Immigrants in America: Stories of Jazz, Blues, Rock, and Popular Culture
Osher Online | Available (Membership Required)
In this course, we will document the fertile interaction between minorities that transformed not only 20th century music but the entire entertainment industry. We will examine how minorities significantly impacted American popular culture and explore their contributions to various musical genres, record labels, booking agencies, venues, innovations, and production. With strong support from audiovisuals, anecdotes, and the instructor's decades of experience as a concert promoter working with some of the biggest names in the industry, we will learn about Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Benny Goodman, Stan Getz, Norman Granz, Bob Dylan, Milt Gabler, Leonard Cohen, Lou Reed, Al Kooper, Adam Sandler, Avishai Cohen, Kiss, and many more.
Class schedule: Live lecture will take place on Tuesdays via ZOOM
- Monday, January 27, Live lecture 1
- Monday, February 3, Live lecture 2
- Monday, February 10, Live lecture 3
- Monday, February 17, Live lecture 4
- Monday, February 24, Live lecture 5
- Monday, March 3, Live lecture 6
As this class is delivered by the National Resource Center for OLLIs (NRC) at Northwestern University, you will receive a welcome email from osheronline@northwestern.edu. The email will include your credentials (username & password) as well as a hyperlink to the Osher Online Website through which you will access your course website.
Immigrants in America
Emanuel Abramovits
Emanuel Abramovits, MBA, is a mechanical engineer and has also been a concert promoter for over two decades. He is directly involved in events by international artists like ltzhak Perlman, Gustavo Dudamel, Sarah Brightman, Roger Hodgson, ASIA, Journey, Kenny G., and many more. Abramovits has designed and staged many original orchestral events, including an Event of the Year winner and several world premieres. He served as the cultural director at Union lsraelita De Caracas from 2008 to 2019, releasing books and organizing film cycles, concerts, and art exhibits. He consistently teaches online and in-person across the US.