Leonard Bernstein was a musician, conductor and composer. He had a formidable piano technique and he was among the first conductors born in the U.S.A. to rise a worldwide fame. Bernstein is probably best known to the general public as the longtime music director of the New York Philharmonic and for writing the music for West Side Story, Candide, On the Town and Wonderful Town. As a composer he also wrote symphonies and other concert music. Leonard Bernstein was the first classical music conductor to make numerous television appearances between 1954 and 1989.