B1. The Lives and Times of Great Composers - Part 2

This course will focus on a variety of musicians, exploring their lives and the historical times in which they lived. These musicians will be separated by geography and perhaps many years, but the relationship they will share is their great contribution to the history of music composition, as well as their intriguing personal life stories. Over the two Fall sessions we will examine musicians from the 1600s to modern day. Students will be treated to playlists that they can use to create their own “mix tapes” of these incredible composers. We will be covering Mozart, Chopin, Gershwin, Gustav Holst, John Williams, Duke Ellington, and others in Session B. 

Recommended Reading: None

Paul Buono began as a classical pianist, discovered jazz in high school and then moved to New York City to hone his skills, somehow managing to play with masters such as Wynton Marsalis. He played a variety of gigs, taught in the NYC public school system, and then worked as a musical director for Princess and Cunard Cruises, traveling to exotic locales such as Bora Bora, Tahiti, New Zealand, and Alaska. Paul earned his law degree and passed the MA bar before returning to NYC to work as an attorney in the intellectual property field, but found himself pulled back into the music scene. He served as the musical director for Javier Colon, the Season 1 winner of "The Voice" on NBC, and toured with Maroon 5 on their 2012 "OverExposed World Tour" throughout North, Central, and South America, performing for audiences as large as 35,000. Paul performs regularly and teaches at various universities and online, including at Assumption University where he is the jazz band director. Paul also works as a musical director for Music Management, a Boston agency that produces a variety of musical installations.