Jamie Bernstein: Growing up with Maestro

Leonard Bernstein, 1985

Bradley Cooper as Bernstein in Maestro

Leonard with Alexander and Jamie Bernstein, Connecticut, 1966

Felicia and Leonard Bernstein, 1958

Addressing a Young People’s Concert, Carnegie Hall, 1960

By Edward Seckerson, 06 November 2023

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“everything had this quality, of communicating something he was excited about”

Mark Pullinger, 7th April

The Hong Kong-born conductor talks about her entry into music, her love of big Russian repertoire, her “Cinderella moment” winning the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition and her ambition to “go against the grind”.

New songs: Jessie Montgomery in conversation

Kurt Gottschalk, 31st March

Among the most performed living composers by orchestras worldwide, Montgomery talks about her personal approach to musical storytelling, and writing a new cello concerto for Abel Selaocoe.

Climbing the mountain: José Moreira on Mahler’s First Symphony

Bachtrack, 3rd March

Principal contrabassist of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra talks about why Mahler’s restless and volatile First Symphony is a highlight of any orchestra season.

Grief and yearning: Barbara Hannigan premieres The White Book

Bachtrack, 24th February

Setting texts by Nobel prize winning author Han Kang, this new work by British composer Laura Bowler for soprano and large orchestra is an emotionally charged exploration of mourning and longing.

The world over: Bachtrack’s Classical Music Statistics 2025

Bachtrack, 28th January

How is the classical music world changing? Looking back on a dizzying year, we pay particular attention to performers’ international connectedness. Documenting more than 30,000 events, Bachtrack’s statistics provide valuable insight into an unstable world.

Rising to the challenge, building a musical career: Meggie Murphy

Cameron Kelsall, 21st January

Young trombonist Meggie Murphy talks about the challenges of becoming a professional musician, the importance of mentorship, and the important role played by LSO Conservatoire Scholarship scheme.

Edward Seckerson

Formerly Chief Classical Music Critic of The Independent, Edward Seckerson is a writer, broadcaster, podcaster, and musical theatre aficionado. He wrote and presented the long-running BBC Radio 3 series Stage & Screen, in which he interviewed many of the biggest names in the business – among them Julie Andrews, Liza Minnelli and Stephen Sondheim. During his journalistic career he has written for most major music publications and is still on the panel of Gramophone magazine. He appears regularly on BBC Radio 3 and 4 and presented the 2007 series of the musical quiz Counterpoint. On television, he has commentated a number of times at the Cardiff Singer of the World competition. He has published books on Mahler and the conductor Michael Tilson Thomas.

Growing up with Maestro: Jamie Bernstein on her father’s musical life