Works Cited

"What Are Your Miranda Rights?" What Are Your Miranda Rights?MirandaWarning.org, 2013. Web. 14 Feb. 2013.

Davidson, James West., and Michael B. Stoff. America: History of Our Nation. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. Print.

Abhinav, Vivek, Piyush Bhathya, Amy McKenna, Marco Sampaolo, Amy Tikkanen, and Grace Young. "Nelson Mandela (president of South Africa) : Presidency and Retirement." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2013.

Akhavan, Kambiz, Tracey DeFrancesco, Daniel Donayre, Jeffrey Hendricks, Marcus Hirn, Steven Jacobson, Natalie Leppard, Lindsey Rooney, and Jeremy Ziskind. "Historical Timeline - Alternative Energy - ProCon.org." Historical Timeline - Alternative Energy - ProCon.org. ProCon.org, 23 Apr. 2012. Web. 14 Feb. 2013.

"Explore the Center." Kennedy Center: History of the Living Memorial. The Kennedy Center, n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2013. <http://www.kennedy-center.org/about/history.html>.

Ward, Brian. "What's That Sound? Teaching the 1960s through Popular Music.” The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. The Gilder Lehrman Institute, n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2013. <http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/sixties/resources/what’s-sound-teaching-1960s-through-popular-music>.

"John Cage Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2013. <http://www.biography.com/people/john-cage-40612>.

"Milton Babbitt." Schirmer. G. Schirmer Inc. Associated Music Publishers, Inc., 11 Jan. 2013. Web. 12 Feb. 2013. <http://www.schirmer.com/default.aspx?TabId=2419>.

"Milton Babbitt Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2013. <http://www.biography.com/people/milton-babbitt-9193889>.

“On Minimalism.” Zenhabitts RSS. 8 Feb. 2010. Web. 14 Feb. 2013. <http://zenhabits.net/on-minimalism/>.

Fisk, Josiah. Composers on Music: Eight Centuries of Writings. New York: Northeastern University Press. 1997.

Burkholder, Peter. A History of Western Music: Eighth Edition. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. 2009.

Invention of the iPod: 2000

Creation of the Music Video: 1981

Kennedy Center opens: 1971

Concerts Begin!!

Premiere of Fiddler on the Roof: 1964

We Shall Overcome (Civil Rights Era Protest Song): 1963

West Side Story Becomes Greatest Selling Album: 1962-1965

Pop Art Era Begins: 1962

Clashes with Classical music, as they are completely different styles.
Rock Opera is created.

The Beatles are Formed: 1960

Rock and Roll: 1950s

2010- BP Oil Spill

2009- The US Invests Billions of Dollars to Renewable Energy

2009- President Obama's Inauguration

2001- 9/11

1975- Civil Rights Developments

1969- Apollo 11 Lands on the Moon

1966- Miranda v. Arizona

“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you? With these rights in mind, do you wish to speak to me?” 

1964- Civil Rights Act Passed

1957- Sputnik Launched by Russia

1955- Rosa Parks Bus Boycott Begins

1950-1953- Korean War

1949- Russia Develops Their Own Atomic Bomb

The Cold War- 1948-1981

1946- Baby Boom

1945-1973: Vietnam War

Philip (with one L!) Glass

Hello. My name is Philip (not Phillip, Philip) Glass. I was born on January 31, 1937 and grew up in Baltimore. I studied at the University of Chicago and the Julliard School (that seems populaarr). I thought that modern music today sucked. So I moved to Europe. After studying there for several years, I returned to the United States and moved to New York.
And as for minimalism, that was created by ME, thank you very much! Although I despise the term. I rather think of myself as a composer of "music with repetitive structures". Lots of my music is repetition based, reiterating many light melodies over and over in a piece.
Piece:
Einstein on the Beach: 1976

(I'm not creative)... STEVE REICH

I noticed one of my quotes is on the top of this blog.... good choice :)
Note: I keep having trouble deciding whether a blog is formal or informal writing... lets just see how it goes.
Anyway down to business. My name is Stephen Reich- do call me Steve, thank you. I was born in New York on October 3rd, 1936. I spent most of my childhood traveling back and forth from New York to California and vice versa. I graduated from Cornell in 1957 with a degree in philosophy. When I began writing my own music, I liked to combine instruments with recordings of peoples' voices, such as in Different Trains. I was also very interested in African music.
In 1966 I organized the Steve Reich Ensemble which traveled around the world for several years, performing.
Unlike some people (ehhem ehhem), I would call myself a minimalist.
(Oh by the way I'm not dead yet!) 

Piece:
The Cave: 1994
-Steve Reich

The Movie Man

My name is John Williams. I was born in New York on February 8th 1932. In 1948, I moved with my family to Los Angeles. I attended UCLA, and then served in the Air Force. Then I moved to New York to attend the Julliard School (where one of the other blogging composers worked!) and worked as a jazz pianist there (in NY that is). I returned to Los Angeles and began working with movies. I worked with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. I have also acted as guest conductor with lots of major orchestras, such as  the Cleveland Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the London Symphony, and more. I hold honorary degrees from fourteen universities, like Boston College, Northeastern University, Tufts University, Boston University, the New England Conservatory of Music and the University of Massachusetts at Boston (lots of Boston in my career, eh?) . I wrote many film scores and many pieces of music for movies, including many many many famous and well-loved (some classics) ones today such as Saving Private Ryan, Amistad, Schindler's List, Jurassic Park, Home Alone, the Indiana Jones trilogy, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, and Superman. I won an Oscar and a Grammy for my work in Schindler's List. 
Piece:
Star Wars Trilogy: Star Wars theme song: first released 1977
John Williams 

Germany....

Guten tag. My name is Karlheinz Stockhausen. I was born on August 22nd 1928 in Cologne, Germany. I had a very unhappy childhood. My mom had a few mental problems and had to be institutionalized. Then a few months after that my brother died. And then, my dad remarried to our HOUSEKEEPER! I did NOT like her at ALL. I found out my mom died as a result of leukemia.... but I have a hunch that she was a victim of the Nazi law that invalids were to be ridden of. My dad went to war and then never returned. I myself acted as a stretcher-carrier during the war.
I composed over 300 pieces in my life. I liked to experiment with electronic sounds. Some of my pieces were very complicated.
Unfortunately I died on December 5th, 2005.
Piece:
Helikopter String Quartett: 1992
-Stockhausen

I like to be in America!

Hey there, my name is Leonard Bernstein. Actually, I was born Louis Bernstein, but when I was sixteen I renamed myself Leonard. I was born on August 25th, 1918. My dad was  a Russian immigrant who moved to New York's Lower East Side. When I was ten, I began playing the piano. My dad refused to pay for lessons so I had to raise the money on my own. But after a while I got so good (if I do say so myself) that my dad decided to buy me a baby grand piano. I attended Harvard University where I studied music theory. After I graduated, I could NOT find work and I almost gave up hope but then just suddenly out of nowhere I was offered a job as assistant conductor to the New York Philharmonic. I was a great hit! Then, I began writing my own pieces. One of those was a musical titled the West Side Story. I originally titled it the East Side Story but then changed my mind when I thought of a better plot. I died on October 14th 1990.
Piece:
West Side Story: America: 1961
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPlcE3GcoFc

Yours,
Leonard Bernstein

I wish I were German

"If the best a composer can be is dead, the next best thing he can be is German. One of the worst things he can possibly be, still, is American."
And yup just my luck I was born in Philly on May 10th, 1916. I attended New York University as well as Princeton, and I taught at the latter school. I also taught at the Julliard School. (Yes I like children).
I should talk about my musical style. Most would call it weird. I like to experiment. As a child, I played a lot of jazz. I also wrote some pop songs. But then I decided to work with electronic music (like a lot of the other composers who are writing on this blog! I'd tell you who, but I don't want to spoil it). I worked on the first programmable synthesizer, the Mark II. And, NO, I am NOT a minimalist! If anything, I would call myself a maximalist.
Yeah, not trying to brag or anything, but I got a Pulitzer in 1982 and a MacArthur Genius Grant in 1986.
Unfortunately all good things come to an end and I died at a ripe old age of 94 on January 29th, 2011.
-Milton Babbitt
p.s. Isn't my last name so amazing? 

I don't Know What To Title This.../ John Cage... Me, Myself and I

[Editors' note: because of technical difficulties, Aaron Copland and John Cage were forced to write one blog post. However, they were meant to be two. Therefore this blogpost has two titles since it is, in reality, two separate posts. Thank you for your understanding.]
Hi there. My name is Aaron Copland! I was born on November 14th 1990 in Brooklyn, New York. My father was a Russian immigrant from Lithuania. My older sister taught me how to play the piano. When I was 25 I left New York for Paris. There I met a composer named Serge Koussevitsky. He asked me to compose a piece for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. I really liked jazz but in the 1920s I walked away from that style and began composing classical music.
On December 2, 1990, at ninety years of age, I died in North Tarrytown, New York.
Thanks
Copland. 

________________________________________________________________________________

Hello dearest readers,
I was brought into this world on the day September 5th, 1912, the same year as the Titanic descended into the depths of the ocean. I found other composers' music and put them together, like a puzzle, or a collage or a quilt [Note from editor: Kind of like juxtaposition, except not really]. Much like the people on the Titanic, my heart stopped beating, except many years later on August 12, 1992.
Thank you and goodbye from this side of the world,
John Cage

Oh yeah! I am the first Mexican Composer of International Stature!

Me llamo Carlos Chávez. I was born on June 14th, 1899 in Mexico. My music was both influenced by the sound of Mexico as well as by the great composer Igor Stravinsky (he's written on this blog before, no? I am SUCH a big fan!) In 1928 I founded the Orquestra Sinfonica de Mexico. I served as the conductor for 20 years there.
"Music of Mexico may be divided into three great epochs: 1) aboriginal culture 2) mestizaje 3) nationalism of the revolution"
Yo estaba muy triste when I died on August 2nd, 1978 :( 
-Carlos Chávez

I Miss Russssiiiaaa

My name is Stravinsky, Igor Stravinsky. I was born in June 17 1882 in Oranienbaum, Russia. My life was a lot of scandal. I moved to France where I composed ballets no one liked so then I moved to the United States of America. I know this seems rushed but I was forced to write this and now I have to go!!
Oh, I almost forgot! Much to my dismay, I passed away on April 6th, 1971.
-Stravinsky