Aaron Copeland

Born in Brooklyn on November 14, 1900, Aaron Copland was the youngest of five children. American music had no internationally recognized voice of its own when Copland was growing up. His destiny was to supply one. He was the son of Jewish immigrants. Early music training came from an older sister Laurine. He soon turned to other teachers, and began attending symphonic concerts, soaking up the music of the standard symphonic repertoire. While in high school, he …

…with the composer Roger Sessions that presented important new works to the American public. He lectured at the New School for Social Research and built his reputation as a composer. Because Copland summed up so well so many strands of the experience of being an American, he can be regarded as our national musical voice maybe even more popular than George Gershwin. He was the musical father to more than one generation of young composers.