I’m not a big classical music fan. If Mozart comes on, I’m as bored as the next person. You wouldn’t think that, because I’m a music teacher. Everyone expects me to like opera, music from the Classical era, and other pretty boring stuff. But Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” is different for me. The first time I heard it, it wasn’t played by instruments. A Sweet Adeline (barbershop) quartet called “Ambiance” sang it. If you know the piece of music, you’ll think, “Wait a minute. That song doesn’t have words.” That’s true. But the arranger, David Wright, had written words to it. They described his first impressions of New York. He used the highs and lows and rhythm of the song brilliantly. The women who were singing it had the skills to reproduce the song exactly the way the arranger envisioned it. It was amazing. Because that was my first exposure to “Rhapsody in Blue”, I learned to appreciate the song more than I would have. Years later, I heard it in a commercial for an airline (instrumentally). Had that been the first time I heard the song, I don’t think I would have liked it. I think the reason some people like certain songs has a lot to do with HOW you get to know it.

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