Course Description

Instructor: Emanuel Abramovits

Weekly classes that document the fertile interaction between minorities that  transformed, not only the music of the 20th century, but the whole industry of entertainment and its huge impact on American popular culture. We'll explore the contribution of Jews to many musical genres, record labels, booking agencies, venues, innovations and production. An excursion through stories that clarify why so many Jazz standards come from Tin Pan Alley, why many Christmass songs were penned by Jewish songwriters, how the civil rights movement was triggered by music, the songwriter who received the Nobel Prize in Literature and much more.  With strong support from audiovisuals, anecdotes and the instructor's experience of several decades as concert promoter, working with some of the biggest names in the industry.