Gershwin, Ellington, and the Search for the American Sound
Member early access ticketing opens on July 13th General Public sales begin July 20th Doors open at 9:15 AM, and the lecture starts at 10:00 AM. ... Read More
Doors open at 9:15 on October 13, and by 10:00 a.m. you’ll be deep into one of the better arguments music history has to offer: does a distinctly American sound exist, and if so, who gets credit for it? Johns Hopkins professor Anna Harwell Celenza makes the case through two works, Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” and Ellington’s “Symphony in Black,” tracing how spirituals, blues, Klezmer, Ragtime, and Tin Pan Alley all collided in the 1920s and 30s to produce something nobody could quite agree on but everybody claimed. Celenza brings film clips, music excerpts, and period dance steps into the lecture, so it’s less a dry survey and more a whole argument you can tap your foot to. Tickets go on sale to Morris Museum members July 13, and to the general public July 20.