Program: The Great American Songbook’s Perfect Harmony – music and mind
Speakers: Christopher Lewis, MEd, Executive Director, The Great American Songbook Foundation, Carmel, IN and Renee La Schiazza, BA, BFA, Director of Programs, The Great American Songbook Foundation, Carmel, IN
Introduced By: Bob Yee
Attendance: NESC: 90, Zoom: 30
Guest(s): Gene Eddy, Bernie Pierce, Kathy Pataluch, Emma At. Dennis, Mary Sulberg, Helen Poynter, Pam Keating
Scribe: Terry Ihnat
Editor: Ed Nitka
View a recording of today’s Zoom presentation at:
Today's Program 041524
The mission of the Great American Songbook Foundation is to inspire and educate by celebrating the Great American Songbook. It was founded in 2007 by Michael Feinstein. Michael started his career at age 19, working with Ira Gershwin, in cataloging, preserving and celebrating his music and carried this on as a career as well with his Grammy nominated singing of the Great American songbook. He has worked with performers such as Rosemary Clooney, Liza Minnelli and others of the genre. The museum is located in Carmel, IN and is associated with the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles.
The Great American Songbook has been described as the soundtrack of our lives, timeless standards surviving over multiple generations. In general, the foundation for these songs goes from the 1920s to the 1960s. Because some of these items are so old, many need to be preserved, as artifacts, consisting of paper, audio, and visual artifacts could be lost. To preserve them they need to be digitalized.
Preservation and access:
There’s a large library, and these artifacts have been used for research and such things as Broadway musicals and documentaries. There are 300 collections and over 500,000 documents, images, and historical items from such artists as Meredith Willson, Natalie Cole, Andy Williams, Rosemary Clooney and Sammy Davis Jr. and more.
The Song Book Academy is a weeklong summer musical intensive immersion for high school singers with mentors including Grammy and Tony award winners. The students study and perform, and there is a final show at the end.
Exhibitions:
There is a gallery which is interactive and multimedia. Topics covered are from the 1920s to the present and include such things as World War Two music, Ella Fitzgerald, and Louis Armstrong. There is a traveling exhibition that can be loaned out.
The Songbook Hall of Fame celebrates those who created the soundtrack to our lives such as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, the Gershwins, Duke Ellington, Tony Bennett and others.
Perfect harmony is a musical resource to help caregivers to engage older adults in music with videos and activities involving The Great American Songbook. Music is proven to increase meaningful social engagement and improve quality of life. Music involves both sides of the brain, affects mood and can be therapeutic, promoting cognitive function, improving attention span and neurologic development.
Physical movements to music promotes range of motion and balance improvement. Music we enjoyed in our teens and twenties promotes self-development. Activities that can help in music therapy are singing, playing, games involving music, and playing instruments. Virtual resources are available online to assist with the development of therapeutic entities for caregivers and their charges.
Christopher Lewis, Renee La Schiazza
