Jamie Bernstein News

Copland House's 2018-19 mainstage season will offer celebrations aplenty! Ranging widely across more than a century of American music, the popular series is Copland House's 10th at Westchester County's majestic Merestead estate in Mount Kisco, NY. Hailed by The New York Times for "all the richness of its offerings, first-rate fare, and reputation for quality," the series has become a destination for an enthusiastic and growing audience of musical adventurers seeking discoveries of the new, old, and unexpected.

In April 2018, the New World Symphony joined The Sphinx Organization and the League of American Orchestras in announcing their new partnership, the National Alliance for Audition Support (NAAS), which is a field-wide initiative with the long-term goal of increasing diversity in American orchestras. Supported by a four-year, $1.8 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Alliance offers a holistic and personalized array of support to Black and Latinx musicians to develop their audition skills, increase their participation in auditions, and ultimately, increase their representation in orchestras.

Tanglewood's season-long Bernstein centennial celebration will culminate in a gala concert on Bernstein's actual 100th birthday, August 25, to be recorded by Great Performances for an exclusive U.S. broadcast premiere December 28 at 9 p.m. on PBS

While the buzz recently has been about a screen adaptation of the classic musical West Side Story, The Hollywood Reporter has just revealed that award-winning director Ivo van Hove will be bringing West Side Story to the Broadway stage next season. 

For the centenary of America's favorite musical son Leonard Bernstein, two of his much-loved works

An insider's view of what it was like to grow up as the eldest daughter of the most influential American musician of the 20th century

Tanglewood's season-long Bernstein centennial celebration-one of the most comprehensive looks at Bernstein's amazing impact on the worlds of music and theater taking place in the anniversary year-will culminate in a gala concert on Bernstein's actual 100th birthday, August 25. Reflecting the season-long theme, The Bernstein Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood concert will spotlight Bernstein's wide-ranging talents as a composer, his many gifts as a great interpreter and champion of other composers, his role as an inspirer of a new generation of musicians and music lovers across the country and around the globe, and his presence as a driving musical force at Tanglewood, 1940-1990.

Everywhere my brother, sister and I go, people come up to us and have that same thing to say

Leonard Bernstein was an American Classic. No one would question that he occupied the top echelon of every musical field he chose to pursue

If you can't get enough of operas, symphonic concerts and a few musical theatre pieces thrown in for good measure, have I got a summer for you! Start in New York City and head north--almost around the corner, or a weekend (or more) away--and you'll find more than enough to keep you happy during the sultry weather ahead. (Even if it doesn't turn out quite so sultry…) It covers the gamut from Handel to Puccini, from serial podcasts to light opera, from dramma serio to musical comedy, with an added emphasis on Leonard Bernstein as the music world celebrates his 100th birthday.

As both a celebration of the Washington National Opera and a culmination of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts' Leonard Bernstein at 100 celebration, last weekend's Opera Gala definitely found success. While the evening had its share of disappointments (Titus Burgess of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt fame fell ill and was unable to perform; Patti LuPone, the top-billed artist of the evening, performed only two fairly short numbers) there was an undeniable electricity to the night. Previously, the WNO held an annual ball which, according to Kennedy Center Chairman David Rubenstein, included neither opera nor a ball. Switching the format to one with a formal gala reception, an opera-filled performance, and elegant dinners hosted by Ambassadors and foreign dignitaries proved the Kennedy Center can still pull off some new tricks.

This past Tuesday evening, May 22, the National Museum of American Jewish History held the 2018 Only in America Gala at the Mandarin Oriental in New York City. This event celebrated the legacy of legendary Maestro and Broadway composer Leonard Bernstein during his centennial year, and honored his children Jamie Bernstein, Alexander Bernstein, and Nina Bernstein Simmons.

As a major highlight of its summer-long celebration, June 15-September 2, of the centennial of Leonard Bernstein's birth, Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) in Lenox, MA, has programmed several fully staged and semi-staged productions of Leonard Bernstein's work written for the stage, featuring several Tony Award-winning Broadway performers, choreographers, and directors.

Lincoln Center today announced its annual Out of Doors season of free music and dance, invigorating Damrosch Park and the Lincoln Center campus from July 24 to August 12. One of the country's longest-running free outdoor festivals, now in its 48th edition, Out of Doors intertwines diverse social and cultural dialogues with multi-genre music programming, family events, dance, and spoken word by artists from New York City, across the United States, and beyond in this year's lineup.

When you hear the first few notes of the rollicking overture, you know Bernstein is genuflecting hard to Johann Strauss. Yet this is a story in which the principal characters are bayoneted, hanged, maimed, raped, prostituted, ravaged by disease, and enslaved, among other things, a story which, thematically, takes the characters and us right to the edge of the Nietzschean abyss and gives us a good long sobering look into it - not the sort of thing Strauss or Gilbert and Sullivan ever did.

Two Toronto multi-cultural music groups share a very special evening on April 7. The Royal Conservatory's KUNE - Canada's Global Orchestra features top notch musicians from all over the world who now live in Canada.

Washington National Opera (WNO) today announced the date and partial casting for its 2018 WNO Gala, which takes place on Sunday, May 20 in the Kennedy Center Opera House. The annual Gala concert features a world-class cast  starring Tony and GRAMMY Award-winning actor Patti LuPone; Emmy-nominated singer and actor Tituss Burgess (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, 30 Rock); and stars from WNO's current season—mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard (Rosina in The Barber of Seville) and soprano Kathryn Lewek (Cunegonde in Candide)—as well as members of the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artists Program and other special guests to be announced at a later date. Renowned baritone Nathan Gunn will host and perform, alongside his wife, pianist Julie Gunn.   Conductor John DeMain leads the WNO Orchestra in this event honoring the centennial of iconic composer, conductor, educator, and humanitarian Leonard Bernstein's birth. The WNO Gala is the culminating event in this season's Center-wide celebration of the musical genius, and Jamie Bernstein, the composer's eldest daughter, will also participate in the festivities.   Gala packages for the full evening include a cocktail reception on the Kennedy Center's River Terrace at 4:30 p.m., followed by the 6 p.m. performance. The event concludes with elegant dinners hosted by Ambassadors and foreign dignitaries at embassies and residences throughout Washington.

Washington National Opera (WNO) today announced the date and partial casting for its 2018 WNO Gala, which takes place on Sunday, May 20 in the Kennedy Center Opera House. The annual Gala concert features a world-class cast starring Tony® and GRAMMY® Award-winning actor Patti LuPone; Emmy®-nominated singer and actor Tituss Burgess (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, 30 Rock); and stars from WNO's current season-mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard (Rosina inThe Barber of Seville) and soprano Kathryn Lewek (Cunegonde in Candide)-as well as members of the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artists Program and other special guests to be announced at a later date. Renowned baritone Nathan Gunn will host and perform, alongside his wife, pianist Julie Gunn.

Leonard Bernstein made one foray into Hollywood with an original film score: the 1954 romantic tragedy On the Waterfront, which is ranked by the American Film Institute as one of the ten best films of all time.  On Saturday, February 24 at 8pm, On the Waterfront will exuberantly come to life when the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts (The Soraya) presents Richard Kaufman conducting Bernstein's electrifying score live, while the newly re-mastered film is shown in glorious high definition on the big screen with original dialogue intact.

On January 25, 2018, WGBH will debut Classical.org, its new digital classical music entertainment experience. A media partner and official digital partner of the Leonard Bernstein Centennial, WGBH will devote the first year of Classical.org to The Bernstein Experience -- celebrating the life, music and legacy of legendary American composer and conductor, Leonard Bernstein.