sold out houses. Equally at home on Broadway or in the concert hall, Bernstein—who performed at Carnegie Hall over 400 times—had an enthusiasm for and understanding of music that extended far beyond the classical realm, encompassing jazz, world music, American popular song, and 1960s pop and rock.

His extraordinary communication skills and contagious enthusiasm introduced classical music to millions of people through television, while his writings and lectures inspired controversy and thought. His expansive love of life, of people, and especially of music in all its forms, combined with his charisma and a seemingly inexhaustible supply of energy, made him a living legend. When Bernstein died in 1990 at the relatively young age of 72, after a career that spanned more than 50 years, composer Ned Rorem said, “Lenny led four lives in one, so he was not 72, but 288.”