John Kander Accomplishments

Throughout the reading this week, the information presented in David Elliott and Bennett Reimer’s texts stressed the importance of music and more specifically, music education. “People everywhere find music rewarding, and everywhere we find people engaged in formal and non-formal efforts to teach and learn music.” (Elliott, 2014, p. 4)

Launched in 1975, the musical Chicago, created by a talented pair of composers and producers that included both John Kander and Fred Ebb later known as Kander and Ebb. Kander was born on March 18, 1927 in Kansas City, Missouri. His exposure to music began at an early age as a result of having had tuberculosis as a baby. During this time, Kander was cut off and not allowed to be around other people, that separation developed his ability for sound. Kander started piano lessons at the age of six. His parents and brother would often spend evenings playing the piano and singing. Kander’s first successes came while he was a student at Oberlin College, where he attended with James Goldman, a lyricist he had known since childhood

53. Roger and Hammerstein shows from earliest to latest: Oklahoma, carousel, south pacific, the king and I, and the sound of music

“There is music in the air, music all around us, the world is full of it and you simply take as much as you require”-Sir Edward Elgar. Elgar was one of the 19th century’s most famous composers. He devoted his life to writing musical pieces such as Enigma Variations, The Dream of Gerontius, and the Pomp and Circumstance Marches. Certain personality aspects of Elgar, such as his wit and creative humor, are found in his music and set him apart from the other composers of his time.

Musicals are a very unique type of genre intended to give off good vibe, happiness and joy to the audience and to anyone who watches them. Countless amount of musicals have been created since their first introduction, but the one piece of film that really stands out was a classic called Singing in the Rain (1952) directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, and has been considered one of the most loved and celebrated film in the history of it’s genre. But a lot has changed since the introduction of this classical movie and in this present generation we have pieces like La La Land (2016) directed by Damian Chazelle, which has won many recognisable awards, such as “Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role”, and “Best Motion Picture of the Year” and many more. But what makes these two particular films different

There are many great composers throughout the centuries. Each composer has a story to tell that is very interesting, when you dig deep for the information. Every composer has their own way of making, composing and producing music. Irving Berlin is no exception. Berlin is an extraordinary composer, and when examining his story amazing facts are found. Berlin is not just a musician and composer, he is a man of many hats. Berlin’s life is extremely compelling.

A researcher says that music reinforces confidence and the ability to create and elaborate on new ideas. Being a musician comes with having the confidence to show this to, if not one person, many. Knowing this, musicians are no longer afraid to express their feelings or opinions in a larger crowd. In movies, there is always a large table with many business men sitting around discussing ideas on how to create a better business and the one that stands up, is the one that has the most confidence to do so. Music raises the overall confidence a person has to stand up and make a difference, leading to key business people. One business man will say that many years of practicing an instrument, drives the desire for perfection, creating key business ideas and plans that can change an entire business level as a

Jukebox musicals began in film and later shifted to theatre. They had begun to make theatre more popular with the public, which had begun to gravitate towards film and music. By combining the two, they gain some of the same as well as a whole new audience. I will discuss how this came to be by speaking of the shift that occurred.

My life would be incomplete without performing music. I’ve spent time, in concert bands, in bell choirs, in school and church choirs, and singing, playing in music festivals, and in pit bands trying not to laugh my head off at the actors’ improvisations. But the art that truly speaks to my soul does not lie in creating music, it lies in dancing to it.

I now realise that the Arts, including music, creates opportunities to engage, inspire and enrich our lives. Music making and responding can challenge, provoke responses and enrich our knowledge and understanding of ourselves, our communities and the world.

Throughout my life, I have been taken by music. However, it was not until my 8th grade year in middle school that I realized that I could be a musician for the rest of my life. Before that, music just seemed like something to keep me out of trouble. I wasn’t the best player at that time, and I still knew very little about it all. How could something like that ever support someone? Still, it was the only talent that I could find any success in, and it was still very enjoyable, so I wanted to still give it a shot.

From the day we’re in our mother's stomachs, to the day we die, we have always been listening to music. For me, listening to music all my life helped me develop a passion for it. When I was around the age of 6 my dad introduced me into the world of Rock. The very first band I remember listening to was System of a Down and ever since then, I fell in love with rock music and all its possible variations; for a long time this was all I listened to. It wasn’t until high school that I started listening to all sorts of genres and realized that I wanted to have a career in the music industry. That's when I learned about producing music.

At the end of World War I, an excited America was poised for a cultural renaissance; patriotism was on the rise, the strong concept of Manifest Destiny had passed its peak of influence, and, most importantly, there had not been a clear shift in culture for decades. The Jazz Age of the 1920s was about to dawn, bringing with it youthful, risqué morals and a carefree look on life. From these ideals, a new, strongly American form of entertainment would emerge: musical theatre. Most commonly found in New York City on Broadway even to this day, musical theatre became an escape from reality and an entry into the imagination. The grand and splashy components that make up what is considered a classic Broadway musical can ultimately be traced back to Cole Porter. Porter’s writing, albeit at times controversial or raunchy, was able to harness the frantically beating heart of the Jazz Age and turn it into treasured shows. Using his unique melodies, romantic or idealistic lyrics, and his pioneering of writing about the human experience, Cole Porter shaped American music and theatre from the 1920s through the 1940s.

Before being able to completely appreciate musical films, one must be aware of their remarkable history and how they came into existence. According to an article written by Cara Schreffler:

The music industry is one of the biggest industries in the world due to how music is a universal language that does not create barriers, it breaks down walls. People dream all of their life to make it as a big star to write songs and make their mark on the recording industry. For most of the recording artists out there today, music was something that saved them from any troubles. And from then on, it is something that they wanted to create and write as if it is a journal. Music is something that people want to share with each