Performance Today®

"It was as if Bernstein handed me a big platter with 'Career' on it and said, 'Hey kid! You want it?'" Andre Watts said yes. The pianist describes the 1963 concert that changed his life.

Conductor JoAnn Falletta was a student at the Juilliard School when the august composer, conductor and pianist Leonard Berstein walked into the classroom, lit cigarette in hand. Smoking inside was not allowed at Juilliard. But in this instance, and in so many other ways, she said Bernstein existed above the rules. Falletta shares her favorite memories of Leonard Bernstein on Monday's Performance Today.

Leonard Bernstein didn't impress just Americans. He impressed the world. Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra's Music Director JoAnn Falletta remembers the music lessons and cigarette ashes Bernstein left in her Juilliard School conducting classes.

Leonard Bernstein was born a hundred years ago this summer. Beyond his own extraordinary career, Bernstein was an unparalleled mentor. On this weekend's Performance Today, memories about music lessons and life lessons from Leonard Bernstein.

Leonard Bernstein is primarily remembered as a conducting powerhouse, but composer Philip Glass wishes that Bernstein would have written more music. On Friday's Performance Today, Philip Glass discusses the legacy of Leonard Bernstein.

Those of us who knew Leonard Bernstein through his recordings loved his work. But what did Bernstein's colleagues and fellow composers think about his career? Composer Philip Glass says that, in considering Bernstein's legacy, there is a lot that he did right. But there was one thing he thinks Bernstein could have done differently.

When conductor Marin Alsop was a kid, she talked her parents into buying two posters for her: one of the Beatles, and one of Leonard Bernstein. Marin Alsop's memories of Bernstein, on Thursday's Performance Today.

Leonard Bernstein was born a hundred years ago this summer. And beyond his own extraordinary career, Bernstein was an unparalleled mentor. On Wednesday's Performance Today, memories about music lessons and life lessons from Leonard Bernstein.

When he was a graduate student, Richard Danielpour knew Leonard Bernstein as a mentor, a provocateur and the center of a swirling mix of celebrities. Danielpour says Bernstein was quite funny, sometimes sardonic. But there was one person he would never make fun of.