Upcoming Music Appreciation Classes

One special event and two classes provide music for your ears in our fall music appreciation offerings. Reserve your seat now to enjoy listening and learning in the coming weeks.

Pianist Cristiana Pegoraro in Concert


Celebrated Italian pianist and composer Cristiana Pegoraro demonstrates her deep passion and enthusiasm for classical music in a format that combines live piano performances with stimulating conversation about the composers' lives, impact, and artistry. In this concert, she brings to Scarsdale a preview of the annotated recital entitled "Colors of Love -- the Great Love Stories" to be performed at Carnegie Hall the following week. Performance may include selections from Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, Brahms, and Pegoraro herself.


CRISTIANA PEGORARO is an Italian pianist and composer. Called “an artist of the highest caliber” by the New York Times, she has performed at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Sydney Opera House and other international venues and has recorded many CDs. She regularly conducts master classes across the United States (including at the Juilliard School), and in Italy, Portugal and the Middle East. She is the author of a series of children’s books based on Italian operas.


Thursday, November 9 • 7:15pm-8:45pm • Scarsdale High SchoolCourse 12256 • $30


Please note that November 9 marks the actual 85th anniversary of Scarsdale Adult School's first class, which was attended by 263 men and women! Celebrate this momentous day at Pegoraro's special concert. Also remember to reserve Sunday, December 3, 2023, for another commemorative event, an afternoon of learning featuring keynote speaker Jonathan Eig (registration details to be available soon).

Cristiana Pegoraro playing Chopin Nocturne in C-sharp minor (Op. Posth.)

Music of the Sixties


The tumultuous political and social changes of the ‘60s were reflected in the decade’s music — expressive, creative, and complex. The teen idols and mainstream singers of the late ‘50s carried into the early ‘60s but then gave way to the creative genius of the Beatles and British invasion, the exuberance of Motown, funk, folk protest songs, and psychedelia. Late in the decade, youthful disillusionment with politics, society, and the drug scene gave music more somber themes but also hopeful songs about community and forbearance. Listen to great music, hear the stories behind them, and share memories.


DAVID M. CHENEY, former Chief Editor of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), is a freelance writer, editor and external-relations advisor for international economic and financial institutions. Before joining the IMF, he was an economist and editor at Chase Manhattan Bank, and earlier a policy analyst at the U.S. Export-Import Bank.


3 Sessions, starting Tuesday, October 3 • 7:15pm-8:30pm • Scarsdale High School • Course 12237 • $75




Woody Guthrie, Voice of the People


Legendary singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie wrote over 3000 songs, most famously “This Land Is Your Land," written to counter "America the Beautiful." His music gave voice and hope to those hit hard during the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. Look at Guthrie's journey as an activist committed to social change, as a parent writing playful songs for children, and as an American bard telling stories of and for the people. Today, Guthrie’s impact lives on in the music of many activist artists like Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and Ani DiFranco. Please have writing materials on hand.


DINA GERASIA is a professional museum educator and artist with a masters from Columbia University. For over twenty years, she has given tours on cultural topics at museums and libraries in the NYC area, including the Met and MoMA. Gerasia is on staff at the Morgan Library and Museum.


Monday, November 13 • 10:00am-11:30am • OnlineCourse 12091 • $30

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Scarsdale Adult School | 914-723-2325 | P.O. Box 205, Scarsdale, NY 10583 | www.ScarsdaleAdultSchool.org

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