We recently connected with Jeffrey Bernstein and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Jeffrey thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

In 1979 the original Broadway production of Sweeney Todd premiered, and when I saw that show I was hooked, and I knew I wanted to be a composer.

Jeffrey, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’ve loved singing in choirs for nearly as long as I can remember. One day after coming home from kindergarten I was sitting in the kitchen telling my mom about my day, and I mentioned that we learned a song in school. She asked me to sing it for her, and I did, tears streaming down my face. She asked me why I was crying, and I said “I always cry when I sing”. And that’s still true.

All through high school and college, though I enjoyed other pursuits, choral singing was a touchstone for me. In those years I was thinking only of a career as a composer, but several people suggested to me that studying musical performance would be a great help. So I entered a graduate program in choral conducting, and I was hooked. Since then I’ve known choral music is something I never want to be without.

That was 30 years ago, and there’ve been only three brief periods since then when I wasn’t directing a choir. The first was when I was conducting the national tour of CATS, the second was when I moved to LA to study composition at UCLA, and the third was the pandemic!

Over the years I’ve come to understand that I love music as a means of connected with people, and choral music is a profoundly social art form, for choirs are equal parts musical and social organizations. These days I conduct three choirs: the Pasadena Chorale, the High Notes (the Chorale’s choir for middle schoolers), and the LA Daiku. I also have other choral projects on my plate, with the Pasadena Playhouse and MUSE/IQUE. And filling my working life with choral music fills me with joy!

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My goal is to create transformative experiences for others through choral music. I believe in the power of choral choral music to connect people, to open hearts, and to inspire people with beauty, and I facilitate singers and audiences experiencing the wonder and joy of choral music.

If you think about it, choral music is amazing: ancient, simple, human. These qualities seem in ever shorter supply these days.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Our life itself is a work of art, created by each of us. And like an artwork life can and should be full of expectation and surprise, of control and release.

Life is full of pivots, and artistic lives seem especially peripatetic. I’ve been a conductor, a composer, and a teacher. In 1993 I abandoned, on two weeks notice, a doctoral program in choral conducting to join the national tour of CATS. That was a huge pivot, and I probably didn’t think it all the way through. Suddenly I found myself living out of a suitcase in a different city every week. It was a great way to see the country, to “run away and join the circus”. Fifteen years later I left college teacher and founded the Pasadena Chorale, in the middle of an economic crisis. Another huge pivot.

Knowing that choral music is my guiding star helps me through times of uncertainty and change. Any artist is blessed who knows their mission and purpose.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jeffreybernsteinmusic.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jeffreybernsteinmusic
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrey-bernstein-9329248/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC42G0EnPMjy1QEZhhauvoHw
• Other: SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/jeffreybernstein

Image Credits
1-3. Cece Deming-Bernstein 4. Luque Photography Corp.