Jazz with Brianna | Carnegie Hall: Musical Explorers

Introduce your students to Brianna with this digital student resource.

Irving Berlin (1888–1989) is considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history. He was born in Russia and came to the US when he was five. Berlin wrote more than 1,500 songs, including hundreds of hits. “Blue Skies” was composed as part of a musical called Betsy. Audiences loved the song so much they demanded 24 encores of it on the show’s opening night!

Billy Strayhorn (1915–1967) was an American jazz composer, pianist, lyricist, and arranger who was a primary collaborator of the legendary bandleader Duke Ellington. When Ellington first met Strayhorn, he wrote Strayhorn directions to his office in Harlem. These directions later became the lyrics for “Take the A Train.”