As a prominent conductor, composer, commentator and music educator, pianist, and writer, Leonard Bernstein has inspired numerous scholarly contributions. Being a composer of both concert music and musical theater, his output encompassed many different facets: from small-scale instrumental character pieces to symphonies, musicals to operas, pop songs to art song cycles, as well as ballets, film music, and Mass, a work that does not fit any category.

Historical Dictionary of Leonard Bernstein contains a chronology, an introduction, an appendix, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 700 cross-referenced entries encompassing people whom he befriended or worked with, institutions, orchestras, performance venues, cities, compositional methods, and compositions. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Leonard Bernstein.