George Gershwin

George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known. Among his best known works are the orchestral compositions Rhapsody in Blue and An American in Paris, as well as the opera Porgy and Bess. Born in Brooklyn to a Ukrainian father of Jewish descent and a Russian mother, Gershwin studied piano under Charles Hambitzer and composition with Rubin Goldmark and Henry Cowell. Gershwin began his career as a song plugger. Soon after, he began to compose Broadway theatre works with his... brother Ira Gershwin and Buddy DeSylva. He moved to Paris in an attempt to study with Nadia Boulanger, where he began to compose An American in Paris. After returning to New York City, he began writing Porgy and Bess with Ira, and author DuBose Heyward. The opera, however, became a failure. Gershwin moved to Hollywood and composed numerous film scores until his death in 1937. During the last years of his life, Gershwin's health deteriorated, and he soon discovered that he had glioblastoma multiforme. He died at the age of 38 on June 11, 1937.
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