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Music
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Miles Davis 1926–1991MusicTrumpeter and bandleader who repeatedly redirected jazz through bebop, cool jazz, modal music, and fusion.
George Gershwin 1898–1937MusicComposer who fused jazz, popular song, Broadway, and concert music into a distinctly American style.
Leonard Bernstein 1918–1990MusicConductor, composer, and educator who brought classical music to mass audiences and reshaped American musical theater.
Quincy Jones 1933–2024MusicArranged for Sinatra and Basie, scored the films, and produced Thriller.
Irving Berlin 1888–1989MusicSongwriter whose vast catalog, from 'God Bless America' to Broadway standards, helped define the American popular songbook.
Duke Ellington 1899–1974MusicComposer and bandleader who expanded the artistic ambition and vocabulary of jazz.
Charlie Parker 1920–1955MusicSaxophonist whose virtuosity and harmonic innovations made him a principal creator of bebop and modern jazz.
John Coltrane 1926–1967MusicSaxophonist and composer whose technical and spiritual explorations transformed modern jazz.
Stephen Sondheim 1930–2021MusicComposer and lyricist whose formal and psychological innovations transformed the American musical theater.
Brian Wilson 1942–2025MusicBeach Boys songwriter and producer who made Pet Sounds and "Good Vibrations" out of the recording studio itself
Dizzy Gillespie 1917–1993MusicJazz trumpeter who co-founded bebop and invented Afro-Cuban jazz
Benny Goodman 1909–1986MusicClarinetist and bandleader who touched off the Swing Era
Scott Joplin 1868–1917MusicRagtime composer whose piano rags were among the first widely sold American popular sheet music.
Cole Porter 1891–1964MusicComposer and lyricist of Broadway standards including Anything Goes and Kiss Me Kate.
Richard Rodgers 1902–1979MusicWrote the scores that turned the Broadway musical into a form that could carry a story.
Count Basie 1904–1984MusicKansas City bandleader whose rhythm section reset what a big band could swing like.
Thelonious Monk 1917–1982MusicPianist and composer whose distinctive harmonies, rhythms, and repertory became central to modern jazz.
Aaron Copland 1900–1990MusicComposer whose accessible modernist works created an enduring musical language associated with American landscapes and identity.