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Fee: $195

4-week series

Simply Brill' is an four-week musical lecture series celebrating the popular hit songs created by young Jewish-American songwriters working in and around Manhattan's famous Brill building.

We will enjoy listening to dozens of their hit recordings, including: Hound Dog, Stand By Me, Love Potion #9, Up On The Roof, On Broadway, I Say a Little Prayer For You, Chapel of Love, On the Boardwalk, Save The Last Dance For Me, The Loco-Motion, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow... and many more chart-topping Brill songs that have become an integral part of the popular soundtrack of the 20th century-- and our lives!

We will learn about the fascinating background of many of the great Brill songwriters of the Sixties: Carole King, Neil Sedaka, Burt Bacharach, Leiber and Stoller, Phil Spector, Doc Pomus, Barry Mann, Ellie Greenwich... and many others who also launched stellar careers from the cramped cubicles of the Brill Building.

The last class will be a sing-a-long concert in Mazzoleni Hall! Sing the classics with Jordan Klapman on the keys!

About the Instructor:

Jordan Klapman is a pianist, bandleader, music director, composer, and popular music educator. Since 1977, he has specialized in piano performance of 20th century popular music, from traditional jazz and Dixieland, to 1920s/30s dance music, The Great American Songbook, Broadway standards, and klezmer. He performs at festivals and in jazz clubs, concert halls, resorts, and theatres at special events across Toronto and beyond.

Since 2003, Jordan has had the opportunity to combine his extensive performing experience with his love of learning and teaching by presenting uniquely "edu-taining" courses on many musical subjects at The University of Toronto School for Continuing Studies, Ryerson University, The Baycrest Learning Academy, The Miles Nadal and Prosserman Jewish Community Centres, and numerous other public and private venues across the GTA, and Ontario.

His current roster of courses and individual lectures includes: The History of Tin Pan Alley, Broadway's Greatest Composers, The History of Jazz, Hollywood's Oscar-winning Songs, The Great American Songbook, The Great Popular Singers, The History of The Big Bands, The History of Hollywood Film Music, and other musical topics.

Jordan is delighted to have been invited by the Royal Conservatory School to present his acclaimed series, SIMPLY BRILL: Great Songs Of The 1960s at the RCM in the spring of 2017. He truly looks forward to sharing his appreciation and knowledge of these brilliant songs of the 1960s, many of which now define the popular soundtrack of the mid 20th century, and are acknowledged as "my music" by several generations!

A 10% discount will be applied automatically at checkout for students who are enrolled concurrently in any of the following Royal Conservatory School music classes: Individual Instruction, Group Classes, Learn to Play/Sing, Small Ensemble, Theory and History.