Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is paying homage to Leonard Bernstein, the composer behind such hits as West Side Story, Peter Pan and Wonderful Town. Alongside his cinematic endeavours, Bernstein was also the director and conductor of New York Philharmonic for many years. His illustrious life will be celebrated with a series of events at Hamer Hall this winter.
The MSO presents Bernstein on Broadway (Sun Aug 18) which showcases his renowned theatre scores from his beloved New York City. The Bernstein Classics event (Wed Aug 15) will take a biographical journey through Bernstein’s musical roots. Both performances will be lead by Bernstein mentee from the UK, Bramwell Tovey.
The Bernstein festival will also screen Academy Award winning West Side Story on the big screen in high definition on Friday July 27 and Saturday July 28. The live supporting music will be lead by MSO’s associate conductor Benjamin Northey.