Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
The Music of Your Lifetime: A Global Perspective
Speaker
Professor Timothy Rice
Coordinator
Marsha Korobkin
Creating and enjoying music are driven by our unique
personal experiences, the social life of the ethnic,
religious and national groups to which we belong and
the spirit of the times in which we live. In this course
we look at the way these factors have affected
the creation and enjoyment of music in three time
periods in the lifespan of Osher members: 1950 to
2025. In each of the three lectures we will listen
attentively to and think about the meaning of music
and the ways that playing and appreciating specific
kinds of music express our uniqueness, our sense of
belonging to groups and our understanding of the
spirit of the times.
February 19: Music from an Age of Disenchantment
and Protest (1950-1975)
Tremendous upheaval marked the period from
1950 to 1975. The Cold War and wars in Korea
and Vietnam created anxiety about the future and
provided fertile ground for unrest among white
youth and the creation of liberation and civil rights
movements among African Americans, Chicanos,
women, gays and lesbians, and American Indians.
Using five carefully selected examples, this lecture
will examine the way musicians and their fans
responded in different ways to the challenges and
opportunities of their times in soul music, rock, jazz,
experimental classical music and salsa.
February 26: Music and Community (1975-2000)
Between the end of the Vietnam War in 1974 and
2000, five hundred years of European colonialism
and imperialism came to an end with the dissolution
of both white rule in South Africa in 1994 and
the last great empire, the Soviet Union, in 1991.
Migration and new technologies spread people, their
culture and music and their diseases (HIV/AIDS)
around the world. Migrants needed to define new
senses of identity and many musicians and their fans
sought refuge from their problems in music that
defined a sense of community and brought people
together. This lecture will examine five examples of
this yearning for connection in hip-hop, techno, jazz,
the classical symphony and reggae.
March 5: Music Today (2000-2025)
Today many currents tug at peoples’ heartstrings,
including the aftermath of the COVID pandemic,
a growing awareness of climate change, a new
acceptance of LGBTQ and fluid gender identities, the
increasing gap between rich and poor, contested
views of racial justice and wars in Afghanistan, Iraq,
Israel, Ukraine and Sudan. This lecture will look at
five responses to these problems in teen pop, jazz,
classical chamber music, musica norteña and K-pop.
personal experiences, the social life of the ethnic,
religious and national groups to which we belong and
the spirit of the times in which we live. In this course
we look at the way these factors have affected
the creation and enjoyment of music in three time
periods in the lifespan of Osher members: 1950 to
2025. In each of the three lectures we will listen
attentively to and think about the meaning of music
and the ways that playing and appreciating specific
kinds of music express our uniqueness, our sense of
belonging to groups and our understanding of the
spirit of the times.
February 19: Music from an Age of Disenchantment
and Protest (1950-1975)
Tremendous upheaval marked the period from
1950 to 1975. The Cold War and wars in Korea
and Vietnam created anxiety about the future and
provided fertile ground for unrest among white
youth and the creation of liberation and civil rights
movements among African Americans, Chicanos,
women, gays and lesbians, and American Indians.
Using five carefully selected examples, this lecture
will examine the way musicians and their fans
responded in different ways to the challenges and
opportunities of their times in soul music, rock, jazz,
experimental classical music and salsa.
February 26: Music and Community (1975-2000)
Between the end of the Vietnam War in 1974 and
2000, five hundred years of European colonialism
and imperialism came to an end with the dissolution
of both white rule in South Africa in 1994 and
the last great empire, the Soviet Union, in 1991.
Migration and new technologies spread people, their
culture and music and their diseases (HIV/AIDS)
around the world. Migrants needed to define new
senses of identity and many musicians and their fans
sought refuge from their problems in music that
defined a sense of community and brought people
together. This lecture will examine five examples of
this yearning for connection in hip-hop, techno, jazz,
the classical symphony and reggae.
March 5: Music Today (2000-2025)
Today many currents tug at peoples’ heartstrings,
including the aftermath of the COVID pandemic,
a growing awareness of climate change, a new
acceptance of LGBTQ and fluid gender identities, the
increasing gap between rich and poor, contested
views of racial justice and wars in Afghanistan, Iraq,
Israel, Ukraine and Sudan. This lecture will look at
five responses to these problems in teen pop, jazz,
classical chamber music, musica norteña and K-pop.
Speaker Bio
Presenter: Timothy Rice is a Distinguished
Professor Emeritus of ethnomusicology at UCLA,
where he also served as inaugural director of
the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. His
books on traditional Bulgarian music and on the
fundamental principles of music study have been
translated into Chinese, Czech, Georgian, Korean,
Italian, Farsi and Spanish. He received his Ph.D. in
music at the University of Washington.
Professor Emeritus of ethnomusicology at UCLA,
where he also served as inaugural director of
the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. His
books on traditional Bulgarian music and on the
fundamental principles of music study have been
translated into Chinese, Czech, Georgian, Korean,
Italian, Farsi and Spanish. He received his Ph.D. in
music at the University of Washington.
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