ONLINE: Together we will review the fertile interactions among the Jews and African Americans who transformed not only the music business but the whole entertainment industry in the 20th century. We'll explore Jews' contributions to many musical genres, as composers, performers, record label owners, innovators and producers, as well as their huge impact on American popular culture. We'll take excursions through stories that explore: why so many Jazz standards come from the Jews who excelled in the Tin Pan Alley years, why many Christmas songs were penned by Jewish songwriters, how the civil rights movement was triggered by music, which songwriter received the Nobel Prize in Literature and much more. Using a lecture format, our classes will have strong support from audiovisuals and anecdotes drawn from the instructor's decades of experience as a concert promoter working with some of the biggest names in the industry. | Lecture + Q&A.
Max enrollment: 200.
Emanuel Abramovits, a concert promoter since 2000, was directly involved in many events for international artists, including Itzhak Perlman, Sarah Brightman, Asia, Journey and Kenny G. He designed and staged many original orchestral events and several world premieres. He served as the cultural director at Union Israelita de Caracas from 2008 to 2019, releasing books and organizing film cycles, concerts and art exhibits. He has been teaching online and in person across the U.S. since 2020.