GERSHWIN & THE JAZZ AGE
In a period in which national American music was developing with composers of the calibre of Aaron Copland and others trained in Europe, George Gershwin, the son of Russian-Jewish immigrant parents, went some way towards bridging the wide gap between Tin Pan Alley and serious music. He won success as a composer of light music, of songs and musicals, but in a relatively small number of compositions made forays into a new form of classical repertoire.
George Gershwin bio		PBS Porgy and Bess site
100 Years of Gershwin		Chronology of popular culture in the 20s
Paul Whiteman		Other popular music online
Rhapsody in Blue		Chronology of Broadway musicals