Featured Events

Join pianist and Gershwin authority Robert Wyatt, co-editor of Oxford University Press’ The George Gershwin Reader, in this lively program exploring George Gershwin’s life and legacy.  The evening includes live performances of the solo version of Rhapsody in Blue, early and unpublished music, the piano improvisations and other Gershwin hits.  Rare film footage obtained from [...]

Join pianist and ragtime enthusiast Dr. Robert Wyatt perform many of the more popular rags including Joplin’s “The Entertainer,” “The Maple Leaf Rag,” “Solace,” “The Cascades” and “Bethena” as well as the best rags of James Scott, Lamb, Jelly Roll Morton and George Gershwin. Contemporary rags written in the 1970s by William Bolcom and William [...]

Join pianist and ragtime enthusiast Dr. Robert Wyatt perform many of the more popular rags including Joplin’s “The Entertainer,” “The Maple Leaf Rag,” “Solace,” “The Cascades” and “Bethena” as well as the best rags of James Scott, Lamb, Jelly Roll Morton and George Gershwin. Contemporary rags written in the 1970s by William Bolcom and William [...]

Sinatra’s career took flight from the Rustic Cabin in Englewood Cliff, NJ, when trumpeter Harry James rescued him from the ranks of singing waiters in 1939. Yet not until Tommy Dorsey coaxed him into his band later that year did Sinatra begin to soar as the idol of the bobby-soxers. Within three years, he led [...]

The Cotton Club, favored by the city’s elite, was dubbed “the Aristocrat of Harlem.” Its patrons included British royalty and celebrities like George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Paul Whiteman and Marlene Dietrich. Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway conducted their innovative jazz bands and great black entertainers like Ethel Waters, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Lena Horne and Josephine [...]

The Cotton Club, favored by the city’s elite, was dubbed “the Aristocrat of Harlem.” Its patrons included British royalty and celebrities like George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Paul Whiteman and Marlene Dietrich. Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway conducted their innovative jazz bands and great black entertainers like Ethel Waters, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Lena Horne and Josephine [...]

The end of the First World War in 1918 signaled the beginning of a new era of economic prosperity, the relaxation of Victorian mores, and a national fascination in entertainment.  Heroes were quickly identified: John Barrymore, Fanny Brice, Babe Ruth, Mary Pickford, and, in 1924, a young Jewish man born in Brooklyn, George Gershwin.  During [...]

Enjoy your remembrances of Judy Garland as American music specialist Robert Wyatt takes you through her extraordinary life. Film clips will be abundant, starting with The Broadway Melody of 1938 and moving through 1944 blockbuster Meet Me in St. Louis, The Harvey Girls, Cole Porter’s gem-ridden The Pirate of 1948 and the sizzling A Star [...]

Enjoy your remembrances of Judy Garland as American music specialist Robert Wyatt takes you through her extraordinary life. Film clips will be abundant, starting with The Broadway Melody of 1938 and moving through 1944 blockbuster Meet Me in St. Louis, The Harvey Girls, Cole Porter’s gem-ridden The Pirate of 1948 and the sizzling A Star [...]

Join pianist and Gershwin authority Robert Wyatt, co-editor of Oxford University Press’ The George Gershwin Reader, in this lively program exploring George Gershwin’s life and legacy.  The evening includes live performances of the solo version of Rhapsody in Blue, early and unpublished music, the piano improvisations and other Gershwin hits.  Rare film footage obtained from [...]

British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber has created a global empire unrivaled in the history of musical theater. In 1983, he was the first composer to have three musicals appear simultaneously on Broadway and in London’s West End, a feat he duplicated five years later. Mr. Webber has collected a variety of honors including knighthood, seven [...]

British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber has created a global empire unrivaled in the history of musical theater. In 1983, he was the first composer to have three musicals appear simultaneously on Broadway and in London’s West End, a feat he duplicated five years later. Mr. Webber has collected a variety of honors including knighthood, seven [...]

The Cotton Club, favored by the city’s elite, was dubbed “the Aristocrat of Harlem.” Its patrons included British royalty and celebrities like George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Paul Whiteman and Marlene Dietrich. Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway conducted their innovative jazz bands and great black entertainers like Ethel Waters, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Lena Horne and Josephine [...]

Dilettante, hedonist, elitist, snob: Cole Porter was called all of them during his glittering yet troubled life. Whatever detractors may have said about him personally, Porter’s reputation as a musical genius has never been questioned. The lecture surveys Porter’s life on Broadway and in Hollywood, covering 40 years that produced 33 stage works and the [...]

Dilettante, hedonist, elitist, snob: Cole Porter was called all of them during his glittering yet troubled life. Whatever detractors may have said about him personally, Porter’s reputation as a musical genius has never been questioned. The lecture surveys Porter’s life on Broadway and in Hollywood, covering 40 years that produced 33 stage works and the [...]

The original Broadway production of The Sound of Music, starring Mary Martin and Theodore Bikel, opened in 1959 and won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, out of nine nominations. The first London production opened at the Palace Theatre in 1961. The show has enjoyed numerous productions and revivals since then. It was adapted as [...]

The original Broadway production of The Sound of Music, starring Mary Martin and Theodore Bikel, opened in 1959 and won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, out of nine nominations. The first London production opened at the Palace Theatre in 1961. The show has enjoyed numerous productions and revivals since then. It was adapted as [...]

Rose Gershwin had a piano to her home for her eldest son, Ira, to learn to play. Instead, George ran to the instrument and began with a rag. No one knows where he learned to play but it was the love of his life. An early girlfriend, Mabel Schirmer, spoke that “George made the piano [...]

Join pianist and Gershwin authority Robert Wyatt, co-editor of Oxford University Press’ The George Gershwin Reader, in this lively program exploring George Gershwin’s life and legacy.  The evening includes live performances of the solo version of Rhapsody in Blue, early and unpublished music, the piano improvisations and other Gershwin hits.  Rare film footage obtained from [...]

Join pianist and Gershwin authority Robert Wyatt, co-editor of Oxford University Press’ The George Gershwin Reader, in this lively program exploring George Gershwin’s life and legacy.  The evening includes live performances of the solo version of Rhapsody in Blue, early and unpublished music, the piano improvisations and other Gershwin hits.  Rare film footage obtained from [...]

The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. With members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, they became widely regarded as the foremost and most influential music band in history. Rooted in skiffle, beat and 1950s rock and roll, the Beatles later experimented with several musical styles, ranging [...]

The original Broadway production of The Sound of Music, starring Mary Martin and Theodore Bikel, opened in 1959 and won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, out of nine nominations. The first London production opened at the Palace Theatre in 1961. The show has enjoyed numerous productions and revivals since then. It was adapted as [...]

Light on his feet, Fred Astaire revolutionized the movie musical with his elegant and seemingly effortless dance style. He may have made dancing look easy, but he was a well-known perfectionist, and his work was the product of endless hours of practice. Astaire started performing as a child, partnering up with his older sister Adele. [...]

The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. With members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, they became widely regarded as the foremost and most influential music band in history. Rooted in skiffle, beat and 1950s rock and roll, the Beatles later experimented with several musical styles, ranging [...]

The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. With members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, they became widely regarded as the foremost and most influential music band in history. Rooted in skiffle, beat and 1950s rock and roll, the Beatles later experimented with several musical styles, ranging [...]

British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber has created a global empire unrivaled in the history of musical theater. In 1983, he was the first composer to have three musicals appear simultaneously on Broadway and in London’s West End, a feat he duplicated five years later. Mr. Webber has collected a variety of honors including knighthood, seven [...]

The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. With members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, they became widely regarded as the foremost and most influential music band in history. Rooted in skiffle, beat and 1950s rock and roll, the Beatles later experimented with several musical styles, ranging [...]