Herb Bernstein


Herb Bernstein is an American record producer, composer, arranger, and conductor.

Professional life

Herb Bernstein arranged and produced records for many artists in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. These artists include Laura Nyro, John Denver, Joel Grey, The Four Seasons, Bob Dylan, The Monkees, Dusty Springfield, Tina Turner, The Happenings, Tony Orlando and Dawn, Julie Budd, Lainie Kazan, Frankie Valli, Peaches & Herb, Patti Austin, Connie Francis, Lesley Gore, and Jimmy Roselli.
Bernstein's numerous hit records, as producer/publisher/arranger, include “See You in September,” “Go Away Little Girl,” “Knock Three Times” and “Leaving on a Jet Plane, and "I Can't Make It Without You" in 1968 sung by Lesley Gore. The Laura Nyro album More Than a New Discovery released in 1967, which Bernstein arranged and conducted, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. The album included such songs as "Wedding Bell Blues" and "Stoney End."
Bernstein served as musical director and conductor for Michael Amante. he continues to work as an arranger and conductor, working with Regis Philbin and Joy Philbin, and Bernstein's longtime protegee Julie Budd, appearing at symphonies and other venues across the country.
Bernstein has conducted at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, and with the Buffalo, Baltimore, Austin, Hartford, South Bend, and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestras.
On August 11, 2012, Bernstein participated in Lincoln Center's "29th Annual Roots of American Music Festival" as a panelist for the "Stoned Soul Symposium" discussing the work of Laura Nyro.

Early life

Herb Bernstein was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. He attended Southern Methodist University on a basketball scholarship, then earned his B.S. and M.A. in Education at New York University. He taught at Eastern District High School before embarking on his music career.
Bernstein dabbled in music from the time he was a child, starting with violin lessons at the age of four. He later learned piano and played in various bands until he broke into the record business full-time in the mid-1960s.

Personal life

In the 1960s, Bernstein was married to Joyce Robinson, a dancer with whom he had two daughters: Jill Bernstein, a writer and publicist in Washington, DC, and Ellyn Bernstein, an event producer/agent in New York City. He has two granddaughters, Alyson and Rachel. He and his second wife, Anne Roselli, daughter of Jimmy Roselli, have a son Michael.