Presented by Howard Pollack, John and Rebecca Moores Professor of Music, Moores School of Music, University of Houston

What makes a work of art, or a musical composition, “American?” Visitors to the exhibition American Made: 250 Years of  American Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston see a broad array of styles—from Native American pottery to the bravura brushwork of John Singer Sargent; from the gritty photorealism of Robert Frank’s iconic photograph of a 4th of July celebration to colonial portraits—yet all are “American.”

At the July Artful Thursday, Howard Pollack presents a lecture about the national musical landscape, enhanced by musical interludes. He considers, alongside jazz and popular music, the emergence of distinctly American music by Charles Ives, Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, John Adams, and others.

Artful Thursdays are free and open to the public..

Register to win great giveaways from Houston Public Radio—KUHF 88.7 FM & KUHA 91.7 FM—and the MFAH. Promotional support for Artful Thursdays is generously provided by KUHF 88.7 FM & KUHA 91.7 FM.

A reception to meet the speaker follows the program. Refreshments generously provided by the Starbucks locations at Buffalo Speedway/Westpark and in Rice Village.