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As a conductor

Leonard Bernstein was one of the most important conductors of the 20th century. He was held in high regard by musicians around the world, including the members of the New York Philharmonic, which he led for eleven seasons; the Vienna Philharmonic, where he received an honorary membership; the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which he conducted principally at Tanglewood for over 50 years; the London Symphony Orchestra, of which he was president; and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, where he appeared regularly as their guest conductor. Audiences worldwide eagerly anticipated Bernstein's performances, from New York to Tokyo to Caracas to Sydney.

In 1943, Bernstein's last-minute conducting debut in Carnegie Hall with the New York Philharmonic, which was broadcast live nationwide, caused him to become famous overnight. He soon became the first American-born, American-trained conductor to achieve international status, at a time when conductors traditionally came from Europe.

Bernstein's three major conducting mentors were Serge Koussevitzky, Dimitri Mitropoulos, and Fritz Reiner. Bernstein's conducting was characterized by his physically expressive podium manner. Orchestra members often remarked that Bernstein's every gesture conveyed a specific musical communication for them.

Bernstein performed a wide classical music repertoire from the Baroque era to the music of his time. Bernstein conducted and recorded definitive interpretations of works by traditional composers such as Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, and Tchaikovsky; championed music by lesser known composers such as Mahler, Sibelius, and Nielsen; and advocated modern composers such as Stravinsky, Hindemith, Shostakovich, and Ligeti. Bernstein programmed American composers everywhere in the world that he conducted, sharing the music of Gershwin, Copland, and Ives. He expanded the definitions of the genres that could be included in the concert hall by programming jazz, musical theater, and works from Latin America.

A skilled pianist, he often conducted piano concertos from the keyboard, including works by Gershwin, Mozart, Beethoven, and Ravel.

Bernstein was also an influential conducting teacher and mentor. During his many years at Tanglewood, Schleswig-Holstein and elsewhere, Bernstein directly influenced many young conductors, including Seiji Ozawa, Claudio Abbado, Lorin Maazel, Marin Alsop, Michael Tilson Thomas, James DePreist, Edo de Waart, Eiji Oue, JoAnn Falletta, Yutaka Sado, Maurice Peress, Carl St. Clair, John Mauceri, and Jaap van Zweden.