Music & Dance   

• A Celebration of Doo Wop
  Dates: 6/8/2023 - 6/22/2023

• ONLINE REGISTRATION FOR THIS CLASS IS NOW CLOSED. If you are trying to register the day before this class starts or the day of the class, please email or call the office. This close to the class start date, we need to register you over the phone and provide you with any important information and send you the Zoom Link if the class in online. Thank you!
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• HYBRID CLASS
  This class will be presented both in-person at the Vineyard Church and online via Zoom.
   

  A Celebration of Doo Wop: Vocal Group Harmony, 1954-1963
   

  As frequent PBS fundraising specials and Aaron Neville’s CD My True Story attest, doo wop still evokes sweet memories among baby boomers. For a decade, starting in the mid 1950s, young urban males expressed their romantic yearnings, exuberance, sorrows, and fears through complex vocal arrangements. With falsetto swoops, bass backgrounds, and spectacular endings, inner city youth showed off their talents as they vied for the affections of the girls of their dreams. This three-session class develops the social context of this distinctive music, touches on forerunners (Mills Brothers, Ink Spots), then explores the performers, the songs, and their themes. We invite all “earth angels” to “the island of love” for “a story untold” about doo wop’s complexion, its use of classic American popular song, and its influence on 1960s popular music.  

  

  
  
  Michael Homel is Professor Emeritus of History at Eastern Michigan University. He specializes in 20^th century American history and American urban history. He is the author of Unlocking City Hall: Exploring the History of Local Government and Politics, and other publications on urban politics and education.

   

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• Composers Carl Nielsen and Peter Boyer
  Dates: 6/7/2023 - 6/7/2023

• ONLINE REGISTRATION FOR THIS CLASS IS NOW CLOSED. If you are trying to register the day before this class starts or the day of the class, please email or call the office. This close to the class start date, we need to register you over the phone and provide you with any important information and send you the Zoom Link if the class in online. Thank you!
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• In-Person Class:  The Elderwise classroom at the Vineyard Church.
   

  Rising 20^th Century Composers: Carl Nielsen and Peter Boyer
   

  This class focuses on the exciting and dramatic music of two classical composers at the opposite ends of the 20^th century. Carl Nielsen (1865-1931) is widely recognized as the most famous Danish composer, whose works are now increasing in popularity in the United States with classical music stations and in concert halls. We will listen to his beautiful and haunting Third Symphony (1910-11) and several other popular pieces. Peter Boyer is a living American composer (b.1970) who is one of the most frequently performed orchestral composers of the current generation, including works commissioned for the inauguration of President Biden, the 95^th birthday of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, as well as the Grammy nominated Ellis Island: The Dream of America. We will listen to his spectacular First Symphony (2012-13) and other short works.  

  

   

  Toby Teorey is the current Vice-Chair of the Elderwise Council. He is retired from the University of Michigan (Computer Science and Engineering) and in retirement, pursues his enduring love of world history, music, and culture.

  

   

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• Ralph Vaughan Williams at 150
  Dates: 5/18/2023 - 5/18/2023

• ONLINE REGISTRATION FOR THIS CLASS IS NOW CLOSED. If you are trying to register the day before this class starts or the day of the class, please email or call the office. This close to the class start date, we need to register you over the phone and provide you with any important information and send you the Zoom Link if the class in online. Thank you!
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• HYBRID CLASS
  This class will be presented both in-person at the Vineyard Church and online via Zoom.

   

  Come join us to celebrate the 150^th birthday of the great English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams with a survey of his life and music. Known for his amazing output of symphonies, concertos, and choral music, Vaughan Williams was a pioneer in documenting English folk music, an editor of the Anglican hymnal, and an avid supporter of local choral ensembles. In this class we will survey Vaughan Williams’ distinguished career and discuss his innovative and powerful music. We will hear generous examples of his compositions including the Serenade to Music, the Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis, and excerpts from symphonies and concertos.  

  

   

  Henry Aldridge is a Professor Emeritus of Electronic Media and Film Studies at Eastern Michigan University. He has presented Elderwise lectures for many years. Dr. Aldridge is an amateur musician and regularly plays the Barton pipe organ at the Michigan Theater. He holds degrees from the University of North Carolina and the University of Michigan and is a native of Chattanooga, Tennessee.

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• The Great Hoax: Paul McCartney, Dead or Alive?
  Dates: 6/2/2023 - 6/2/2023

• ONLINE REGISTRATION FOR THIS CLASS IS NOW CLOSED. If you are trying to register the day before this class starts or the day of the class, please email or call the office. This close to the class start date, we need to register you over the phone and provide you with any important information and send you the Zoom Link if the class in online. Thank you!
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• HYBRID CLASS
  NOTE:  When registering you will choose either the IN-PERSON Add To Cart (first one) or the ONLINE VIA ZOOM Add to Cart (seond one). 

  In this class we will embark on a journey to explore an urban legend and conspiracy theory about Paul McCartney, renowned Beatles musician and vocalist. In 1969 rumors began to circulate in south east Michigan, when a student from Eastern Michigan University phoned the local radio station WKNR asking about Paul’s death. Two days later, an article published in the University of Michigan student newspaper, The Michigan Daily, detailed multiple clues pointing to McCartney’s untimely death and eventual replacement with a look-alike among The Beatles. Clue-hunting continued, in Beatles songs and album artwork, and the rumors did not disappear until late 1969, when Life Magazine published a front-cover photo of Paul and Linda McCartney, very much alive. Many still believe, even to this day, that Paul was killed in a 1967 car accident and replaced by a double. The hoax itself became the subject of analysis among sociologists and psychologists. Ray Stocking has studied, recorded, and performed the music of The Beatles for more than 40 years. He is also a self-taught Beatles historian, and enjoys sharing his abundance of “Beatles details” with anyone who wants to listen. Ray is a graduate of Eastern Michigan University where he received his B.B.A and M.B.A. degrees in business management.

  This is the IN-PERSON SESSION of The Great Hoax: Paul McCartney, Dead or Alive?

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• The Great Hoax: Paul McCartney, Dead or Alive? - ONLINE via Zoom

• This is the ONLINE SESSION of The Great Hoax: Paul McCartney, Dead or Alive?

  Date: Friday, June 2
  A Zoom invitation link will be sent one day before class begins.

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