George Gershwin (1898-1937)

George Gershwin was an American composer of popular songs, Broadway musicals, and concert music. He left school at age 16 to work in music stores, playing the piano to promote sales of new songs. Gershwin was a trained pianist and wrote the scores for 30 musicals, for which is older brother Ira usually wrote the words. In addition to his successes on Broadway, he combined American jazz with classical forms in such works as Rhapsody in Blue (for piano and orchestra) and his opera, Porgy and Bess.