Irving Berlin

Irving Berlin has often been called the most quintessentially American songwriter of all time. This is high praise for anyone – especially for an uneducated young immigrant from Russia who came to America not speaking a word of English.

As with so many immigrants, Irving Berlin came to love this country with a deep and abiding passion. He never lost his sense of gratitude to the USA!  But Irving Berlin’s music is much more important  than just the unforgettable anthem “God Bless America.” 

Over the course of a 60-year career, Irving Berlin wrote more than 1500 songs. While many are forgotten, his best work stands among the best work ever written for the movies and the Broadway stage.  

When Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were dancing “Cheek to Cheek,”  they were dancing to Irving Berlin’s music. When soldiers lamented “Oh, How I Hate to Get up in the Morning,” they were singing Irving Berlin. On Christian holidays, people saying “White Christmas” or  “Easter Parade.”  I wonder how many of those people remembered that the songs were written by a Jewish man who celebrated neither Easter nor Christmas!

The very long life and sixty-year career of the great Irving Berlin, from “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” to  “Annie Get Your Gun” is one of the most fascinating stories of American popular culture history. I can’t wait to share with you in this wonderful multimedia presentation.