Aaron Copland was known as the Dean of American Composers. He composed music for movies and ballets along with orchestral pieces. He was born in Brooklyn, NY; studied in Paris, France; and traveled to Italy, Austria, Germany, Africa and Mexico. Listed below are listening/video examples of Copland's work.

• Salt Lake Opening Ceremony Entertainment

• Appalachian Spring, Section 7

• Fanfare for the Common Man

• Aaron Copland conducting, Fanfare for the Common Man

Lin Manuel Miranda is a Broadway and movie music composer. He has won a Pulitzer Prize, 3 Tony Awards, 3 Grammy Awards, MacArthur Fellowship (Genius Grant), and Kennedy Center Honor. Notable compositions include In the Heights, Hamilton, Star Wars...The Force Awakens, Moana, and Mary Poppins Returns, in which he starred as well. He is writing new songs for the new live action remake; The Little Mermaid as well. Click on the highlighted words to see and hear videos of Miranda's work.

Eric Whitacre is an American composer, conductor, and speaker known for his choral, orchestral, and wind ensemble music. He has a degree in music and a degree in composition. His first album, Light and Gold won a Grammy in 2012. Click on the links below to watch and listen to Whitacre's work.

Virtual Choirs:

• Sleep

• Lux Aurumque

• Youth Choir

• Deep Field

• Sing Gently

Mozart was born in 1756 in Salzburg, Austria. At age 3, Mozart had learned to play the harpsichord and by age 5 had learned to play the violin. He was known as a child prodigy and traveled around Europe with his sister Nannerl performing for kings, queens, emperors and famous composers! He composed over 600 works. He married Constance and together they had 6 children, with only 2 surviving infancy. Mozart died at the age of 35, after falling ill in Prague. Check out the links below to see what pieces students listened to!

• Eine Kleine Nacht Musik

• Marriage of Figaro Overture

• Queen of the Night Aria

• Symphony No. 41 "Jupiter"

• Little Amadeus-TV Show

Amy Beach was the first American woman to achieve status as a successful composer. She could play any music she heard by her ear and composed her first piano pieces at only 4 years of age. She started taking piano lessons at 6 years old, and quickly became known for her performance abilities. After she got married, Amy began composing more and performing less. She received national acclaim for her larger forms of art music, such as her "Gaelic" Symphony. Check out the links below to hear Beach's work!

• Romance

• Gaelic Symphony

• Piano Concerto

• Meadow-Larks

• Piano Quintet Op. 67

• Violin and Piano Sonata

Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. He studied with another famous composer named Joseph Haydn! He wrote 32 piano sonatas, 9 symphonies, 5 piano concertos, 1 violin concerto, 16 string quartets, 2 masses and 1 opera. He became completely deaf later in life, but still composed music! Check out the links below to see and hear Beethoven's amazing work!

• Moonlight Sonata

• Fur Elise

• Beethoven's 5th Symphony; Line Riders

• Moonlight (Piano Guys)

• Ode to Joy Flash Mob

Scott Joplin was an American composer and pianist. He is dubbed the "King of Ragtime" for his influential work in the Ragtime musical style. He wrote 44 original ragtime pieces, 1 ballet and 2 operas. Listen to the songs below to hear how cool Ragtime is!

• Maple Leaf Rag

• Maple Leaf Rag-way too fast

• The Entertainer

• Original Rags

• Searchlight Rag

Margaret Bonds was an American composer and pianist. She was one of the first African American composers to gain recognition in the United States. Bonds often collaborated with Langston Hughes, a renowned poet. Bonds was born in Chicago, and wrote her first song at age 5. She took piano lessons from her mom! Bonds married William Richardson in 1939, and together they had one daughter. Margaret is well known for her arrangements of spiritual songs, including Troubled Water, Lord I Just Can't Keep from Cryin', and You Can Tell the World. Click on these highlighted words to hear her songs!

Antonio Vivaldi was an Italian Baroque composer, violinist, teacher and priest. He is regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers ever! He wrote most of his music for an all female music group that lived at an abandoned children's home. He composed many concertos for violin and other instruments, as well as choral works and more than 40 operas! He wrote over 800 works! His most famous composition is called "The Four Seasons." Check out some of his music below!

1. The Four Seasons

   1. Winter ,Spring,(Spring Line Rider),Summer ,Fall , (Four Seasons REMIX )

2. Let it Go/Winter

3. Storm , 2 Cellos-Storm

4. Gloria

Hildegard Von Bingen also known as Saint Hildegard was a German Benedictine abbess, writer, composer, philosopher, Christian mystic, visionary, and polymath. She is one of the best-known composers of sacred monophony as well as the most recorded in modern history. Bingen was the 10th child in her family and from a very early age started experiencing visions. She saw all things through the five senses and struggled to explain this gift to others.

• O Rubor Sanguinis

• O Virtus Sapientaie

• Ave Generosa

Claude Debussy was a French composer. He was among the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He originally studied the piano, but found he was more interested in composition. He was a composer for a little over 30 years. Some of his most famous works include Clair De Lune, Reverie, La Mer, and The Girl with the Flaxen Hair.

John Williams is an American composer, conductor and pianist. He is regarded as one of the greatest film composers of all time. His career spans over 6 decades and has won 25 Grammy's, 5 Oscars, and 4 Golden Globes. With 52 Oscar nominations, he is the second most nominated person in history, after Walt Disney. He was written music for Star Wars, Schindler's List, Home Alone, Jaws, Jurassic Park, Hook, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, Superman, ET and many more. Williams also wrote the 1982 Olympic Theme.

The Beatles were an English rock band that formed in Liverpool, England in 1960. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time. Comprised of John Lennon, Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison, they have won 7 Grammy's and 1 Oscar. They wrote 237 songs in total, and broke up in 1970. Check below for some our favorite Beatles songs!

• Yellow Submarine Hey Jude

• Come Together Let It Be

• Here Comes the Sun Help!

• In My Life When I'm Sixty-Four

Louis Armstrong was an American composer, vocalist, trumpeter and actor. He is one of the most influential jazz figures of time. His career spans 5 decades and was inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame in 2017. He is most well known for the song What a Wonderful World; and wrote others as well! Check those out below!

• What a Wonderful World

• Hello, Dolly!

• Dinah

• Someday

Armstrong is also known for his awesome partnership with Ella Fitzgerald. Check out some of their duets below.

• Dream a Little Dream of Me

• Cheek to Cheek

Ella Fitzgerald was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song." She is well known for her purity of tone, and her impeccable scat singing. She was a singer for nearly 60 years.She has won 14 Grammys. She often collaborated with Louis Armstrong, pictured above. Three of her most well known songs performed by Ella are How High the Moon-which showcases her intricate scat singing, Summertime, and Blue Skies.

Beyonce is an American singer, songwriter, producer and actress. She initially rose to fame as a member of the girl group Destiny's Child. She has sold over 100 million records world wide. She is the most nominated woman in Grammy history and has won 24 Grammys. Students at OIS will tell you that Beyonce is one of Ms. Cruciani's favorite artists :)

• Lift Every Voice and Sing

• Spirit

• Halo

Price was an American composer, organist, teacher and pianist. She was the first African American to be recognized as a symphonic composer and the first to have a composition played by a major orchestra. Two of her most famous works include Fantasie Negre and Piano Concerto in One Movement

Aretha Franklin was an American singer, songwriter, pianist and civil rights activist. She was known as the Queen of Soul. Some of her most famous songs are RESPECT, Son of a Preacher Man, and You Make Me Feel.

Pyotr Tchaikovsky was a Russian composer in the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. He often conducted orchestras in Europe and the United States.

The Nutcracker Suite

• Waltz of the Flowers

• Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy (Royal Opera House)

  • Sugar Plum Prince Variation

Swan Lake

1812 Overture (with Cannons)

Clara Schumann was a German pianist, composer and piano teacher. Schumann is regarded as one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era, and had a 61 year concert career. Two of her most famous pieces are her Piano Concerto in A minor, and 12 Gedichte aus Liebesfruhling, Op. 37.

George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist whose compositions span both popular and classical music. He also wrote Broadway musicals with his brother Ira Gershwin. His most popular compositions include Rhapsody in Blue, An American in Paris, I Got Rhythm, and Summertime from his opera Porgy and Bess. Click on the underlined, bolded titles to hear Gershwin's music!

Dame Ethel Smyth was an English composer. Her compositions include songs, works for piano, chamber music, orchestral works, choral works and operas. Two of her works are Serenade in D Major, and String Quartet in E Major

Cynthia Eviro is an English actress, singer and songwriter She is a Broadway actor, and a movie actor; most recently playing Harriet Tubman in the 2019 film Harriet. Eviro is a Tony, Grammy and Emmy winner. Two of her most famous performances have been at the 2019 Tony award ceremony performing Can You Feel the Love Tonight and at the 2020 Oscar ceremony performing Stand Up which she co-wrote.

Carlos Chavez was a Mexican composer, conductor, music theorist, teacher, journalist and director of the Mexican Symphonic Orchestra. Chavez was born in Mexico city, and was first taught to play the piano by his brother, Manuel. His father, Augustin Chavez invented the plough used on farmland. Chavez founded the Mexican Symphonic Orchestra in 1947. A few of his famous pieces include Sinfonia India, El Tropico, Sonatina for Piano, and La Zandunga-Caballos de Vapor.

Sergei Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor. He is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century. All together Prokofiev wrote seven completed operas, seven symphonies, eight ballets, five piano concertos, two violin concertos, a cello concerto, a symphony-concerto for cello and orchestra, and nine completed piano sonatas. Some of his most famous works include

• Romeo and Juliet Dance of the Knights; which is also know as "Montagues and Capulets"

• Peter and the Wolf

  • 1946 animated Disney version, narrated by David Bowie

• Peter and the Wolf main theme

• Piano Concerto no 3

• Lieutenant Kije

  • Troika

  • Kije's Wedding

Irving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history! Born in Russia, Berlin arrived in the United States at the age of 5. He was born Isreal Isidore Beilin, but changed his name to Irving Berlin once in the United States. Berlin died at the age of 101! Click the links below to listen to some of his most famous compositions!

• Putting on the Ritz

  • Fred Astaire

• White Christmas

• Sisters

  • Danny Kaye and Bing Crosby

• Mandy

• Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better

• There's No Business Like Show Business

  • 1950 Film

The Andrew Sisters were a close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: LaVerne, Maxene, and Patty. The sisters have sold more than 90 million records! They are from Minneapolis, Minnesota! Here are some of their most famous songs!

• Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree

• Boogie-Woogie Bugle Boy

• Bei Mir Bist Du Schon (Means You're Grand)

• Ac-cent-tchu-ate the Positive

• I'll Be With You in Apple Blossom Time

• Sing a Tropical Song

Leonard Bernstein was an American composer, conductor, author, teacher and pianist. He wrote the well known musicals West Side Story, Candide, Peter Pan, and On the Town. As a composer he wrote in many styles including symphonic and orchestral music, ballet, film and theatre music, choral works, opera, chamber music and pieces for the piano. Many of his works are regularly performed around the world, although none has matched the tremendous popular and critical success of West Side Story. Watch the links below to hear Bernstein's music! He is one of Ms. C's favorite composers :)

• West Side Story

  • Maria

  • Somewhere

  • I Feel Pretty

• Candide

  • Overture to Candide

  • Make Our Garden Grow

Edith Piaf was a French singer-songwriter, performer and film actress. She was born in Paris. She is one of the most well known French performers of the 20th century. Piaf's music was often about love, loss and sorrow. Her most widely known songs are La Vie en Rose (Life is Pink); Non, Je ne regrette rien (No, I regret nothing); and Milord. She was an active performer from 1935-1963.

Kacey Musgraves is an American singer and songwriter. She has won 6 Grammy Awards, 6 Country Music Association Awards, and 3 Academy of Country Music Awards. Some of her most famous songs are Merry Go 'Round, Butterflies and Rainbow.

Duke Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and leader of a jazz orchestra, which he led for over 6 decades. Ellington was noted for his inventive use of the orchestra, or big band, and for his eloquence and charisma. He was a musician for 60 years, and has won 14 Grammy awards. Two of his most popular songs, are Take the A Train and It Don't Mean a Thing