Bernstein was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, to Russian Jewish/Ukrainian Jewish parents, … See more

Soon after he left Curtis, Bernstein moved to New York City where he lived in various apartments in Manhattan. Bernstein supported himself by coaching singers, teaching piano, and playing the piano for dance clas… See more

Bernstein had two younger siblings, Shirley and Burton. The three children lived with their parents, Samuel and Jennie, in the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts, in a community of mostly Eastern European Jewish… See more

Bernstein announced his retirement from conducting on October 9, 1990. He died five days later at the age of 72, in his New York apartment at The Dakota, of a heart attack brought on by mesothelioma. A longtime heavy smo… See more