The Life and Music of George Gershwin

I. Attractive Cover with a picture of George Gershwin playing the piano. A. The Life and Music of George Gershwin will be in stickers/or written on the cover. B. Musical notes that represent how important music was in his life will be drawn on or will be stickers. C. Rhapsody in Blue, Summertime, and Porky & Bess will be represented on the cover as pieces of music that he wrote. II. Table of Contents will include all page numbers of the scrapbook. A. Page 1: Birth Certificate B. Page 2: Magazine Article C. Page 3: Timeline of important events D. Page 4: Photo-essay E. Page 5: Death Certificate F. Page 6: Epitaph or Celebration G. Page 7: Commemorative Stamp H. Page 8: Memorabilia I: Page 9: Memorabilia J. Page 10: Memorabilia III. Birth Certificate will be mounted on a piece of paper. A. Jacob Gershowitz was born on September 26, 1898, in Brooklyn, N.Y. B. Father: Morris (Moishe) Gershowitz, C. Mother: Rosa Gershowitz IV. Magazine article will be a summary of Gershwins life, who he was, why he was so important to American music, and include a listing of some of his most famous pieces. A. Real name was Jacob Gershowitz, born to Russian Jewish immigrants B. Influential American composer and songwriter of the early 20th century, including an American Opera, Porgy & Bess, Rhapsody in Blue (written in 3 weeks), and numerous musicals. C. Known for his Broadway musicals and for combining classical music with other music genres, especially jazz. His brother Ira wrote many of the lyrics. D. Most of his compositions were influenced by his travels and his experiences. E. He used unusual musical instruments, such as the maracas and bongo drums V. Timeline of important events from Gershwins life. A. Gershwins birth-1898 B. His brothers birth (Ira) C. Parents bought his brother Ira a used upright piano when he was 11 years old. But, George surprised everyone by playing a piece he had learned on his own. D. In 1913, George was 15 years old and dropped out of school to become a songplugger (playing the popular songs of the day to increase sheet music sales).

E. In 1914 George published his first song When You Want Em You Cant Get Em (When Youve Got Em, You Dont Want Em), and his first piano composition Rialto Ripples. F. 1919 Al Jolson performed Gershwins song Swanee, and it sold 2 million recordings and 1 million copies of sheet music. First complete score for a Broadway Musical La La Lucille G. January, 1924 composed one of his most famous piano pieces, Rhapsody in Blue in 3 weeks. Improvised much of it at its premier performance. H. 1928 American In Paris debuted at Carnegie Hall I. 1933-composed I Got Rhythm. Became most performed orchestra piece J. 1933-composed Porgy & Bess one of his greatest pieces VI. Photo-essay will include pictures of Gershwins family, including Ira. All photos will have captions explaining what the photo is. A. Collage of sheet music covers including Summertime, Rhapsody in Blue B. Pictures of George & Ira C. Family photos of the Gershwin family D. George on Broadway with his musicals E. Pictures of Porgy & Bess VII. Death certificate will be mounted on a piece of paper, filled out with all important information, including name, date of death, where he died and how he died. A. George Gershwin died July 11, 1937 of a brain tumor B. He died in Hollywood, CA, Cedars of Lebanon Hospital VIII. Epitaph will be the following quote from George Gershwin: Life is a lot like jazzits best when you improvise IX. Commemorative Stamp will have a picture of George Gershwin sitting at the piano. A. Around the edges of the stamp will be musical notes, and symbols X. Memorabilia: The first memorabilia will be an old upright piano drawn on the page. This represents Gershwins first piano. XI. Memorabilia: The second memorabilia will be a drawing of the cover of Someone to Watch Over Me XII. Memorabilia: A drawing of a radio from the 1930s will represent the 3rd memorabilia. Gershwin hosted his own radio show and played his music many times for other radio programs.