Manée Strings

03/19/2025

Duke Ellington once said, “You can say anything you want on the trombone, but you gotta be careful with words.” - 1944 New Yorker

Take a listen to what The Duke says when he plays George Gershwin.

George Gershwin was commissioned to compose Rhapsody in Blue to elevate jazz to the classical stage. Duke Ellington gave it its heart.

Rhapsody in Blue (1924)Music: George GershwinPerformance by Duke Ellington OrchestraAlbum: The Reprise Studio Recordings (1999)

05/29/2024

Such a privileged to perform at senior living communities especially on Memorial Day in remembrance of those who didn’t make it home🇺🇸

01/24/2023

While developing the People Behind the Music series it became evident that Tin Pan Alley figured prominently in the eminent success of America’s early lyricists and composers, opening the door to: Harold Arlen, Irving Berlin, George M. Cohan, George & Ira Gershwin, Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerome Kern, Frank Loesser, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers…

What I didn’t know was that Carole King began that very same way…in the 1960s equivalent, The Brill Building.

At age 16, Carole King started selling songs to music publishers. An except from "Carole King: Natural Woman" premiering Feb. 19 at 9/8c on PBS.Please SUBSCR...

10/25/2022

Go ahead, sing it out loud this time!

09/16/2022

Music education in schools is so important and King Charles lll has been a strong advocate for it throughout his life.

“While we both discovered our passion at a young age, mine for the violin at age 5 and his for the cello at age 7 when his grandmother took him to the Bolshoi Ballet, I was seated in front of the first violinist of a high school orchestra at a special school assembly.” Renee Bergstrom

What instrument did you play in school?

As King Charles III begins his reign, we look back at some of the new monarch's classical highlights

07/09/2022