Leonard Bernstein’s Concerts for Young People

The popular composer inspired a whole, new generation of artists through innovative music education.

Leonard Bernstein with members of the New York Philharmonic rehearsing for a television broadcast, circa 1958. Bert Bial, New York Philharmonic Archives. New York Philharmonic Archives/CC BY 2.5

Leonard Bernstein became a living legend in his lifetime. Numerous biographies of him appeared before he passed away in 1990.

The first of these was written by his sister, Shirley Bernstein. In “Making Music: Leonard Bernstein,” she relates the story of her brother’s earliest memory.

Four-year-old “Lenny” had just learned that “man was made of dust” and went about collecting dust from under his bed. He placed them in the bathroom sink and turned on the faucet, hoping that adding water to the sample of particles might grow a human being. He never turned the faucet off, though, and water leaked into the apartment below, ruining a professional tailor’s wardrobe.

While Lenny’s scientific experiment was a failure, the story shows the extent to which he would go to satisfy his curiosity. This enthusiasm was often infectious, a character trait that he exploited after becoming a famous composer. As the conductor of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Bernstein did a great deal to promote classical music among average Americans. He wrote popular Broadway musicals and gave televised lectures.

The most successful of these educational programs, though, were his Young People’s Concerts.

Concerts for Young People

Poster for New York Philharmonic Young People's Concert, conductor Rudolf Ganz, Jan. 19, 1942. Pre-Leonard Bernstein. Public Domain

Bernstein was not the first person to give concerts for young people. The New York Philharmonic had begun the tradition in 1924. His concerts were the first to be televised, though. They were broadcast internationally, syndicated in 40 countries, and shown in schools. CBS paid him handsomely for the transcripts and television rights, in addition to the substantial fee he received for each performance. Within the United States alone, he reached a primetime audience of 10 million viewers.

When Bernstein took over the position of music director for the New York Philharmonic in 1958 (the first American appointed to a major conducting post), he was already a public figure. In February of the previous year, he appeared on the cover of Time magazine. Then, in September, “West Side Story” debuted on Broadway to great success. Then, for his first broadcast Young People’s Concert on Jan. 18, 1958, his popularity gave rise to heights no conductor had ever known.

The Philharmonic opened this first performance with an excerpt from Rossini’s “William Tell Overture.” After playing for a minute or so, Bernstein turned to the audience, and asked, “Okay, so what do you think this music’s all about?”

Various replies were shouted: “Cowboys, bandits, horses.”

Since Rossini’s overture was popularly known as “the Lone Ranger song,” being the theme of that television show, Bernstein said that his young daughter had also thought the music dealt with this subject matter.

“Well, I hate to disappoint her, and you too, but it really isn’t about the Lone Ranger at all,” he went on. “It’s about notes. … No matter how many times people tell you stories about what music means, forget them. Stories aren’t what music means at all. Music is never about anything. … Music is beautiful notes and sounds, put together in such a way that we get pleasure out of listening to them.”

‘What Is Classical Music?’

Bernstein loved teaching. With his natural charm and enthusiasm, he cultivated a direct approach. He kept his explanations simple without dumbing things down, drawing on personal anecdotes to relate to his younger audience.

From 1958 to 1972, Bernstein gave over 53 Young People’s Concerts. All of the episodes are now available to watch on YouTube for free. His transcripts, which CBS once paid him so handsomely for, are also available to view on the Library of Congress website.

New York Philharmonic Principal Cellist Lorne Munroe and Leonard Bernstein at a Young People's Concert. Dec. 6, 1968. Dr rock/CC BY-SA 4.0

In one of these transcripts, dated Jan. 24, 1959 for a performance at Carnegie Hall, Bernstein sought to answer the question, “What is classical music?”

His answer is not the standard one. Most people, he said, think classical music is “all that stuff” that is “the opposite of fun—all that dull, dry, complicated stuff that they’re made to listen to instead of the music they choose to listen to.” Classical music is often described in terms of what it is not—jazz or pop—rather than what it is.

Not all music from an earlier time is classified within the genre. It has to meet certain criteria: It has a “lasting quality” that “is perhaps the most important meaning of the word ‘classical.’ A classic is something that lasts forever.”

Bernstein’s Influence

On the popular online forum TalkClassical.com, Bernstein’s fans have shared their reflections about what it was like experiencing these concerts. One attendee remembered that all the children were actively engaged and there was “no fidgeting.” Another described Bernstein’s concerts as a “a godsend” that offered an escape from the “dreary, dumbed-down musical tastes” of peers.

Everyone who heard these concerts has a unique perspective, but all of these memories share common themes. Bernstein is widely credited with inspiring an entire generation of future musicians.

Pianist Jeffrey Siegel, who carries on Bernstein’s spirit with his popular “Keyboard Conversations” concert series, has credited the older composer as a major influence on him.

The New York Philharmonic continues to give Young People’s Concerts today. While they target children ages 6 and up, they also hold the Very Young People’s Concerts for tykes as young as 3.

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