Aaron Copland

Aaron Copland is a world renowned composer and musician. Born in Brooklyn, NY on November 14, 1990, Copland seemed to be a prodigy when it came to composing music and playing the piano. At age 20, Copland arrived on the doorstep of Nadia Boulanger, a composer, organist, and teacher. Boulanger had founded the American Conservatory in Fontainebleau near Paris. Copland would be her first student. Boulanger would train Copland to explore musical origins and teach how many unrecognized forms make there way into masterful pieces such as Copland's inspiration, "The Rite of Spring" by Igor Stravinsky.

Ten years later, Copland would be known as one of the great American composers. A long illustrious career led Copland to create such masterpieces as "Music for the Theater", which capitalized on the ragtime craze.

In 1937, Copland began lecturing on "What to Listen for in Music" at New York's prestigious New School. Those lectures...