Hannan Academy Music
John Williams
Born in 1932
John Williams is both a composer and a conductor. He was born in Long Island, New York on February 8, 1932, and quickly discovered music since his father was a percussionist. When his family moved to Los Angeles in 1948, he began to show his piano skills and led a jazz band. He studied piano and orchestration at UCLA, the Los Angeles City College and Julliard, then he moved back to Los Angeles where he found his way into the movie scene, first as a pianist then as a composer. His first oscar came for his orchestration of Fiddler on the Roof. He has worked with many reknowned directors like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas and has written the music for many popular movies such as Star Wars, Harry Potter, Jaws, E.T., Jurassic Park, Home Alone, Superman, Hook, Saving Private Ryan, Twilight Zone, the Indiana Jones movies, and many more. Even today he is alive and well and composing. Disney will release a new Star Wars movie with music by John Williams this year. To learn more about John Williams see his webpage http://www.johnwilliams.org/reference/biography.html
John Williams conducts the Star Wars theme
John Phillip Sousa
(1854-1932)
"The March King"
John Philip Sousa was born in Washington, DC on November 6, 1854. He was the third of ten children of John Antonio Sousa, a Portuguese immigrant, and Maria Elizabeth Trinkhaus, a German immigrant. His father played trombone in the U.S. Marine Band, which influenced John to begin studying music when he was six years old. He began studying violin, but eventually learned all the wind instruments. John Philip Sousa was very interested in being in a band, so when he was 13 years old, he tried to join a circus band. His attempt was unsuccessful and shortly afterwards, his father enlisted John in the Marine Band in Washington, D.C., where he stayed for 8 years.
In 1875, Sousa began performing as a violinist, going on tour and eventually landing positions as a theater orchestra conductor. It was in the theater that he met his wife, Jane Van Middlesworth Bellis who was a singer. They had 3 children who were musicians; John, Jane & Helen.
Sousa returned to conduct the Marine Band for 12 years, serving 5 Presidents. Also known as “The President’s Own,” the Marine Band became a premier military band under Sousa’s tutelage, making him one of America’s most respected conductors and composers. Known as “The March King,” Sousa composed over 100 marches, in addition to concert pieces, operettas, overtures and suites. On Christmas Day 1898, Sousa composed “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” which eventually became the U.S. national march.
He organized and conducted his own band called the "Sousa's New Marine Band." which toured Europe and sold out each venue.
During World War I, at the age of 62, Sousa joined the U.S. Navy Reserve as a lieutenant to train young bandsmen at the Great Lakes Navy Training Center. He was paid $1 per month.
Sousa was a staunch supporter of general music education in our schools, and often advocated for composers' rights. In 1893, Sousa worked in conjunction with J.W. Pepper to create a marching tuba. Dubbed a sousaphone, this tuba could be played in a standing or sitting position with the bell positioned to project the music over the band. In 1898, Conn created a model that Sousa preferred.
John Philip Sousa died on March 6, 1932, in his hotel room at the age of 77 in Reading, Pennsylvania. He had finished a rehearsal a few hours earlier. The last piece he conducted in that rehearsal was“The Stars and Stripes Forever.” Eight years later, in 1940, the U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative 2 cent stamp with Sousa’s image.
Check out these Swingin' Jazz Musicians and Composers!
Ella Fitzgerald:
1917-1996
Quotes:
"I sing like I feel."
"I know I'm no glamour girl, and it's not easy for me to get up in front of a crowd of people. It used to bother me a lot, but now I've got it figured out that God gave me this talent to use, so I just stand there and sing."
"Some kids in Italy call me 'Mama Jazz; I thought that was so cute. As long as they don't call me 'Grandma Jazz.'"
SOME INTERESTING FACTS:
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Dubbed "The First Lady of Song," Ella Fitzgerald was the most popular female jazz singer in the United States for more than half a century. In her lifetime, she won 13 Grammy awards and sold over 40 million albums.
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She also sang other types of music, such as popular music.
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She didn’t really write any of her own songs. Instead she sang songs by other people in a new and great way. The main exception to this ‘A Tisket A Tasket’ which she helped to write.
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She made some great albums with other great jazz artists such as Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Louis Armstrong.
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She recorded her singing over a period of almost 60 years!
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Unlike a lot of jazz artists, Ella Fitzgerald was very shy. In the beginning she wanted to dance more than sing. In fact she entered a talent competition in 1934 and was going to dance. However when she saw some good dancers perform before her, she decided to sing instead—and won the competition! There was no thoughts of dancing after that!!
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She became very good at ‘scat singing’ (this is a type of singing that uses nonsense syllables, instead of words).
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In her recording of ‘Mac the Knife’ on the album ‘Ella in Berlin’ she started scat singing because she had forgotten the words! This turned out to be one of her great recordings!!
Ella Fitzgerald improvising and scatting "One Note Samba"
"It Don't Mean a Thing if It Ain't Got That Swing"
Louis Armstrong:
Jazz Trumpeter and Singer
1901-1971
Louis Armstrong was born in New Orleans, the "Birthplace of Jazz." Soon after Louis was born Louis' father abandoned his mother and Louis and his little sister Beatrice were sent to live with their grandmother. At the age of five, Louis and his sister returned to live with their mother. Later Louis was enrolled in the Fisk School for Boys and worked to help his mother by delivering newspapers and hauling coal.
At the age of eleven Louis dropped out of school and joined a quartet of boys that sang on the street toearn money to help his family. It was also around this time that Louis started getting in trouble. In 1913, the police took him to a home for troubled boys. It was there that Louis talked the band director into letting him join the band. Louis learned to play the cornet quickly.
At thirteen, Louis was released from the boys' home and spent the next few years supporting his family by selling newspapers and unloading bananas from boats. In his free time Louis would listen to local bands and perform when he had the opportunity.
Louis' talent and enthusiasm was recognized and admired by Joe "King" Oliver, a famous cornet player. Oliver decided to mentor young Louis. In return, Louis did small jobs and ran errands for "King" Oliver. When "King" Oliver left for Chicago, Louis began performing on steamboats which toured up and down the Mississippi River. For the next three summers, Louis toured on the steamboats and improved his playing skills as well as learned how to read music.
In 1922, King Oliver invited Louis to perform with his band in Chicago. Louis was excited to perform with such talented musicians. He played with King Oliver's Creole Band for the next two years.
New York City was the place where many jazz artists built their careers. So in 1924 Louis moved to New York at the request of famous New York bandleader Fletcher Henderson. It was also then that Louis switched to the trumpet to blend his sound better with the other members of the trumpet section. His energetic and creative playing style captured the attention of the New York jazz scene. No one else could play like Louis!
After one year in New York, Louis returned to Chicago. It was there that Louis made the first recording with his own band "The Hot Five". During the recording session, Louis dropped his lyric sheet on the floor. Rather then stopping, the record producer encouraged Louis to keep on singing without the lyrics. Louis sang the chorus in nonsense syllables. The unpredictable rhythms of Louis' voice have inspired other musicians ever since!
Louis Armstrong became one of the most famous jazz musicians of the 20th century. He was a singer since his childhood, a master of the trumpet, and even a dancer in musicals. He devoted his life to bringing joy to people through his music. Despite the challenges in the early days of his life, Armstrong rarely viewed his youth as the worst of times but instead drew inspiration from it, "Every time I close my eyes blowing that trumpet of mine - I look right in the heart of good old New Orleans...It has given me something to live for."
Louis Armstrong Singing "What a Wonderful World"
Louis Armstrong
"Hello Dolly"
Learn more about Louis here...
http://makingmusicfun.net/htm/f_mmf_music_library/hey-kids-meet-louis-armstrong.htm
Peter Tchaikovsky
1840-1893
Russian Romantic Composer
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born in 1840 in present-day Udmurtia, Russia. His father was a Ukrainian mining engineer. Peter began piano lessons at the age of five, and within three years he could read music as well as his teacher.
In 1850, Peter's father was appointed as the Director of the St. Petersburg Technological Institute. It was there that Peter received his education at the School of Jurisprudence. The only music instruction he received were piano lessons from a piano manufacturer who occasionally made visits to the school. He also attended the opera and theater with his classmates. It was the works of Rossini, Bellini, Verdi and Mozart that he enjoyed the most.
Peter's mother died in 1854, which brought him much sorrow. He responded by turning to music. It was at this time that he made his first serious efforts as a composer, writing a waltz in her memory.
In 1855, Peter's father asked a well-known German piano teacher to encourage his son's interest in music. However, when Peter's father asked about his son's musical potential, his teacher wrote that nothing indicated he would be a fine composer or performer. His father asked Peter to complete his course of study and then pursue a post in the Ministry of Justice. He did as he was asked, though his interest in music never left him.
In 1861, Tchaikovsky heard about classes being offered by the Russian Musical Society. He promptly began his studies. In the following year, Tchaikovsky followed his teacher to the St. Petersburg Conservatory where he accepted a post. It was at the conservatory that he met and studied with Anton Rubinstein, director and founder of the Conservatory. Rubinstein was impressed with Tchaikovsky's talent.
In 1869 Tchaikovsky composed his first recognised masterpiece, the Overture-FantasyRomeo and Juliet. Tchaikovsky was deeply inspired by Shakespeare's writing, and in later years composed other works for The Tempest and Hamlet.
On November 6, 1893 Tchaikovsky died in St. Petersburg from cholera. His compositions are some of the greatest works of the Romantic Era, including the 1812 Overture, March Slav, and The Nutcracker, which has become a Christmas season favorite.
This biography and more can be found at http://www.makingmusicfun.net/htm/f_mmf_music_library/hey-kids-meet-peter-ilyich-tchaikovsky.htm. Click the picture below to follow the link.
Have you ever seen an
orchestra play?
Click on this video to watch all the instruments play
the music for
The Nutcracker.
Have you ever seen The Nutcracker?
Click play to watch a Russian ballet company perform Tchaikovsky's most famous work.
Johann Sebastian Bach
1685-1750
German Baroque Era Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, Germany in 1685. As a child, Bach's father taught him to play violin and harpsichord. His uncles were all musicians, serving as church organists and court chamber musicians. One of his uncles, Johann Christoph Bach, introduced him to the art of organ playing.
In 1707, Bach married his second cousin Maria Barbara Bach. They had seven children. In 1720 Maria died and Bach married Anna Magdalena Wilcke in 1721. Bach had 13 more children with Anna Magdalena. He was a father to 20 children in all.
In 1723, Bach became the cantor, organist, and music composer for St. Thomas Lutheran Church in Leipzig, Germany. Bach remained there for the rest of his life.
Some of Bach's most famous works include the Brandenburg Concertos, the Well-Tempered Clavier, and the celebrated organ work Toccata and Fugue in D Minor.
Johann Sebastian Bach died in 1750. Bach was not appreciated during his own lifetime and was considered an "old-fashioned" composer. Today, Bach is considered to be one of the most influential composers of all time. In fact, he is now such an important composer that the year of his death is a defining point in music history. It marks the end of the Baroque Era.
This biography and more can be found at:
http://www.makingmusicfun.net/htm/f_mmf_music_library/hey-kids-meet-johann-sebastian-bach.htm
Click on the image below to go to the website.