Richard Skipper Celebrates HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GEORGE GERSHWIN with Richard Glazier

Richard Skipper Celebrates Happy Birthday, George Gershwin with Richard Glazier, Saturday evening, September 26th at 8PM ET/5PM PT. The virtual event will stream LIVE through Richard Skipper Celebrates on Facebook and YouTube.

George Gershwin (born Jacob Bruskin Gershowitz; September 26, 1898 - July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned both popular and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions Rhapsody in Blue (1924) and An American in Paris (1928), the songs "Swanee" (1919) and "Fascinating Rhythm" (1924), the jazz standard "I Got Rhythm" (1930), and the opera Porgy and Bess (1935) which gave birth to the hit "Summertime".

Gershwin studied piano under Charles Hambitzer and composition with Rubin Goldmark, Henry Cowell, and Joseph Brody. He began his career as a song plugger but soon started composing Broadway theater works with his brother Ira Gershwin and with Buddy DeSylva. He moved to Paris intending to study with Nadia Boulanger, but she refused him. He subsequently composed An American in Paris, returned to New York City and wrote Porgy and Bess with Ira and DuBose Heyward. Initially a commercial failure, it came to be considered one of the most important American operas of the twentieth century and an American cultural classic.

Gershwin moved to Hollywood and composed numerous film scores. He died in 1937 of a malignant brain tumor. His compositions have been adapted for use in film and television, with several becoming jazz standards recorded and covered in many variations.

Every artist has an epiphany. For classically trained, award-winning pianist Richard Glazier, it happened at age nine, when he saw the film "Girl Crazy" with a score by George & Ira Gershwin. He was so excited by the music he heard; he was prompted to write a fan letter to famed lyricist Ira Gershwin. After corresponding with each other for three years, Gershwin invited his young friend, then 12, to meet him in Beverly Hills. During their visit, Ira asked Glazier to play a Gershwin tune on the piano that once belonged to his brother, legendary composer George Gershwin. Fueled by Ira's encouragement and interest, Glazier dedicated himself to the Gershwin repertoire and the American Popular Songbook, eventually becoming one of the genre's leading authorities. Over the years he has also developed a keen interest in contemporary music standards from the Broadway stage and the Hollywood screen.

Richard Skipper is an entertainer, raconteur, arts advocate, theater historian and promotions/marketing guru. Under the guise of Richard Skipper Celebrates, he has conducted over 1000 interviews celebrating people in the arts. Recent interviews have included Barbara Minkus, Vicki Abelson, Stephen Rebello (author of Dolls! Dolls! Dolls!: Deep Inside Valley of the Dolls: The Most Beloved Bad Book and Movie of All Time), DJ Bucciarelli (Carole's Kings) , Joanne Zippel of Zip Creative, Ron DeStefeno (Shades of Bublé: A Three-Man Tribute to Michael Bublé, Grammy Award winner Melissa Manchester, seven time Tony Award winning producer Dana Besch (Head of Marketing for Streamyard), and therapist, Dr. Judi Bloom. Richard also hosts a bi-monthly series with therapist Dr. Judi Bloom about creativity in the age of Covid (First and third Thursday of every month). Please visit RichardSkipper.com

To post a comment, you must register and login.