Leonard Bernstein (25/08/1918 - 14/10/1990), an American composer and conductor (born in Lawrence (Massachusetts). He was perhaps the most influential figure in classical music in the last half of the twentieth century. Composer, conductor, author, lecturer and often controversial media personality, the American-born Bernstein had a dramatic impact on the popular audience's acceptance and appreciation of classical music. His own work as a composer, particularly his scores for such Broadway musicals as West Side Story and On the Town, helped forge a new relationship between classical and popular music. For much of his career, including his legendary tenure as music director of the New York Philharmonic, Bernstein recorded exclusively for Columbia/CBS Masterworks, which is now Sony Classical. This vast legacy of recordings, featuring his work as both composer and conductor, is now being remastered and collected in a comprehensive new Sony Classical series entitled Bernstein Century.