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Gershwin: Concerto in F

The excitement surrounding the premiere of Rhapsody in Blue in February 1924 made George Gershwin the most visible—and marketable—American composer of his generation, and immediately led to a commission for a new piano concerto from the NY Philharmonic.

Gershwin told his first biographer, “Many persons had thought that the Rhapsody was only a happy accident. Well, I went out, for one thing, to show them that there was plenty more where that had come from.” And show them he did. We’ll go deep inside this three movement concerto—Mr. Rosen’s favorite of the Gershwin concert pieces—exploring the unique character of Gershwin’s style, and the manner with which Gershwin built this highly original concerto on the formal foundation of Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms.

Louis Rosen

Composer, lyricist, author, performer, teacher—Louis Rosen has designed and taught the Music Appreciation/History and Music Theory curriculum for the 92Y’s School of Music for over 30 years.

Albums of Louis’ songs and compositions include Dream Suite: Songs in Jazz and Blues (The Langston Hughes Songs, 2016); Time Was (2013); The Ache of Possibility (2009); One Ounce of Truth: The Nikki Giovanni Songs (2008); South Side Stories (2006); and the upcoming Fall 2017 release of Dust to Dust Blues and Act One: Piano Music from the Theater.   In addition, two albums are currently in production: Phenomenal Woman: The Maya Angelou Songs and I Don’t Know Anything or My Third Act and First Farewell. Taken together, Dream Suite, Phenomenal Woman and One Ounce of Truth form The Black Loom Trilogy, three song cycles on poems of three major 20th Century African-American writers. Other song cycles include, It Is Still Dark: Songs of Exile (2003); Five Riversongs (1985); A Child’s Garden Song Suite (1994); and Poe Songs (2001).

Louis’ theater music includes four musicals: Book of the Night (1991), winner of Chicago’s John W. Schmid Award for Best New Work; A Child’s Garden (2000), named one of the top ten Off-Broadway productions of that year by the New York Post; an adaptation of A. A. Milne’s The Ugly Duckling (Ann Arbor Arts Festival, 1989); and The Pearl, adapted from John Steinbeck’s novella of the same name; as well as music for over 30 theatrical productions on and off Broadway and at major regional theaters around the country. His scores for plays have also yielded 12 concert suites, including Act One: a Suite in Six Parts for Solo Piano from his score for the Tony nominated 2014 Lincoln Center Theater production written and directed by James Lapine.

Louis is the author of two books: the memoir/oral narrative, The South Side: The Racial Transformation of an American Neighborhood (Ivan R. Dee, Chicago, 1998); and Beyond Category: Music Theory from Bach through The Beatles for the Popular or Classical Musician (2015). He also wrote the theatrical adaptation of The South Side, which has played at Washington, D. C.’s Theater J and New Jersey’s George Street Playhouse.

Among Louis’ many awards are a 2005 Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship in Music Composition; the 1995 NEA New American Works Grant; the 1995 New York University Award for Teaching Excellence; the 1992 Gilman & Gonzalez-Falla Musical Theater Award; a Puffin Foundation Grant; an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Galileo Prize & Commission; the Anna Sosenko Trust Award; annual ASCAP Awards since 1993; and five fellowships from the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.











When: Thu., May. 7, 2020 at 12:30 pm - 2:15 pm
Where: The 92nd Street Y, New York
1395 Lexington Ave.
212-415-5500
Price: $50
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The excitement surrounding the premiere of Rhapsody in Blue in February 1924 made George Gershwin the most visible—and marketable—American composer of his generation, and immediately led to a commission for a new piano concerto from the NY Philharmonic.

Gershwin told his first biographer, “Many persons had thought that the Rhapsody was only a happy accident. Well, I went out, for one thing, to show them that there was plenty more where that had come from.” And show them he did. We’ll go deep inside this three movement concerto—Mr. Rosen’s favorite of the Gershwin concert pieces—exploring the unique character of Gershwin’s style, and the manner with which Gershwin built this highly original concerto on the formal foundation of Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms.

Louis Rosen

Composer, lyricist, author, performer, teacher—Louis Rosen has designed and taught the Music Appreciation/History and Music Theory curriculum for the 92Y’s School of Music for over 30 years.

Albums of Louis’ songs and compositions include Dream Suite: Songs in Jazz and Blues (The Langston Hughes Songs, 2016); Time Was (2013); The Ache of Possibility (2009); One Ounce of Truth: The Nikki Giovanni Songs (2008); South Side Stories (2006); and the upcoming Fall 2017 release of Dust to Dust Blues and Act One: Piano Music from the Theater.   In addition, two albums are currently in production: Phenomenal Woman: The Maya Angelou Songs and I Don’t Know Anything or My Third Act and First Farewell. Taken together, Dream Suite, Phenomenal Woman and One Ounce of Truth form The Black Loom Trilogy, three song cycles on poems of three major 20th Century African-American writers. Other song cycles include, It Is Still Dark: Songs of Exile (2003); Five Riversongs (1985); A Child’s Garden Song Suite (1994); and Poe Songs (2001).

Louis’ theater music includes four musicals: Book of the Night (1991), winner of Chicago’s John W. Schmid Award for Best New Work; A Child’s Garden (2000), named one of the top ten Off-Broadway productions of that year by the New York Post; an adaptation of A. A. Milne’s The Ugly Duckling (Ann Arbor Arts Festival, 1989); and The Pearl, adapted from John Steinbeck’s novella of the same name; as well as music for over 30 theatrical productions on and off Broadway and at major regional theaters around the country. His scores for plays have also yielded 12 concert suites, including Act One: a Suite in Six Parts for Solo Piano from his score for the Tony nominated 2014 Lincoln Center Theater production written and directed by James Lapine.

Louis is the author of two books: the memoir/oral narrative, The South Side: The Racial Transformation of an American Neighborhood (Ivan R. Dee, Chicago, 1998); and Beyond Category: Music Theory from Bach through The Beatles for the Popular or Classical Musician (2015). He also wrote the theatrical adaptation of The South Side, which has played at Washington, D. C.’s Theater J and New Jersey’s George Street Playhouse.

Among Louis’ many awards are a 2005 Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship in Music Composition; the 1995 NEA New American Works Grant; the 1995 New York University Award for Teaching Excellence; the 1992 Gilman & Gonzalez-Falla Musical Theater Award; a Puffin Foundation Grant; an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Galileo Prize & Commission; the Anna Sosenko Trust Award; annual ASCAP Awards since 1993; and five fellowships from the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.

Buy tickets/get more info now