Ervin Drake was born in 1919. His penned American Songbook standards such as “It Was a Very Good Year,” “Tico-Tico”, and “Perdido.” Drake had a major hit in 1945 when he wrote both the words and music for “The Rickety Rickshaw Man,” which sold more than a million copies. Among his best-known songs is “I […]
Read MoreGeorge Gershwin was born Jacob Gershvin in 1898 in Brooklyn. The Gershwin family purchased a piano in 1910, intended for George’s brother, Ira, but George quickly claimed it as his own. He progressed rapidly in music lessons and was accepted in 1912 as a pupil of Charles Hambitzer, who recognized his innate talent, and introduced […]
Read MoreBorn in Richmond Hill, Queens, in December 1913, Morton Gould was recognized early on as a child prodigy and at the age of six had his first composition published. When Radio City Music Hall opened, the young Gould was its staff pianist. By the age of 21, he was conducting and arranging a series of […]
Read MoreComposer Marvin Hamlisch won virtually every major award that exists: three Oscars, four Grammys, four Emmys, a Tony, three Golden Globes, and the Pulitzer Prize, which was won by A Chorus Line. (Only two individuals, Hamlisch and composer Richard Rodgers, have won a “PEGOT” (Pulitzer, Emmy Grammy, Oscar, Tony). He was the composer of more […]
Read MoreBorn in Brooklyn in 1922, Leo Kraft was a composer, educator, and author of numerous books on music theory. He composed for orchestra, chamber ensemble, piano, voice, band, and electronics. His major compositions include “Inventions and Airs,” “Variations for Orchestra,” “For Those We Loved,” “Testimonium,” and “Seven Hebrew Songs.” In 1995, his “Symphony in One […]
Read MoreFrom classical to pop, the timeless hits of Jimmy Webb—American songwriter, composer and singer—continue to be performed and recorded by the industry’s biggest names. Not many artists can say they had a classical nocturne and a rap hit with Kanye West (“Do What You Gotta Do” a central hook in “Famous”) in the same year, […]
Read MoreStephen Schwartz was born in New York City and grew up in the Williston Park area of Nassau County, where he graduated from Mineola High School in 1964. He studied piano and composition at the Juilliard School while in high school and graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 1968 with a B.F.A. in drama. Upon returning to […]
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