Dearest Lenny interweaves the account of Leonard Bernstein’s transformation from an American icon into a world maestro with an intimate story of his relationships with two Japanese individuals: Kazuko Amano, a loyal fan who began writing letters to Bernstein in 1947, and Kunihiko Hashimoto, a young man who fell deeply in love with Bernstein in 1979 and later became his business representative. During the period in which these two relationships unfolded, Japan’s place in the world and its relationship vis-à-vis the United States changed dramatically, which in turn shaped Bernstein’s connection to the country. Yoshihara will trace the making of a global Bernstein amidst the shifting political economy of the arts and global politics that made this American celebrity turn increasingly to Europe and Japan.

Speaker: Mari Yoshihara, Professor, and Chair of American Studies University of Hawaii at Manoa

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