… honoring the truth of the music with total focus and presence: that’s the kind of musician Lenny wanted all of us to be — or become.
Dr. Jerry C. of Ann Arbor, Michigan, remembers:
I first encountered Maestro Bernstein as an elementary school kid growing up in Metuchen, New Jersey, in the 1960’s.
We were incredibly fortunate to be brought to a Young People’s Concert once a year by the school system. No doubt those magical, sublime encounters were a big reason that I ultimately became a conductor and composer and teacher.
As an undergraduate at Westminster Choir College in the 1970’s, I vividly remember LB saying to us before performing the Beethoven ‘Missa Solemnis,’
If you are the same person after singing this tonight as you are right now, go back to Princeton, dig a hole in the ground, jump in, and pull the dirt in on top of you –you’re already dead and you just don’t know it yet.
That kind of passion and overwhelming commitment to honoring the truth of the music with total focus and presence:
That’s the kind of musician Lenny wanted all of us to be, or become.
About this content
This content is part of the #Bernsteinat100 Memory Project. See more memories at LeonardBernstein.com.
