| 1950-68 | 1969-85 | 1986-96 |
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| A busy day for Bernstein:
11:00 a.m. Young People's Concert at Carnegie [Hall]. 8:00 p.m. Candide opening. |
| 1950 | | April 24, premiere of Peter Pan (songs, choruses and incidental music), NYC. | ||
| 1951 | | January 8, began three-month U.S. tour with IPO, sharing the conducting with Koussevitzky. Koussevitzky died June 5, 1951. | ||
| Appointed head of orchestra and conducting departments of BMC, (annually through 1955, except 1954). | |||
| September 9, married Chilean-born actress Felicia Montealegre Cohn. | |||
| September, appointed Professor of Music at Brandeis Univ, Waltham, Mass. (through 1955). | |||
| 1952 | | June 12, led premiere of Trouble in Tahiti, Brandeis Univ., as part of the first Festival of the Creative Arts. | ||
| June 14, led premiere of Blitzstein's version of Weill's The Threepenny Opera, Brandeis Univ. | |||
| September 8, birth of daughter, Jamie Anne Maria. | |||
| 1953 | | February 26, premiere of Wonderful Town, Winter Garden, NY. | ||
| March 29, gave four premieres of Koussevitzky Foundation orchestral commissions, Town Hall, NYC. | |||
| June 12, led first Festival of the Creative Arts. | |||
| June 13, led American premiere of Poulenc's Les Mamelles de Tirésias, Brandeis Univ, with Lemonade Opera Co. | |||
| December, became first American to conduct at La Scala Opera House, Milan: Cherubini's Medea, with Maria Callas. | |||
| 1954 | | July 28, premiere of On the Waterfront, Columbia Pictures, film score by LB. | ||
| September 12, premiere of Serenade, Isaac Stern, LB and Orch. Teatro La Fenice, Venice. | |||
| November 14, wrote and performed his first Omnibus telecast, on the sketches of 1st Mvt, Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, Symphony of the Air. | |||
| 1955 | | February 23, European premiere of Wonderful Town, Princes Theatre, London. | ||
| July 7, birth of son, Alexander Serge Leonard. | |||
| August 11, led premiere of Symphonic Suite from On the Waterfront, BSO, Tanglewood. | |||
| November 17, premiere of The Lark, NYC, incidental music by LB, New York Pro Musica, Noah Greenberg, cond. | |||
| 1956 | | March, premiere of German language version of Trouble In Tahiti, Cologne Opera, Germany. | ||
| April 2, signed first long-term contract with Columbia Records (later CBS). | |||
| October 15, named one of two Principal Conductors (the other being Dimitri Mitropoulos) of the NYP. | |||
| November 9, FP in German of Wonderful Town at the Volksoper, Vienna. | |
December 1, premiere of Candide, Martin Beck Theater, NYC.
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| 1957 | | January 26, led premiere of Overture to Candide (concert version), NYP. | ||
| September 26, premiere of West Side Story, Winter Garden, NYC. | |||
| October 2, conducted opening of Frederic R. Mann Auditorium, Tel Aviv, Israel, new home of the IPO. | |||
| November 19, named Music Director of NYP (the first American-born and trained conductor to be so designated). | |||
| 1958 | | January 2, directed his first concert as co-conductor of NYP. | ||
| January 18, began first series of annual televised New York Philharmonic Young People's Concerts on CBS-TV, beginning with What Does Music Mean? Continued until 1972, with 53 different programs led by LB. April-June, led NYP in 28 concerts on Latin American tour, shared with Dimitri Mitropoulos. | |||
| September, commenced eleven year period as Music Director of NYP. Initiated NYP Thursday evening Preview concerts. | |||
| November 14, European premiere of West Side Story, Manchester Opera House, England. | |||
| November 30, started new television series: "Leonard Bernstein and The New York Philharmonic," geared toward adults, beginning with Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Continued until 1962, with 14 more programs. | |||
| 1959 | | February 20, Amberson Enterprises, Inc., LB's management company, was founded. Helen G. Coates, Abraham Friedman and H. Gordon Freeman, directors. | ||
| May 1, European premiere of Candide, London. | |||
| August - October, NYP tour of 17 European and Near East countries, including three weeks in the USSR, conducting 36 of 50 concerts. | |||
| November, publication of first book, The Joy of Music, Simon & Schuster, publisher. | |||
| 1960 | | January, led concerts for NYP Mahler Centennial, shared with Bruno Walter & Dmitri Mitropoulos. NYP. | ||
| August-September, NYP tour of the US, (including Hawaii), Vancouver and West Berlin, leading 34 concerts. | |||
| 1961 | | January 19, premiered his Fanfare at Inaugural Gala for President John F. Kennedy, Washington. | ||
| February 13, premiere of Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, Lukas Foss, cond., in all-Bernstein program, NYP. | |||
| April-May, first NYP tour of Japan, Alaska, Canada and southern USA | |||
| October 18, film premiere of West Side Story, United Artists. | |||
| 1962 | | February 28, birth of daughter, Nina Maria Felicia. | ||
| September 23, led inaugural concert of NYP in Philharmonic Hall (later renamed Avery Fisher Hall), Lincoln Center, NYC. | |||
| Autumn, publication of his second book, Leonard Bernstein's Young Peoples Concerts for Reading and Listening, Simon & Schuster. | |||
| 1963 | | April 10, gave posthumous world premiere of Poulenc's Clarinet Sonata with Benny Goodman, Carnegie Hall. | ||
| April 18, played Schumann's Piano Quintet with Juilliard String Quartet at Library of Congress. | |||
| May 30, European premiere of On the Town, Prince of Wales Theatre, London. | |||
| August-September, transcontinental tour of U.S. with NYP, conducting 17 concerts in 13 cities. | |||
| November 24, led JFK memorial concert on CBS TV, Mahler's Symphony No. 2 (Resurrection), with NYP. | |||
| December 10, led premiere of Kaddish, Symphony No. 3, IPO, Tel Aviv, with Hannah Rovina, Jennie Tourel, soloists. | |||
| 1964 | | March 6, debut at Metropolitan Opera House, NYC, conducting first of ten performances of Verdi's Falstaff. | ||
| 1965 | | March 30, led Jerome Robbins new choreography for Stravinsky's Les Noces, American Ballet Theater, NYC, | ||
| July 15, led premiere of his Chichester Psalms, NYP. July 31, attended premiere of the original version of Chichester Psalms (for all male voices) at Chichester Cathedral, England. | |||
| 1966 | | March 14, debut at VSO in Verdi's Falstaff. | ||
| November, publication of his third book, The Infinite Variety of Music, Simon & Schuster. | |||
| 1967 | | July 9, conducted IPO on Mt. Scopus after the Six-Day War, filmed as Journey to Jerusalem. | ||
| August 10 & 12, Seiji Ozawa conducted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in two all-Bernstein programs at Ravinia. | |||
| September, Canadian Centennial tour of Canada with NYP, nine cities. | |||
| 1968 | | February 28, premiere in German of West Side Story, Volksoper, Vienna. | ||
| April 13, led first of five performances of Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier, VSO. | |||
| June 9, conducted members of NYP in Mahler's Adagietto from Symphony No. 5, at funeral of Robert Kennedy, St. Patrick's Cathedral, NYC. | |||
| August-September, NYP tour of Israel and Europe. October, led celebrations for 125th anniversary season of NYP. |