Musical Cities: New York

“Musical Cities” returns this fall with a journey to one of the most vibrant and exciting cultural destinations in North America, New York City.

New York started to grow as an artistic centre in the 1830s with the rise of musical societies and concert series. The New York Philharmonic was formed in 1842, and the Metropolitan Opera House opened in the late 1880s with performances of Italian opera, followed soon after by Carnegie Hall. The first renowned classical composers to appear in New York were Tchaikovsky and Antonin Dvorak, helping to establish the city as a centre for European classical music.

New York natives like Edward MacDowell and Charles Griffes started to make a mark. By far the most famous American composer to emerge in New York City was George Gershwin, who composed songs in the Tin Pan Alley and for Broadway theatres, as well as jazz-influenced orchestral pieces like Rhapsody in Blue.

Aaron Copland captured a true American spirit in folk-inspired pieces like Appalachian Spring and Leonard Bernstein, composer of the musical West Side Story, became one of the most influential New York figures, renowned even more as a dynamic conductor.

Over our two classes, we’ll listen to these landmark pieces and much more, with an emphasis on the classical music scene, including examples of minimalist composers like Steve Reich and Philip Glass and modern innovators Meredith Monk and Laurie Anderson.

We’ll look into the hallowed halls of the Met, Carnegie Hall and the famous Juilliard School that trained generations of the world’s top musicians.

The two-hour classes will take place on Zoom on September 22^nd and 29^th, 7-9 pm.