Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with Jeffrey Bernstein

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Jeffrey Bernstein. Check out our conversation below.

Hi Jeffrey, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
I start each day without screens, either playing the piano, reading poetry, or writing. Always with a cup of coffee!

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m a Pasadena-based conductor, composer, and educator. I am founding artistic & executive director of the Pasadena Chorale, a choral organization comprising four choirs populated by 170 singers. In 2024 the Pasadena Chorale won the American Prize in choral performance! This season we’re performing 10 concerts in Pasadena, and we’re proud of the fact that all our concerts and education programs are offered to the public at no cost.

I also teach at the Pasadena Waldorf School, and I’m a composer. I wrote the songs for the PBS Kids show “Let’s Go Luna”, and I’ve written dozens of concert pieces that have been performed across this country and abroad.

Music is an essential human activity, and music, especially choral music, builds and strengthens community. Most of the music I write is for ensembles and performers that I know personally, and I believe music has the power to uplift and inspire us all.

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
When I was a student my aim was to be a composer. A wise and loving teacher of mine, Fenno Heath, longtime conductor of the Yale Glee Club, told me with bluntness and care “You are a fine composer, but you have something really special to offer as a conductor of choirs.” He was right, of course. Composing is a lonely business, and I derive great energy and joy from making music with other people. From his comment I learned that it’s important to have goals and also to listen to what the world calls you to do.

What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Suffering has taught me gratitude. To realize the abundance of what is present in every moment. During the pandemic we lost a couple years of singing together. The Eaton Fire destroyed a lot: the Chorale’s longtime rehearsal and performance space, the Waldorf School’s beautiful irreplaceable campus, our home of a dozen years. These losses remind me to be present to what we have and to realize that what is most important, our musical selves and our humanity, endures.

Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. Is the public version of you the real you?
Absolutely! Authenticity is important to me. The public version of me is real, but not the whole story. Privacy is an important commodity, and it’s in vanishingly short supply these days. Privacy is an essential notepad, a white board to work out ideas and feelings. One of the most private areas of my life is my creative process. I think about a piece for a long time before I begin to write. I play around with musical ideas, and I don’t want to share even a whiff of them with anyone else. While creative thoughts are mine alone they’re still malleable and free. Once they’re known by even one other person they become a little bit fixed. If anyone else is in the house I tend write wearing headphones.

Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
Worrying.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jeffreybernsteinmusic.com
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JeffreyBernstein
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/jeffreybernstein
• Other: https://www.youtube.com/@PasadenaChorale/featured