Question 1

The Gershwin children’s paternal grandparents, who had
settled in St. Petersburg in the Russian Empire, where
Morris Gershwin was born. The elder Gershovitzes never
migrated to the U. S.

Accepted Answer

Yakov and Sarah (Lipshitz)
Gershovitz

Question 2

The Gershwin children’s maternal grandparents, who
emigrated from St. Petersburg, where Rose was born, to the
U. S. in 1892

Accepted Answer

Gershon and Mariaska
(Dechinik) Bruskin

Question 3

Born in St. Petersburg in 1872. Emigrated to the U. S. in
1890—losing his hat in New York Bay rushing to see the
Statue of Liberty—and settled in NYC. After his marriage
to Rose he worked in many different occupations and
moved his family 25 times in

Accepted Answer

Morris Gershwin

Question 4

Born in St. Petersburg in 1875. Emigrated to the U. S. with
her family in 1892. She married Morris Gershwin in 1895.
According to her son George, “very loving” yet “nervous,
ambitious, and purposeful,” Rose enjoyed poker, the
racetrack, designing clot

Accepted Answer

Rose (Bruskin) Gershwin

Question 5

The third and youngest son of Rose and Morris Gershwin,
born in Manhattan 1900.

Accepted Answer

Arthur Gershwin

Question 6

The only daughter and youngest child of Rose and Morris
Gershwin, born in Manhattan in 1906.

Accepted Answer

Frances (Gershwin)
Goldowsky

Question 7

Gershwin remembered his hearing of this piece as a boy,
performed by a player-piano, as his first effective musical
experience.

Accepted Answer

Anton Rubenstein’s
Melody in F

Question 8

The revelatory musical experience that changed George
Gershwin’s life was hearing his classmate, eight-year-old
violinist Max Rosen (Rosenzweig), play Dvořák’s
Humoresque. They became friends and shared their love of
music, which was the beginning of

Accepted Answer

Max Rosen

Question 9

When the Gershwin family bought a piano for Ira’s lessons,
they were amazed to discover that George was already
competent on the instrument due to his secret practicing at
a friend’s pianola and a local music store.

Accepted Answer

The Gershwin’s new piano

Question 10

American composer, pianist, conductor, teacher, and multi-
instrumentalist who was Gershwin’s first important piano
teacher, starting in 1913. Hambitzer composed orchestra
and chamber music, and operetta, most of it never
published. He died of tubercu

Accepted Answer

Charles Hambitzer

Question 11

Hungarian composer and music scholar, Gershwin’s first
theory and orchestration teacher (beginning in 1916).
Eventually moved to Hollywood to write for films

Accepted Answer

Edward Kilenyi

Question 12

ra, a voracious reader who had contributed to his high
school newspaper, entered City College in 1914 as an English major. Leaving college after two years, he worked
for his father while continuing to write on the side.

Accepted Answer

Ira at City College

Question 13

Tin Pan Alley publishing firm on West 46th Street where
Gershwin, aged 15, got his first job as a song-plugger after
dropping out of school

Accepted Answer

Jerome M. Remick Co.

Question 14

Would visit George at Remick’s where the two would trade
off playing piano and dreaming of future projects together

Accepted Answer

Young Fred Astaire

Question 15

A high school and college friend of Ira’s who also grew up
on the Lower East Side, Irving Caesar joined Henry Ford’s
unsuccessful “Peace Ship” voyage in 1915. After a brief
career with the Ford company, he turned to lyric writing.
He became a close fr

Accepted Answer

rving Caesar
(Henry Ford’s
“Peace Ship”)

Question 16

Earliest surviving composition of Gershwin, a song whose
lyrics are now lost. A ragtime version of the “Traumerei,”
a piano work by German composer Robert Schumann.

Accepted Answer

“Ragging the Traumerei”

Question 17

On the advice of Felix Arndt, Gershwin got a job making
piano rolls for the Perfection label. He cut about 125 rolls,
starting with popular Tin Pan Alley songs, eventually
focusing more on his own works.

Accepted Answer

Perfection label
Standard Music Company

Question 18

“When You Want ‘Em, You Can’t Get ‘Em, When You’ve
Got ‘Em, You Don’t Want ‘Em.” Introduced to publisher
Harry von Tilzer by singer Sophie Tucker.

Accepted Answer

Gershwin’s first published
song

Question 19

Hungarian-born American composer of operetta, gave
Gershwin his first opportunity to have his songs included in
a revue, the Passing Show of 1916.

Accepted Answer

Sigmund Romberg

Question 20

First work of Gershwin’s still regularly performed today. A
piano rag written with a Remick song-plugger friend

Accepted Answer

Rialto Ripples

Question 21

Song writer friend of Gershwin who recalled his intense
sense of mission concerning American popular music, even
as a young man

Accepted Answer

Harry Ruby

Question 22

Gershwin’s first job as rehearsal pianist after leaving
Remick’s. Lost his way during the performance, was
mocked by the stage comedian and laughed at by cast and
the audience.

Accepted Answer

Humiliation at Fox’s City
Theater

Question 23

Gershwin’s first rehearsal pianist job for a show, with
music by both Jerome Kern and Victor Herbert. Establishes
his reputation on Broadway as a musician and pianist, and
leads to important career connections, including dancer
George White. (The show

Accepted Answer

Miss 1917

Question 24

The Gershwin brothers were introduced to the Paley and
Strunsky families by journalist Max Abramson in 1917.
Lou Paley collaborated with George as a lyricist, and Lou’s
wife Emily (Strunsky) seemed to George the kind of person
he would have liked to m

Accepted Answer

The Paleys and the
Strunskys

Question 25

Revue series established by Raymond Hitchcock. Gershwin
contributed songs to the 1918 show, which included songs
with lyrics by Lou Paley

Accepted Answer

Hitchy-Koo of 1918

Question 26

Gershwin’s first revue as sole composer, a flop that closed
out of town after only a week. The show, which opened in
Syracuse, NY, included James Reese Europe’s Clef Club
Jazz Band (though Europe himself was still serving
overseas at the time).

Accepted Answer

Half-Past Eight

Question 27

1919 Broadway adaptations of overseas shows. Good
Morning, Judge was a London import that included songs
by Gershwin, including “There’s More to the Kiss Than the
X-X-X,” and “I Am So Young, You Are So Beautiful.” The
Lady in Red was an adaptation of

Accepted Answer

Good Morning, Judge
The Lady in Red

Question 28

Gershwin’s first book musical as sole composer, and his
first collaboration with the producing team of Aarons and
Freedley, with whom both he and Ira would work on many
future occasions. Book by Fred Jackson, lyrics by Arthur
Jackson and Buddy DeSylva

Accepted Answer

La-La-Lucille

Question 29

A 1919 revue of diverse offerings, including organ music,
film, and the Demi Tasse Revue (i.e., a revue within a
revue) for which Gershwin wrote two songs, “Come to the
Moon,” and “Swanee.” The latter, an attempt by Gershwin
and Irving Caesar to produ

Accepted Answer

The Capitol Revue
“Swanee”
Al Jolson

Question 30

Gershwin’s first revue as sole composer to make it to
Broadway. A “rooftop revue,” a show which began after the
main show was over, Midnight Whirl had a somewhat
bizarre collection of acts, including a male and a female
impersonator; a doughnut-sellin

Accepted Answer

Morris Gest’s Midnight
Whirl

Question 31

Gershwin added to his portfolio of concert works in 1919
with two new compositions, Novelette in Fourths, a piano
prelude, and Lullaby for string quartet that survives only in
a piano reduction; it has since been arranged for various
ensembles

Accepted Answer

Piano Music of 1919

Gershwin BIo

GEORGE AND IRA GERSHWIN BIOGRAPHICAL FACTS Yakov and Sarah (Lipshitz) Gershovitz

Question	Answer
The Gershwin children’s paternal grandparents, who had settled in St. Petersburg in the Russian Empire, where Morris Gershwin was born. The elder Gershovitzes never migrated to the U. S.	Yakov and Sarah (Lipshitz) Gershovitz
The Gershwin children’s maternal grandparents, who emigrated from St. Petersburg, where Rose was born, to the U. S. in 1892	Gershon and Mariaska (Dechinik) Bruskin
Born in St. Petersburg in 1872. Emigrated to the U. S. in 1890—losing his hat in New York Bay rushing to see the Statue of Liberty—and settled in NYC. After his marriage to Rose he worked in many different occupations and moved his family 25 times in	Morris Gershwin
Born in St. Petersburg in 1875. Emigrated to the U. S. with her family in 1892. She married Morris Gershwin in 1895. According to her son George, “very loving” yet “nervous, ambitious, and purposeful,” Rose enjoyed poker, the racetrack, designing clot	Rose (Bruskin) Gershwin
The third and youngest son of Rose and Morris Gershwin, born in Manhattan 1900.	Arthur Gershwin
The only daughter and youngest child of Rose and Morris Gershwin, born in Manhattan in 1906.	Frances (Gershwin) Goldowsky
Gershwin remembered his hearing of this piece as a boy, performed by a player-piano, as his first effective musical experience.	Anton Rubenstein’s Melody in F
The revelatory musical experience that changed George Gershwin’s life was hearing his classmate, eight-year-old violinist Max Rosen (Rosenzweig), play Dvořák’s Humoresque. They became friends and shared their love of music, which was the beginning of	Max Rosen
When the Gershwin family bought a piano for Ira’s lessons, they were amazed to discover that George was already competent on the instrument due to his secret practicing at a friend’s pianola and a local music store.	The Gershwin’s new piano
American composer, pianist, conductor, teacher, and multi- instrumentalist who was Gershwin’s first important piano teacher, starting in 1913. Hambitzer composed orchestra and chamber music, and operetta, most of it never published. He died of tubercu	Charles Hambitzer
Hungarian composer and music scholar, Gershwin’s first theory and orchestration teacher (beginning in 1916). Eventually moved to Hollywood to write for films	Edward Kilenyi
ra, a voracious reader who had contributed to his high school newspaper, entered City College in 1914 as an English major. Leaving college after two years, he worked for his father while continuing to write on the side.	Ira at City College
Tin Pan Alley publishing firm on West 46th Street where Gershwin, aged 15, got his first job as a song-plugger after dropping out of school	Jerome M. Remick Co.
Would visit George at Remick’s where the two would trade off playing piano and dreaming of future projects together	Young Fred Astaire
A high school and college friend of Ira’s who also grew up on the Lower East Side, Irving Caesar joined Henry Ford’s unsuccessful “Peace Ship” voyage in 1915. After a brief career with the Ford company, he turned to lyric writing. He became a close fr	rving Caesar (Henry Ford’s “Peace Ship”)
Earliest surviving composition of Gershwin, a song whose lyrics are now lost. A ragtime version of the “Traumerei,” a piano work by German composer Robert Schumann.	“Ragging the Traumerei”
On the advice of Felix Arndt, Gershwin got a job making piano rolls for the Perfection label. He cut about 125 rolls, starting with popular Tin Pan Alley songs, eventually focusing more on his own works.	Perfection label Standard Music Company
“When You Want ‘Em, You Can’t Get ‘Em, When You’ve Got ‘Em, You Don’t Want ‘Em.” Introduced to publisher Harry von Tilzer by singer Sophie Tucker.	Gershwin’s first published song
Hungarian-born American composer of operetta, gave Gershwin his first opportunity to have his songs included in a revue, the Passing Show of 1916.	Sigmund Romberg
First work of Gershwin’s still regularly performed today. A piano rag written with a Remick song-plugger friend	Rialto Ripples
Song writer friend of Gershwin who recalled his intense sense of mission concerning American popular music, even as a young man	Harry Ruby
Gershwin’s first job as rehearsal pianist after leaving Remick’s. Lost his way during the performance, was mocked by the stage comedian and laughed at by cast and the audience.	Humiliation at Fox’s City Theater
Gershwin’s first rehearsal pianist job for a show, with music by both Jerome Kern and Victor Herbert. Establishes his reputation on Broadway as a musician and pianist, and leads to important career connections, including dancer George White. (The show	Miss 1917
The Gershwin brothers were introduced to the Paley and Strunsky families by journalist Max Abramson in 1917. Lou Paley collaborated with George as a lyricist, and Lou’s wife Emily (Strunsky) seemed to George the kind of person he would have liked to m	The Paleys and the Strunskys
Revue series established by Raymond Hitchcock. Gershwin contributed songs to the 1918 show, which included songs with lyrics by Lou Paley	Hitchy-Koo of 1918
Gershwin’s first revue as sole composer, a flop that closed out of town after only a week. The show, which opened in Syracuse, NY, included James Reese Europe’s Clef Club Jazz Band (though Europe himself was still serving overseas at the time).	Half-Past Eight
1919 Broadway adaptations of overseas shows. Good Morning, Judge was a London import that included songs by Gershwin, including “There’s More to the Kiss Than the X-X-X,” and “I Am So Young, You Are So Beautiful.” The Lady in Red was an adaptation of	Good Morning, Judge The Lady in Red
Gershwin’s first book musical as sole composer, and his first collaboration with the producing team of Aarons and Freedley, with whom both he and Ira would work on many future occasions. Book by Fred Jackson, lyrics by Arthur Jackson and Buddy DeSylva	La-La-Lucille
A 1919 revue of diverse offerings, including organ music, film, and the Demi Tasse Revue (i.e., a revue within a revue) for which Gershwin wrote two songs, “Come to the Moon,” and “Swanee.” The latter, an attempt by Gershwin and Irving Caesar to produ	The Capitol Revue “Swanee” Al Jolson
Gershwin’s first revue as sole composer to make it to Broadway. A “rooftop revue,” a show which began after the main show was over, Midnight Whirl had a somewhat bizarre collection of acts, including a male and a female impersonator; a doughnut-sellin	Morris Gest’s Midnight Whirl
Gershwin added to his portfolio of concert works in 1919 with two new compositions, Novelette in Fourths, a piano prelude, and Lullaby for string quartet that survives only in a piano reduction; it has since been arranged for various ensembles	Piano Music of 1919

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