#39 Rob Kapilow, Conductor, What Makes It Great, Interview
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The Not Old Better Show Interview series, Rob Kapilow, What Makes It Great, Smithsonian Associates

As part of our Smithsonian Associates, Art of Living series, our guest today on the Not Old Better Show is composer, performer, podcaster, radio show host, and music expert, Rob Kapilow.  Rob is well known for so many things, but his “What Makes It Great” series is perhaps a “go to” resource on music.  There’s “FamilyMusick,” for kids, and Rob is well known for his “Polar Express,” “Green Eggs & Hamadeus,” and his vocal score companion, “Dr Suess’ Gertrude McFuzz,” Kapilow’s “Citypieces,” with communities, and places in history, including his work with the Blackfeet tribe titled, “Summer Sun, Winter Moon” are stunning.  Just a lot of brilliant work. 

Rob’s new ebook, “What Makes It Great, Enhanced Edition,” is out now, too, and can be found HERE.

Rob, along with a group accompanying him, will share music from Harold Arlen, who wrote over 500 songs, many, many well known, but Arlen himself isn’t so well known.  None other than George Gershwin called him “the most original of all of us,” he won an Oscar, and had many hits, and yet he’s largely unfamiliar to many of us.  Any fan of the Great American Songbook could hum a few bars of “Over the Rainbow,” “Stormy Weather” or “That Old Black Magic” without having to think too hard. And yet, the composer of those songs remains little known. His songs are so alive that many major singers, including Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and even George Harrison, here singing “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea.”

All that changes Sunday night, October 30, when Rob Kapilow will be presenting “What Makes It Great,” (I think I counted 21 seasons of “What Makes It Great,”) in Washington DC, at the Baird Auditorium, and the program begins at 6 PM, sharp.  I’ll be there.  Those who know Rob, know of his work, and know of his 21 seasons of “What Makes In Great” on NPR, agree that Rob is a born teacher, a motivational speaker, and game show host, all rolled into one,” according to the Boston Globe.  Audiences agree.  Join Rob and guests on Oct. 30, 2016, for Smithsonian Associates series, co-presented by Washington Performing Arts, and tickets are HERE.

Enjoy.