Written and produced by Tom Voegli, and produced by Minnesota Public Radio in association with the San Francisco Symphony and its music director, Michael Tilson Thomas, this lovely 13-part radio series "tells the story of the distinctly American music that grew along with the country." Part of this essential story is the music of such iconoclastic tradition-breaking composers as Charles Ives,...

This site pays homage to one of America's most prestigious and creative composers, Duke Ellington. Offering an introduction to the many accomplishments of Mr. Ellington's career, which lasted over fifty years, is quite challenging, but the site serves as a nice introduction, particularly for younger students. Divided into five sections, users may want to start with the short biographical essay...

Frank Loesser was able to use his remarkable songwriting talents to create such classic Tin Pin Alley songs as “Once in Love with Amy”, “Standing on the Corner”, and of course, “Luck Be a Lady Tonight”. His career spanned four decades, and he was responsible for crafting a number of fine musicals (including “Guys and Dolls) and songs for film and television. This website, which features some of...

The PennSound Cinema is part of the the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing and its work brings together a range of wonderful films featuring Robert Ashley, Tom Leonard, and Lora Odell. One of the most remarkable finds here is "Music with Roots in the Aether" which is an opera for television series by noted composer, Philip Glass. Visitors can scroll through...

Raised in and around Pittsburgh during the 19th century, Stephen Foster grew up singing in an all-male secret club and receiving some modest musical training from a local German immigrant, Henry Kleber. He soon became intensely interested in song-writing, and his first published song, “Open Thy Lattice Love”, appeared when he was 18. Of course, he went on to write around 285 songs, including such...

November 14, 2000 was Aaron Copland's 100th birthday and NPR celebrated with this website, pulling together a nice variety of resources on the composer, some created by NPR, and some by other organizations. As is to be expected from a 15-year-old website, a fair percentage of links no longer work, especially audio files from older NPR programs and links to Sony Classical's Discography. NPR...

From the library at the Getty Research Institute, The Art of David Tudor is a great example of effective presentation of highlights from rich library and archival collections on the Web. The site complements a symposium held at the Getty Research Institute in 2001: "The Art of David Tudor: Indeterminacy and Performance in Postwar Culture". Born in 1926, Tudor became an internationally known...

Born in New York in 1911, Bernard Herrmann became of the most well-known and respected composers of film music of the 20th century, and many of his scores (including those for Citizen Kane and Psycho) have become regularly performed in concert halls across the world. In 2000, the Bernard Herrmann Society was founded by Gunther Kogebehn and Kurt George Gjerde with the aim of widening appreciation...

Regrettably ignored during most of his long life by the musical establishment, Charles Ives is perhaps the United States' most important and ground-breaking composer. Begun in 1973, the Charles Ives Society is supported by the American Academy of Arts and Letters, largely from a grant by Mr. Ives' widow, Harmony Twichell Ives. Given their mission, it is not surprising that their site contains a...

"This multimedia web site is part of an 18-month project to catalog, digitize, and preserve every item in Indiana University's [IU] extensive collections pertaining to the life and career of master songwriter" -- and Bloomington native -- Hoagland "Hoagy" Carmichael (1899-1981) who composed, among other American pop standards, the classic "Stardust." The Collection contains sound recordings of...