Somewhere

"Somewhere" by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim
(from West Side Story)

Hazzan Diana Brewer, soloist
Jamie Goodnow, piano

Recorded on 5/19/24 at the Yiddish Book Center (Amherst, MA) as part of Mak'hela's "Jewish Broadway!" concert.
http://www.makhela.org

Audio and video recording by Brian Bender

Somewhere is the most heart-wrenching song of “West Side Story.” The two lovers are
imagining a place where they can live in peace, a place where everyone is accepted. It has
become a classic standard performed at many events. It’s interesting to know that in 1988
in a documentary, Stephen Sondheim, who wrote the lyrics, expressed his dislike of this
song. He didn’t like how the word “a” was emphasized in the opening when it was
insignificant.

Leonard Bernstein (1918 - 1990) was one of the most well-known musicians and
American conductors of his time. He conducted the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.
He was also a composer, pianist, music, educator, and human rights activist participating
in the Civil Rights Movement as well as raising money for HIV/AIDs.

Bernstein was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts to Russian/Ukrainian Jews. When
he was older, he lived with his father in Boston, attending the Boston Latin school.
Together with a classmate, he wrote their class song. When his father’s sister left him her
piano at the age of 10, he began to study it seriously. He spent his summers at the family
vacation home in Sharon, Massachusetts. This is where he enjoyed creating musical
shows with the neighborhood children and playing entire operas with his younger sister.
Bernstein studied at Harvard and then the Curtis Institute of Music. He moved to
New York City, where he played piano to support himself. After stepping in for conductor
Bruno Walter without a rehearsal, Bernstein made headlines the next morning and
became a success overnight. He became a successful writer for Broadway in the 1950s,
his most famous shows being “Wonderful Town,” “Candide,” and West Side Story.”

Stephen Sondheim (1930 - 2021), composer and lyricist, grew up on the Upper West
Side of Manhattan in New York City, where his father manufactured dresses that his
mother designed. His parents divorced when he was 10 years old. He moved to a farm in
Pennsylvania with his mother and attended the Quaker George school. He played piano at
an early age, and at 15 he wrote a musical for his school. He studied with Oscar
Hammerstein. He also studied both math and music at Williams College in Williamstown
where he continued writing shows. He moved to New York City and became the lyricist
for Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story.” This was the break that made him famous.
The “West Side Story” soundtrack was the best -selling album of its decade. Sondheim
wrote 18 musicals in over five decades; some of his well-known are, “Gypsy,” “A FunnyThing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” “Sweeney Todd,” and “Into the Woods.” In
2015, President Obama presented him with the Presidential Award of Freedom. He was
considered a musical poet, one of the most inspiring, influential people of musical theater.

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Mass Cultural Council
Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts
Harold Grinspoon Foundation

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