Ladies and Gentleman, 100 years and a few days ago, something amazing happened. Leonard Bernstein was born.
I’ll save the full schtick, but suffice to say he became the single greatest American conductor and teacher in history. He was also an incredible composer, and some would say again the greatest American composer in history- though for me that honor goes to Aaron Copland (you DON’T want to get me started).
Bernstein is perhaps best known for composing the music for West Side Story, the incredible musical with lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. He also wrote Candide, an opera based on the book by the same name.