Leonard Bernstein, an American conductor, composer, and educator, was a passionate ambassador for music who strove to make the complexities and joys of classical music accessible to the public. Born in 1918 in Massachusetts, Bernstein served as both conductor and musical director for the New York Philharmonic. With a signature idiosyncratic and ardent style of conducting, Bernstein rapidly became a beloved figure among audiences in America and around the world. Bernstein’s renowned television series, Young People’s Concerts, aimed to educate and inspire young viewers, pairing Bernstein’s irresistible passion for music with a format that was accessible to the American public. Bernstein was not only an iconic public figure and conductor but also a composer in his own right: His best-known works include the music for On the Waterfront, for which Bernstein received an Academy Award nomination in 1954, as well as for West Side Story, co-written with Stephen Sondheim and Jerome Robbins. Working in the midst of the turbulent Cold War era, Bernstein viewed music as a vital moral project. After President Kennedy’s assassination, Bernstein stated: “This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.” Points to include in a biographical sketch: * Key dates (birth, death, etc) * Important career accomplishments * Important personal milestones * The individual’s impact on others, what the individual is known for * A quote, fun fact, or succinct anecdote that illustrates something important about the individual