Having spend his teens playing in Jazz bands and listening to Jazz performances & records, Bernstein (controversially) believed that Jazz was an essential component of American Music. His 1956 CBS Omnibus collection/lecture “What is Jazz” (available for free here: https://youtu.be/To5AcmNCHpg?si=31veOWlwViRl0HFG) was a major turning point in getting a lot of people to appreciate Jazz as an art form #SymSat#JazzAppreciationMonth#LeonardBernstein#Jazz
Leonard Bernstein (August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was a Harvard and Curtis Institute of Music trained conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, writer, and humanitarian.He received 7 Emmy Awards, 2 Tony Awards, 16 Grammy Awards, a 1955 Oscar nomination, a Peabody medal, a 1980 Kennedy Center Honor, an Induction into the American Theater Hall of Fame, the Television Hall of Fame and American Classical Music Hall of Fame- amongst others. #SymSat#LeonardBernstein