Leonard Bernstein was born in Lawrence, just north of Boston, on Sunday, August 25, 1918. Bernstein was named Louis at birth, after his mother’s grandfather, but at the age of sixteen he had it formally changed to Leonard, or Lenny. As a child, Bernstein was sick very often with asthma and hay fever. Perhaps due to these and many other medical conditions, Bernstein preferred to be alone. He didn’t care to spend much time with …showed first 75 words of 1035 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1035 total…p.m. Bernstein’s last concert was conducted at Tanglewood on August 19, 1990. He died at his home in New York on October 14, 1990. Emotion spread like wildfire as the news of his death was circulated. He had been such an accomplished man of music. He can be held responsible for making American music what it is today. He was the first American born and trained composer to ever gain the national recognition that Leonard Bernstein did.