Aaron Copland

(1900-1990)

Fast Facts:

• Copland was born in 1900 in Brooklyn, NY. As a child, he wanted piano lessons but could only get them from his sisters. It wasn’t until graduating high school that Copland began to seriously engage in music when he decided to enter do music as a career.
• He studied with famous music composition teacher Nadia Boulanger in Paris. Here, he had afternoon tea with other infamous composers such as Stravinsky, Poulenc, Ravel, Villa-Lobos, and Saint-Saëns.
• Copland was known for his ability to capture the Americana culture in many of his works. His pieces such as Rodeo, Appalachian Spring, and his ballet Billy the Kid all exemplify this quality.
• He was a notorious night owl as he mainly composed in the evening after dinner, working until midnight or later.
• Copland was good friends with conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein. They maintained correspondence through their lives. Bernstein revered Copland’s music and Copland helped mentor Bernstein, hence their close relationship.

Leonard Bernstein

(1918 – 1990)

Composer, conductor, educator, and humanitarian, LEONARD BERNSTEIN (August 25, 1918- October 14, 1990) forged his many talents with an irresistible personality to transform the way people everywhere hear and appreciate music. He broke rules, shattered precedents, and opened doors, insisting that music could, and should, play a vital role in the lives of all people.

Bernstein’s successes as a composer ranged from the Broadway stage (most notably, West Side Story) to concert halls all over the world, where his orchestral and choral works continue to thrive. As a conductor of a vast repertoire, he was a dynamic presence on the podiums of the world’s great orchestras for half a century, leaving a legacy that endures through an uncommonly rich and diverse catalogue of over 500 recordings and filmed performances. He was the first American-born and -trained conductor to be appointed music director of a major American orchestra, and the first to conduct the Berlin Philharmonic, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw, among others.