HB Studio mourns the loss of Alexander Bernstein, our beloved Board Member Emeritus, who passed on July 22. Alexander was a gem of a human and a dear friend to Herbert, Uta, HB and the entire artistic community of NYC. His willingness to speak up against the current administration’s relentless assault on civil rights up to the very end marked him as an independent thinker. Alexander’s roots ran deep with HB. An HB student himself, his mother, Felicia Montealegre, also studied with Herbert Berghof, and his father, Leonard Bernstein, was an original board member of the HB Playwrights Foundation. He will be deeply missed.
In keeping with the wishes of his family, contributions in the memory of Alexander Bernstein can be made to Artful Learning, the visionary teaching model he developed to infuse creativity into the entire school curriculum.
There will also be a special event, Leonard Bernstein Remix!, paying tribute to Alexander and benefitting Artful Learning at City Winery on September 21. Hosted by Jamie Bernstein, the evening will feature David Amram, Edmar Castañeda, Darius de Haas, Fred Hersch, Janis Ian, Sharon Isbin, Eric Jacobsen, Pete Malinverni, Queer Urban Orchestra, Janis Siegel, The Ahn Trio with DJ Spooky, and Tony Yazbeck.
Alexander Bernstein was one of the sweetest souls to ever walk the earth. Always good-natured, he was incredibly funny and clever. Alexander was a true godchild of HB, as both his mother and father had close ties to Herbert Berghof and his aunt Ellen Ball was the Executive Director of HB Studio in the 1980s. He was also a fine actor. The best performance I saw Alexander give was as the “gentleman caller” in scenes from The Glass Menagerie. Alexander’s innate kindness and insightfulness allowed me to experience what Williams called just a “nice, ordinary, young man” as a complex individual who navigates an emotional minefield over the course of just a few minutes. It was a revelatory and unique performance that I remember vividly 40 years later.
Dr. Wallace Johnson, HB Studio Board of Directors
Alex, when we were students a long time ago, would sit in the back row of Herbert Berghof’s class watching basketball on his portable Sony Watchman TV. This didn’t strike me as disrespectful; more that he was keeping an eye on multiple channels that excited or interested him, and, having experienced a thing or two already in the world of art, didn’t feel a need to hang on every word. He didn’t miss much though, and he was an advocate for everything he saw that was beautiful. He knew something about geniuses, he told me once. He drew other young creative persons into the Studio’s orbit and embraced his comrades, giving us the priceless gift of being a friend for life, beneficiaries of his shy sharp wit and contagious laughter. Once Alexander and I played the Dauphin and Joan from St. Joan for Uta Hagen in scene class (hubris!). I still think of him as that reluctant prince who would grow so fully into his own wisdom. Later when he let us talk him into serving on the HB Board, we mulled together over what it would take to wake students up to their unimagined possibilities, to seek the thinner air where art disrupts the status quo. So a series of master classes named for his mother Felicia came about, introducing artists like Mercedes Ruehl and Lonny Price to HB’s roster; and a series of public salons on race and racism led by Russell G. Jones through his Blind Spot project, all of which nudged HB forward on its way. There was much that Alexander saw, much he didn’t say; he was profoundly generous and we loved him dearly. The rest may be better said in music.
Edith Meeks, HB Studio Former Executive & Artistic Director
Alexander was the smartest, funniest, kindest, most talented, most humble, affable, person in any room. I met him at HB Studio in Herbert’s class in the 80’s and a friendship and artistic collaboration was born and held up all these years.
Kelly Wolf, HB Studio Faculty