During this lesson students will have the opportunity to research the following composers: Kenny G, W.C. Handy, Johannes Brahms, and Amadeus Mozart. Students will learn to navigate the Internet to locate important facts. They will also...

Willie Eckstein was also known as "The Boy Paderewski" or "Mr. Fingers" for his prodigious talent as a pianist. Trained as a classical pianist, he performed vaudeville and as an accompanist to silent movies, often attracting more...

Berlioz had intentions to study medicine, but wound up studying music instead. Use this resource to learn more about French composer, Hector Berlioz (1803-1869 CE) and his work. Listen to his "Roman Carnival Overture" using RealAudio or...

Use this resource to learn some interesting information about the composer, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750 CE). Find out why he had to spend a month in jail, how many children he had named after him, and much more. Listen to his music...

Biography of jazz musician, singer and songwriter, Esperanza Spalding.

This PBS biography about trumpeter and jazz musician Dizzy Gillespie includes photos, multiple audio features, and links within the text to other famous musicians.

Learn about the life of Archie Shepp, African American tenor saxophonist, composer, dramatist, teacher, and pioneer of the free jazz movement.

This profile of the 11th son of J. S. Bach surveys his life as a successful court musician and composer in Italy and England.

This well-written biography of Scott Joplin not only provides his progress as a musician but also the personal events in his life which influenced his music. Includes links to a complete list of Joplin's works, a MIDI archive, and site...

This article includes information on the life and musical contributions of Scott Joplin, the composer who gave us such songs as "The Entertainer" and "The Maple Leaf Rag."

View the artwork for a U.S. postage stamp issued in 1986 to commemorate famous jazz musician Duke Ellington. Includes a short biographical passage.

This site from BaroqueMusic.org contains a rather lengthy biography on Domenico Scarletti, musician and composer.

Learn biographical details about American pianist and composer, Billy Strayhorn, who spent his entire career in collaboration with and as amanuensis to the composer and bandleader Duke Ellington.

Kids learn about famous guitarist on this site. Some of the best musicians to ever play the guitar.

Biographical sketch of Max Roach, an American jazz drummer and composer, one of the most influential and widely recorded modern percussionists.

Learn about the life and career of McCoy Tyner, an African-American jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer noted for his technical virtuosity and dazzling improvisations.

Read about black American jazz composer and keyboard player, Sun Ra, who led a free jazz big band known for its innovative instrumentation and the theatricality of its performances.

Summarizes the life and career of Henry Threadgill, an African American improviser, composer, and bandleader, an important figure in free jazz in the late 20th century.

Examine the historical contributions made to the jazz world by this noted composer and arranger from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Biographical account of Sonny Rollins, an American jazz musician, a tenor saxophonist who was among the finest improvisers on the instrument to appear since the mid-1950s.

Learn about the life of Cootie Williams, an African-American trumpeter whose mastery of mutes and expressive effects made him one of the most distinctive jazz musicians.

This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Ben Webster, an American jazz musician, considered one of the most distinctive of his generation, noted for the beauty of his tenor saxophone tone and for his melodic inventiveness.

This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Herbie Nichols, an African-American jazz pianist and composer whose advanced bop-era concepts of rhythm, harmony, and form predicted aspects of free jazz.

Biographical sketch of jazz pianist, Mary Lou Williams, who performed with and composed for many of the great jazz artists of the 1940s and '50s.