Workshops & Lectures
Osher Lifelong Learning Society, Florida Atlantic University
Course information on LLS website:   Jupiter   Boca Raton: course  concert
new courses and concerts in Winter 2024

  Updated January 7, 2024. Rod MacDonald also lectures for private organizations (see list of lectures)
and leads workshops for songwriters 
     
Jupiter 1/9, 16, 23, 30, 2/6, 13, 20, 27
Boca Raton 1/17, 24, 31, 2/7, 3/6, 13, 20, 27
Boca Raton 2/7/24  7 pm
Jupiter 2/8/24  7 pm

A Brief History Of The Beatles
This concert will also be archived for home viewing at your convenience; call 561-297-3185 or email olliboca@fau.edu
This class is also archived for home viewing; call 561-297-3185 or email olliboca@fau.edu

Music Americana
In Search Of Greatness
Rod MacDonald
Recipient of the 2012 Distinguished Faculty Award

From sheer talent, pioneering a new direction, or outselling all their rivals, a few artists are widely regarded as the foremost practitioners of their art. Their work endures through the years, imitated but never surpassed, as part of the soundtrack of our times. From the directness of Irving Berlin to the lush melodies of Burt Bachrach, from the deep blues of Billy Holiday to the Tony-winning freedom of Kimberly Akimbo, from the symphonic Aaron Copeland to the spectacular Elton John, great artists inspire us in our time, and set the standards for the future.
This course will examine the work, biographies and enduring importance of these past and present artists, and attempt to sort myth from reality, using updated videos and excerpts from feature films, live performances and a few surprises.
  1. The Great Songwriters - Irving Berlin, Carole King
  2. American Classics - Aaron Copeland, The Kronos Quartet
  3. Historic Voices - Billy Holliday, Judy Collins
  4. Curtain Call - Harry Belafonte, Gordon Lightfoot
  5. Sixty Years Ago - The Beatles, Louie Louie & The Kinks
  6. Diversity On Broadway - South Pacific, Kimberly Akimbo
  7. The Beauty Of Music - Burt Bachrach, Silk Road Ensemble
  8. The Spectacular - Elton John, Taylor Swift
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: Rod MacDonald began his career as a singer/songwriter in Greenwich Village in New York City in 1973. He has 21 songs in the Smithsonian Folkways collection and 14 solo albums, including his 2023 cd Rants And Romance, which made the top ten on national folk music charts. He performs in festivals, concerts, and clubs and throughout North America, Europe, solo and with the bands Big Brass Bed and Rod MacDonald & The Humdingers. He was named Best Local Acoustic Performer by New Times and one of the "10 Magnificent Musicians of Palm Beach County" by The Palm Beach Post. Previous Music Americana courses include "The Birth of Rock & Roll," "The Great American Songbook," "Folksinging in Modern Times" and "Mastery of the Art."


Jupiter Campus
Course #W8T1
Place: Lifelong Learning Complex, Jupiter Campus, Donald Ross Rd
Dates: Tuesdays 1/9, 16, 23, 30, 2/6, 13, 20, 27
Time: 2:30 p.m.
Fee: $120 / member; $160 / non-member

(561) 799 - 8547 or click here
Boca Raton Campus
Course #W343A & B
(as two 4-week parts)
Time: 3 pm
Date: Wednesdays, 1/17, 24, 31, 2/7, 3/6, 13, 20, 27
Location: Barry and Florence Friedberg Auditorium, Boca Raton Campus
Fees: Member - $60 each part
Non-member - $80
Registration Info call 
561-297-3171 or click here

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: Rod MacDonald began his career as a singer/songwriter in Greenwich Village in New York City in 1973. He has 21 songs in the Smithsonian Folkways collection and 14 solo albums, including his 2023 cd Rants And Romance, which made the top ten on national folk music charts. He performs in festivals, concerts, and clubs and throughout North America, Europe, solo and with the bands Big Brass Bed and Rod MacDonald & The Humdingers. He was named Best Local Acoustic Performer by New Times and one of the "10 Magnificent Musicians of Palm Beach County" by The Palm Beach Post. Previous Music Americana courses include "The Birth of Rock & Roll," "The Great American Songbook," "Folksinging in Modern Times" and "Mastery of the Art."

        With the 60th anniversary of their coming to America, we remember The Beatles began in England as an American-style rock and roll cover band, soon earning worldwide acclaim for their own compositions, mini-symphonies of love, heartache, thrills, loss, and self-awareness. With each member destined to be an important figure in the world of music, their brilliant songs, from clever and sweet to surreal and sophisticated, grew in depth as they matured, with lyrics that capture both their time and our timeless feelings and melodies no singer can resist.
Join Rod MacDonald & the Humdingers for a fresh perspective on The Beatles, a fun and low-decibel tour through the lives, genius, and great songcraft of John, Paul, George & Ringo.

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: Rod MacDonald, guitar/vocal, has ten CDs of his songs, plus ”A Few Dylan Songs‘ with Big Brass Bed, as heard on WLRN. He performs frequently in South Florida, North America, and Europe and is a lifelong devotee of popular songs. An instructor with FAU Lifelong Learning since 2006, his current series is Music Americana. Bill Meredith, drums, is the backbone of several Palm Beach County rock and roll bands, including Big Brass Bed and Illumination. He’s toured throughout the US and Canada and appears on over a dozen CDs. Brad Keller, piano, has toured with Maynard Ferguson and The Ink Spots, played the Montreux Jazz festival, and written the jazz instruction book used by many county schools. Doug Lindsey, bass, performs with the Mario LaCasse Band and several Palm Beach County groups. Mario LaCasse, lead guitar, playing roots, blues, or jazz, has refined his sound as a member of Misbehavin, Flight, the Mario LaCasse Band, Lowdown 13, and the NattyBos, Groove Merchant band, and Copland Davis.

Jupiter Campus
Course #1R5
Place: Lifelong Learning Complex, Jupiter Campus, Donald Ross Rd
Dates: Thursday February 8
Time: 7 p.m.
Fee: $35 / member; $40 / non-member

(561) 799 - 8547 or click here
Boca Raton Campus
Course #W2074
Time: 7 pm
Date: Wednesday, February 7
Location: Barry and Florence Friedberg Auditorium, Boca Raton Campus
Fees: Member - $35
Non-member - $40
Registration Info call 
561-297-3171 or click here
 



Lectures
lectures at community associations and libraries...recent topics have included live performance/lectes such as "Songs of Greenwich Village" (solo),  "The Life & Times of Bob Dylan," (solo or with Big Brass Bed), and "The Search for the Birth of Rock & Roll" (solo or with The Humdingers).....Lectures using dvds and video materials include "The Beatles: Coming to America," "Cole Porter/Johnny Mercer," "Frank Sinatra" and many other topics. To see a list of lectures, click here.
Songwriting Workshops
 "Songwriting For Self Expression" and "Songwriting & Current Events" are for beginning thru advanced songwriters, to inspire and sharpen each writer's skill and ability to express oneself. At the New York Open Center, the Amp Shop in West Palm Beach, Common Ground on the Hill, the Southeast Unitarian-Universalist Summer Institute, the Endicott (NY) Arts Center, S Florida Folk Festival, etc, from one session to several, sometimes one evening a week.

Here's an article in Binghamton, NY: