The U-M Gershwin Initiative is pleased to announce the arrival of Dr. Jessica Getman as the inaugural Managing Editor of the George and Ira Gershwin Critical Edition. With Dr. Getman in the office we will increase production efforts to bring the first volumes of the project to press, namely Rhapsody in Blue (1924, jazz band version, edited by Ryan Bañagale) and the landmark opera Porgy and Bess (1935, edited by Wayne Shirley). Dr. Getman recently earned her Ph.D. in musicology from the University of Michigan, writing a dissertation on music in the original series of Star Trek (1966–69). Before joining the […]

The events of October 10, 2014 will resonate for me for the rest of my years at the School of Music, Theatre & Dance.  On that Friday, the School offered to the world a reborn Steinway Model A once owned by George Gershwin, and generously donated by his nephew Marc Gershwin.  All the anticipation, all the work had finally merged into programs offered at Hill Auditorium that featured the works of George and Ira Gershwin, and lauded the partnership between the U of M and the Gershwin Archives. That Friday, the SMTD also offered a view of itself as a […]

Word travels fast these days, and whether by Twitter or word of mouth, news of the Gershwin piano’s restoration has traveled “out there”.   I’ve been observing the excitement build, as during the past month faculty and students have poked their head through the open door of the piano technology shop and inquired about the piano, or requested a moment or two to try it out.  Reactions have been favorable, ranging from “Oh my!  How long is this piano?” to “Wow, man!  I can really dig this piano!”  Whether polite or hip, the expressions on their faces tell me a […]

It’s now April 2014 and we’re getting hints of Spring everywhere.  Aside from the welcome snowmelt, we’re seeing a little more green in the expanses of lawn across campus, and birds are chirping from the barren trees, claiming territory for the spring rituals of nest building and mating.  What a time of renewal! Such is the experience for the Gershwin Model A as well!  We now have strings!  And new keys! And a new hammer action!  It definitely is rebirth, a remaking of greatness. I visited PianoCrafters on Tuesday, April 1 to inspect the piano with its new strings, keyboard […]

As the newly appointed editor-in-chief of the George and Ira Gershwin Critical Edition, I can’t believe my good fortune — to lead the team of scholars charged with the task of restoring and clarifying our understanding of the oeuvre of the Gershwin Brothers. It’s a privilege and honor to take on this responsibility and to contribute my passion for music and research to the task of making the works of George and Ira Gershwin available in full scholarly editions and for the first time. Most surprising to many, however, may be that this work needs to be done at all. […]

Inspired by the improvisations of U-M jazz piano major Gil Chapman (see “Flash of Gershwin” in the Listen gallery), we asked U-M SMTD Comp-Theory Ph.D. student Michael Schachter to create a musical weave of George Gershwin’s iconic Rhapsody in Blue with the University of Michigan’s own theme — our fight song “The Victors.” Michael took up the challenge with skill, artistry and passion, as he reported to me via email: “I’ve been a big George Gershwin fan as long as I can remember.  His “Three Preludes for Piano” were my first entrée into classical music, and his perhaps unmatched ability […]