IN THE NEWS

By Erica Miner - Broadway World
June 13, 2018

Jamie Bernstein has described her newly minted book,Famous Father Girl: A Memoir of Growing Up Bernstein (Harper Collins, ISBN-13: 978-0062641359), as "a love letter to my whole family".

It is a love letter filled with candid, disarmingly frank memories: an insider's view of what it was like to grow up as the eldest daughter of the most influential American musician of the 20th century: Leonard Bernstein, or "LB," as Jamie came to call him in her young adult years.

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By Tracee M. Herbaugh | AP - The Washington Post
June 13, 2018

“Famous Father Girl: a Memoir of Growing Up Bernstein” (Harper), by Jamie Bernstein

Private schools, a New England country home and socializing with the likes of President John F. Kennedy and family — this is what it’s like to grow up as the child of famed composer and musician Leonard Bernstein.

The maestro’s eldest daughter, Jamie Bernstein, has written a new memoir about her experience coming of age with her arguably eccentric and wealthy parents. The book, “Famous Father Girl,” is a name Jamie was given by a private school classmate.

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By Erica Miner - Broadway World
June 12, 2018

Erica Miner: Traveling the US narrating your Bernstein Beat concerts, you encountered many musicians who have "a personal story to tell" about your father: "a moment when they'd had a meaningful exchange...that they never forgot." For me, working with him at Tanglewood and the Met Opera were life-changing experiences. Do you still get this kind of reaction and sentiment from musicians you meet now, or are we all getting too old?

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By Erica Miner - Broadway World
June 10, 2018

Of the countless celebrations commemorating the 100th anniversary of this musical icon’s birth, perhaps none is more heartfelt than his oldest daughter Jamie’s newly minted memoir, Famous Father Girl: A Memoir of Growing Up Bernstein. I caught up with Jamie during her whirlwind book-related travels to discuss the birth of her book—and to reminisce a bit about old times.

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By Bob Hoover - The Dallas Morning News
June 8, 2018

These new books, one by the daughter of a famous dad, the other by the well-regarded son of a little-known man, explore this abyss with a mix of regret and hope but always with love for their complicated male parent.

Jamie Bernstein, who turns 66 this year, is the oldest of three children of Leonard Bernstein, the larger-than-life figure of America's classical and Broadway musical world. It's the centennial of his birth, hence this memoir.

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By Julia Vitale - Vanity Fair
May 2018

Retta eats a cockroach, Leonard Bernstein’s daughter Jamie remembers her dad’s presence on President Nixon’s “enemies list,” David Lynch believes that artists should never get married, and more...

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By Sarah Stiefvater - PureWow

​​​​​​​Leonard Bernstein’s oldest daughter’s memoir is an intimate look at her father’s life and features a supporting cast including the Kennedys, Mike Nichols, John Lennon, Lauren Bacall and more.

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By Erica Dreifus - Jewish Journal
May 24, 2018

In this centennial year of Leonard Bernstein’s birth — and a year in which Jewish American Heritage Month (May) has spotlighted Jewish contributions to American music — this memoir by the eminent composer/conductor’s eldest daughter is likely to hold wide appeal. (Consider reading it before Aug. 25, when Lenny would have celebrated his 100th birthday.)

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By BWW News Desk - Broadway World
May 24, 2018

This past Tuesday evening, May 22, the National Museum of American Jewish History held the 2018 Only in America Gala at the Mandarin Oriental in New York City. This event celebrated the legacy of legendary Maestro and Broadway composer Leonard Bernstein during his centennial year, and honored his children Jamie Bernstein, Alexander Bernstein, and Nina Bernstein Simmons.

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By Shivani Vora - The New York Times
May 23, 2018

“The diversity of the events is incredible,” Jamie Bernstein said. “There are symposiums at universities, exhibits and film festivals. Opera and theater companies, ballet houses and orchestras are also participating.” She added that her and her siblings are traveling to as many of the celebrations as possible.

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By Patrick Rucker - The Washington Post
May 21, 2018

Of the centenary tributes accorded Leonard Bernstein this year, few could be more personal than the one given by his daughter, Jamie Bernstein, along with soprano Amy Burton and pianists Michael Boriskin and John Musto at the Phillips Collection Sunday afternoon.

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By Scott Simon - NPR Weekend Edition
May 12, 2018

Marin Alsop invited NPR's Scott Simon to join her onstage at that event for a discussion her and with Jamie Bernstein, the composer's daughter — who is publishing a memoir in June called Famous Father Girl: A Memoir of Growing Up Bernstein. Hear their conversation at the audio link, and read an edited transcript below.

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By Christopher Purdy - WOSU Public Radio
May 11, 2018

Leonard Bernstein and his wife, Chilean-born actress Felicia Montealegre, had three children: Jamie, Alexander and Nina. Montealegre died in 1978. Bernstein died in 1990, at the age of 72. 

Their daughter Jamie has penned a memoir, to be published June 12 in celebration of this year's Bernstein birthday centennial. Famous Father Girl: A Memoir of Growing Up Bernstein by Jamie Bernstein is, in its way, a love letter to both of her parents.

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By Lawrence Elizabeth Knox - Houston Chronicle
May 9, 2018

Throughout the evening, she will serve as commentator, offering personal reflections and remembrances of her iconic father, who died in 1990, and his rich legacy as a composer, conductor, author, pianist and music educator. In the past few months, she, like her brother and sister, has traveled to at least a dozen different cities, some multiple times, to take part in similar events.

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By  Fritz Klug - Revue Magazine
May 4, 2018

At most classical concerts, there are program notes with information about the works and composers to give background and insight into the music.

Late Night with Leonard Bernstein had nothing of the sort: the performance itself was those notes. Over the course of two hours, the great American composer’s daughter, Jamie Bernstein, took the Gilmore Keyboard Festival audience on a journey through her father’s life, influences, friends and “insomniac brain.”

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By Jarrett Hoffman - ClevelandClassical.com
May 1, 2018

In a year when arts organizations across the globe have looked back on the life of Leonard Bernstein, it’s easy to lose sight of what his centennial might mean to one of his own children.

Jamie Bernstein will give a personal look at the maestro, composer, pianist, and father in “Late Night with Leonard Bernstein” this Sunday, May 6 at 2:00 pm at the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Gartner Auditorium, as part of the Tri-C Classical Piano Series.

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By Peter Dobrin - The Philadelphia Inquirer
April 22, 2018

Most families have their share of photos ready to show to visitors. Jamie Bernstein’s family album just happens to be more musical than most.

Lights down, soundtrack up: Leonard Bernstein and Michael Tilson Thomas jousting for elbow room while playing a four-hand “The Rite of Spring.” Bernstein’s voice on a piece of 78 rpm acetate, sending a message to Jerome Robbins about progress on a new work and apologizing for the sloppy playing. Here’s one of his favorite tunes, Noel Coward’s “If Love Were All,” performed live and quite movingly by pianist John Musto and soprano Amy Burton.

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By John Shulson - The Virginia Gazette
April 17, 2018

While this year’s Virginia Arts Festival has been offering entertainment for months, April begins a constant flow of events, the opening of which kicked off Friday on a mighty musical note with its “Bernstein at 100.”

The program at the Ferguson Center featured the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, under JoAnn Falletta; the Virginia Chorale; Todd Rosenlieb Dance; soloist from the Virginia Children’s Chorus; internationally acclaimed guest soloists Robert McDuffie, violin, and Jon Manasse, clarinet; and as host-narrator Leonard Bernstein’s daughter, Jamie.

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By Joe Lynch - Billboard Magazine
March 19, 2018

Born Aug. 25, 1918, in Lawrence, Mass., to Ukrainian Jewish parents, Leonard Bernstein would grow up to be one of the most successful and influential composer-conductor-pianists of the 21st century. He set new high-water marks in musical theater with On the Town andWest Side Story, composed operas, ballets and symphonies, and became one of the New York Philharmonic's most celebrated music directors. But unlike most of his peers, Bernstein was as recognizable in popular culture as he was critically renowned.

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