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Music has helped tell America’s story, reflecting our triumphs and struggles through its multiplicity of traditions. Indeed, the richness and diversity of American culture has created such foundational genres as jazz, blues, country, rock, and hip hop, and is a powerful expression of who we are.
Part Three ~ Jazz is often called “America’s classical music.” During the 19th century, outsiders often viewed America as a land of steam engines, country bumpkins, and second-rate classical composers. But the emergence of jazz in the early 20th century changed all that, and was embraced by such composers as Maurice Ravel, Igor Stravinsky, Claude Debussy, Dimitri Shostakovich, and countless others. During our evening together, we will trace its development from ragtime at the turn of the century through New Orleans jazz, swing, bebop and cool jazz.
PRESENTER:
Robert Hartwell holds a doctorate in music education from Columbia University. As professor of music at Foothill College, he specializes in welcoming the uninitiated into the world of classical music. He co-authored a three-volume series on the history of Western music, and contributed to the New Pedagogies in Higher Education series. He has served as a pre-performance lecturer for the San Francisco Opera.