Simplify the following text for a Grade 9 native English-speaking person.
Original: Lew Ljewitsch `` Leo '' Borchard ( March 31 , 1899 -- August 23 , 1945 ) was a Russian conductor and briefly musical director of the Berlin Philharmonic .
Simplified: Leo Borchard ( born Moscow , 31 March 1899 ; died 23 August 1945 ) was a Russian conductor who became a naturalized German .