Way to Go!: Jeremy Bernstein, of Great Neck
Jeremy Bernstein with Great Neck North High School's fine and performing arts department head Pamela Levy and the band and orchestra teacher Joseph Rutkowski. Credit: Great Neck School District
A Great Neck student earned first-place honors for his cello performance in an international music competition.
Jeremy Bernstein, a sophomore at Great Neck North High School, was a winner in the third annual Manhattan International Music Competition for his rendition of Édouard Lalo’s “Cello Concerto in D minor.”
As the winner, the 15-year-old performed at Lincoln Center’s New York Library for the Performing Arts in Manhattan. The concert aired on AM1660 K-Radio.
“I was very surprised,” said Bernstein, who started playing the cello about 10 years ago. “I was not expecting to win first place at all.”
He plays in his school’s orchestra and chamber music trio and is a founding member of the Cello Club. He also has performed at the all-county level since the sixth grade, as well as with the Long Island String Festival Association and the Long Island Youth Orchestra.
Bernstein was part of a chamber ensemble as a sixth-grader that performed in Lincoln Center’s Young Musicians Concert.
“He is absolutely a delight to work with,” said Pamela Levy, head of Great Neck North’s fine and performing arts department. “He’s focused, bright, dedicated, and we feel fortunate to have him as a student.”
Bernstein is associate editor of the high school’s newspaper and plays tennis outside of school.
— MICHAEL R. EBERT
Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has worked for Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named as 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative coverage of the LIRR's platform safety issues.
