MUSIC

In Neumuenster, West Germany, on Wednesday, Chancellor Helmut Kohl presented American conductor-composer Leonard Bernstein with an award Wednesday in recognition of his outstanding musical accomplishments. Bernstein, who celebrated his 70th birthday last month, and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra are the first recipients of the newly created Johannes Brahms Prize, intended for musicians who spread appreciation and understanding for the 19th-Century German composer’s work. “Hardly another artist of our time has managed to fill so many people with enthusiasm for music, to awaken curiosity about unfamiliar works and deepen understanding for the familiar,” Kohl said of Bernstein.