Leonard Bernstein at 100

The Leonard Bernstein Office (LBO) sustains and strengthens Leonard Bernstein’s legacy by inspiring global engagement with his work as a composer, conductor, educator, and humanitarian. Through licensing, promotion, music editing, and publishing, the LBO strives to communicate his lifelong devotion to the transformative power and joy of music.

Meet the Team

Michael Sbabo is Vice President for Finance and a Director of The Leonard Bernstein Office. Since 1998, he has overseen the organization’s treasury and tax operations, including budgeting, liquidity management, royalty collection and audits, and the administration of the pension plan and 401(k). He also serves on the Board of Managers of The Leonard Bernstein Music Publishing Company.

Prior to his current role, Michael worked with the LBO on a two-year consulting project focused on developing a 24-hour classical music video channel. From 1982 to 1996, he held various positions at Citibank in New York and Tokyo, specializing in foreign exchange and derivatives trading, sales, and management.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University.

Garth Edwin Sunderland is Vice President for Creative Projects for The Leonard Bernstein Office, in which capacity he has represented the composer with productions of Bernstein's work on Broadway (West Side Story - 2009, On The Town - 2014), and with such performing organizations as the New York Philharmonic, New York City Opera, Bayerisches Staatsoper, San Francisco Ballet, Tokyo's Shiki Theatre Company, and many others. He has created a new chamber adaptation of Bernstein’s opera A Quiet Place, premiered in 2013 at the Konzerthaus in Berlin by Ensemble Modern and Kent Nagano; a new orchestral work, Anniversaries for Orchestra, adapted from Bernstein’s piano works; the first theatrical performing edition of Peter Pan; a reduced orchestration of Trouble In Tahiti; and new editions of many of Bernstein’s concert works. He restored and adapted the film scores of West Side Story and On The Waterfront for live performance with screenings of the films, projects that have been performed to great acclaim by major orchestras around the world. A composer and interdisciplinary artist, his work encompasses the fields of music, dance, and theater. As a performer, he has wide-ranging experience, in ballet and modern dance, Butoh, and contemporary Commedia del’Arte technique, performing on BAM’s Next Wave Festival, at Dance Theatre Workshop, and the New York Butoh Festival, among others. As Artistic Director of the Lost Dog New Music Ensemble, he has produced the festivals ‘Nørgård in New York’, a major celebration of the Danish composer Per Nørgård, and ‘The UK Commotion!’, as well as a number of important US and New York premieres and revivals of work by international composers such as Peter Maxwell Davies, Michael Hersch, and Robert Simpson.

Hannah Webster, Head of Licensing, manages all aspects of Leonard Bernstein's intellectual property. She works with Universal Music Publishing Group, Boosey & Hawkes, Music Theatre International (MTI), Unitel, Hal Leonard, and others to further the LBO's mission of inspiring global engagement with Leonard Bernstein's work and legacy. When Hannah joined the LBO in 2016, she worked extensively on projects related to the Leonard Bernstein at 100 centennial from 2017-2019, tracking thousands of global events. She frequently writes trademark and excerpt licenses, and fields synchronization, arrangements, and other permission requests. In the fall of 2021, she worked on licensing for Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner's reimagining of West Side Story with Amblin Entertainment. Hannah enjoys collaborating with her colleagues on special projects, most recently completing a biographical research project about Felicia Montealegre ahead of Bradley Cooper's Netflix film Maestro. Hannah holds an M.A. in Arts Administration and Cultural Policy from Goldsmiths, University of London, and earned her B.A in Music from West Virginia University in 2013. Outside of work, she enjoys playing percussion with the Queer Urban Orchestra (QUO) in New York City and taking walks with her wife.

Heather Wallace is Digital Media and Promotions Manager at The Leonard Bernstein Office, where she develops and oversees a wide range of creative initiatives that highlight Bernstein’s legacy across digital platforms. Since joining the team in 2017 during the Bernstein Centennial celebration, she has worked in partnership with leading arts organizations, performing artists, major record labels, television and film studios, and others to shape engaging and informative content for audiences worldwide.

Heather also enjoys delving into Bernstein-related historical research, and has contributed background and context for articles, books, and films. A highlight of her time at the LBO has been collaborating with colleagues on in-depth research into Felicia Montealegre Bernstein’s life, undertaken in preparation for the release of Bradley Cooper’s film Maestro. She has also worked closely with Jamie Bernstein on educational initiatives and courses, including the development of her Leonard Bernstein: Citizen Artist presentation. Heather has written several articles for the Bernstein newsletter Prelude, Fugue & Riffs and currently serves as contributing editor and content curator, and helped lead the publication's transformation from a biannual print edition to a monthly digital format.

She holds a Master’s degree in Performing Arts Administration from New York University and previously worked as Company Manager of the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, an internationally touring nonprofit based in New Jersey, for over eight years. Her background also includes administrative roles with Hunstein Artists Services, the Australian Chamber Orchestra, and the University of Rhode Island’s Great Performances Series. She currently serves as President and Orchestra Manager of the Rendez-Vous Orchestra, a community-based ensemble she helped co-found.

Before turning to arts administration, Heather earned both Bachelor's and Master's degrees in viola performance and remains active as an orchestral and chamber musician, performing in renowned venues throughout the United States, Australia, the Middle East, and Europe.

Ezra Gans, Licensing & Digital Media Assistant, joined The Leonard Bernstein Office in 2024. Ezra works with the team to license performances and arrangements of the composer’s works, share videos of Bernstein conducting and performing, and manage the office archives and databases. His prior experience includes work with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and The New School, and he holds degrees from the University of Michigan (B.M. in Bassoon Performance), The New School (M.M. in Performance and Composition), and The Juilliard School (M.M. in Historical Performance Practice). Outside of his time with the LBO, Ezra is an active performer on bassoons, recorders, and clarinets of various shapes and sizes, creating work that straddles the worlds of historically-informed performance and experimental music. His ensemble slapslap, a performance-art-rock band consisting of two electric bassoons and two drummers, has appeared extensively across the United States, with their performances having been described as “a cross between DEVO and The Wiggles” and “equal parts enthralling, wacky, and fun.”

Milka De Jesus, Office Manager, was introduced to the Bernstein Family in 1986 and has been working with the company for nearly 33 years. She works closely with the Vice President for Finance and is firmly enmeshed in the day to day operations of it as its office manager and payroll administrator.

In 2008 Milka received an Associate’s Degree from John Jay College in Criminology. While unrelated to her day-to-day work, earning her degree was a lifelong dream come true.

She has immensely enjoyed the opportunity to work with the Maestro and his family.

Consultants

Craig Urquhart first met Leonard Bernstein in December 1976, eventually becoming Bernstein’s personal assistant in December 1985, a role he held until Bernstein’s passing. Before that, Urquhart worked in music publishing and education throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Following Bernstein’s death, Urquhart continued his work with the Bernstein Office (Amberson Productions) as Director, then Vice President of Public Relations. He helped coordinate major memorials for Bernstein at Carnegie Hall, The Majestic Theater, and The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, as well as memorials for Bernstein’s collaborators Adolph Green and Betty Comden. In 1991, he launched the Leonard Bernstein newsletter, Prelude, Fugue & Riffs, and remains its Managing Editor.

As Senior Consultant, Urquhart has worked closely with major organizations to create performances and celebrations of Bernstein's music, including prominent festivals such as the Tanglewood Music Festival, Schleswig-Holstein, Pacific Music Festival, Beethoven Festival (Warsaw), Prague Spring, Budapest Festival, and Ravinia Festival. He has also worked with leading orchestras and opera companies worldwide, such as the New York Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, London Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw, Santa Cecilia Orchestra, Musikverein (Vienna), among others. His partnerships extend to major labels including Sony Classical, Deutsche Grammophon, and Warner Classics to develop products ensuring Bernstein’s legacy.

Urquhart has been interviewed by NPR, BBC, Radio France, NHK, and German broadcasters NDR, WDR, and SDR. He has contributed to numerous print articles and documentary films about Bernstein.

Beyond his Bernstein work, Urquhart has recorded and produced 10 critically acclaimed CDs of his own compositions, performing internationally across Japan, Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, and the United States.

He continues to serve The Leonard Bernstein Office as Senior Consultant.

Jacob Slattery joined The Leonard Bernstein Office in 2014, and he focuses on projects that bring Leonard Bernstein’s legacy to a new generation of music lovers. He worked extensively on the Leonard Bernstein at 100 centennial celebration, collaborating closely with hundreds of orchestras, conductors, soloists, concert halls, theaters, museums, record labels, and others in what resulted in over 6,000 events on all seven continents. Jacob has spent countless hours digitizing content and crafting stories that fun and accessible through social media platforms to Bernstein fans across the globe. During the Centennial, he initiated the Leonard Bernstein Memory Project for the public to share their recollections and stories of Bernstein, and his efforts led to the creation of a Google Doodle on LB’s 100th birthday. Over the years, he has assisted many writers, producers, and documentarians with historical research, including Bradley Cooper and his production team for their film Maestro. Jacob's writing has appeared for the Bernstein newsletter Prelude, Fugue & Riffs, a publication which he helped transition from physical to digital distribution, and he continues to curate content in collaboration with its Editorial Team. Jacob takes pride in finding new ways to share Bernstein’s passion for the transformative power and joy of music with the world.

Eleonor Sandresky's music is heard around the world, including Cannes (2004) and Venice Biennale (2013). She received grants/commissions from LMCC, NYS Council on the Arts, Jerome Foundation, ASCAP, American Music Center, New Music USA, Meet the Composer. Eleonor has been a composer-in-residence at Yaddo, STEIM, and MacDowell Colony. Recent works include Wunderkammern Live! for strings, percussion, woodwinds and film, (2017) premiered by Tribeca New Music, Donne Songs Without Words, for choreographed-viols and harp, commissioned by Parthenia (2015), and Opening for guitar ensemble, commissioned by The NY Guitar Society (2016).

Eleonor is the inventor of The Wonder Suit, a remote set of wireless-sensors worn and used to trigger sonic events during live performance. These events range from discreet processes to surface manipulations of the pitchs. She has created large-scale works for the Suit, A Space Odyssey (2016), and performs live improvisations with it, most recently on a Mexican tour 2015. As music director, she worksin a variety of theatrical settings, from theater/dance performances with Susan Marshall to conducting live-to -film with the Philip Glass Ensemble, member since 1991. Her music is available on Sony Classics, Koch International, ERM Media, and Albany Records. For more, please visit www.esandresky.com.

Marie Carter, Vice President for Licensing and Publishing Emeritus, was involved in all aspects of licensing Leonard Bernstein’s intellectual properties. She joined the company in 1986 as assistant to Mr. Bernstein’s manager, Harry Kraut, and joined tours to Moscow, Warsaw, and Prague. As Video Manager she worked on the release of the Young People’s Concerts and other television programs for home video, as well as rights clearances for documentaries and books about Mr. Bernstein. She has a Bachelors of Music from Mannes College of Music, for whom she served as an alumni member on its Board of Advisors. She has a MM in Performance from the University of Southwestern Louisiana where she taught classical guitar, and a MA in Musicology from Eastman. Marie is also a lutenist with the New York Continuo Collective. As a resident of the Hudson Valley she has volunteered for the environmental organization Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, and been a safety kayaker for charity swims across the Hudson River. Marie retired from the Leonard Bernstein Office in June of 2022.