ONLINE: From Gershwin to Van Cliburn and Liberace to Disney, classical music has taken many forms within mainstream pop culture throughout the decades. This course traces the rise and fall of classical music's many appearances in radio broadcasts, television programs, movies and variety shows by examining how and why classical music was once the cultural language of the United States. Students will gain in-depth historical knowledge about the ways in which the cultural history of America can be traced through the presence of classical music in popular culture. Guest speakers and interactive lectures will illuminate a different side of American history. Taught by a former North Carolina Symphony resident conductor who is now the music director of the Durham Symphony along with an OLLI faculty alumni and pop culture historian, this course will entertain students while educating them on the hidden history of a musical genre that captured a nation for decades. | Lecture + Q&A.
Max enrollment: 200.
Jackson Cooper is currently the Executive Director of Chamber Music Raleigh at the NC Museum of Art. He has served as a film, theater, and music critic for publications including CVNC.org, Greensboro News and Record, Winston Salem Journal, Hollywood.com, and the Gay and Lesbian Review. He is currently editing a book on horror films.
Maestro William Henry Curry is the Grammy-nominated music director of the Durham Symphony Orchestra. He recently retired as resident conductor of the North Carolina Symphony. Maestro Curry has conducted over 50 orchestras worldwide, including the major orchestras of Chicago, Los Angeles, and Cleveland, as well as, by express invitation of the king, the national orchestra of Thailand.