EVDOL 34 - Hollywood’s American Sound

Mitchell Lyon
For a century, Hollywood scores have done more than accompany stories—they’ve told Americans who they are. Sweeping strings gave the frontier its grandeur. Jazz lent the city its danger and allure. Folk melodies made small-town life feel sacred. In this daylong course, students will trace how film music taught audiences what “America” was supposed to feel like, and how composers have reshaped that sound as the country (and its stories) changed.

The course follows a sweeping arc from Aaron Copland’s wide-open prairies to Ennio Morricone’s ironic Westerns, from Miles Davis and Duke Ellington scoring the shadows of the American city to the fractured, searching soundscapes of Moonlight, Nomadland, and Killers of the Flower Moon. Along the way, students will consider why Hollywood drew on some of America’s extraordinary musical traditions more than others, how certain sounds became shorthand for specific places and identities, and how a new generation of composers is expanding the palette. As the nation marks its 250th anniversary of Independence, there’s never been a better moment to listen closely.

Biography: Mitchell Lyon

One Section Available | 1 Class Session | Extension Holiday Schedule

Friday, June 26

10am–4pm ET, with a one hour lunch break

In Person Only

$300

Register by Phone: (212) 799-5000 ext. 273

Our phone line is open Monday–Friday (excluding holidays), 9:00 am–5:00 pm ET.

*Please note our offices will be closed on Fridays after Memorial Day.