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

  Updated August 14, 2024. Rod MacDonald also lectures for private organizations (see list of lectures)
and leads workshops for songwriters 
     
Jupiter (Thurs 3 pm) 10/17, 10/24, 10/31, 11/7
Boca Raton (W 3 pm) 10/30, 11/6, 11/13, 11/20
Boca Raton 12/4/24  7 pm
Jupiter 12/5/24  7 pm

A Celebration Of Jewish-American Songwriters
with Rod MacDonald & The Humdingers

This concert will also be archived for home viewing at your convenience; call 561-297-3185 or email olliboca@fau.edu
(Either attend live In-Person or sign up for Video Catch-up available 2-3 business days after live lecture. You will have approximately two weeks to view the video.)

Music Americana:
The Evolution Of Style & Content
Rod MacDonald
Recipient of the 2012 Distinguished Faculty Award

When advances in technology, audience tastes and events lead to changes in popular culture, great artists respond accordingly, finding new ways to speak their minds and elevate us with their music. From Yip Harburg asking “Brother Can You Spare A Dime” to the streetwise eloquence of Eminem, from the serene bop of Paul Desmond to the power of Adele’s heartbreak, from the censor-provoking Smothers’ Brothers to the teen passion of Glee, musicians continue to find new ways to bypass rigid boundaries and inspire us in our time.  

This course will examine the work, lives and legacies of these musical artists, and attempt to sort myth from reality, with videos, live performances and research materials.

MA 36

1. What You Weren’t Supposed To Hear: Yip Harburg, The Smothers Brothers

2. Relax And Dig It: John Coltrane, Paul Desmond

3. The Fair Maid Returns: Joni Mitchell, Adele

4. What The Kids (And Grandkids) Are Into: Eminem, High School Musical, Glee

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

Place: Lifelong Learning Complex, Jupiter Campus, Donald Ross Rd
Dates: Thursdays 10/17, 24, 31, 11/7
Time: 3:00 p.m.
Fee: $60 / member; $80 / non-member

(561) 799 - 8547 or click here
Boca Raton Campus

Time: 3 pm
Date: Wednesdays, 10/30, 11/6, 13, 20
Location: Barry and Florence Friedberg Auditorium, Boca Raton Campus
Fees: Member - $60
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."



      As American music reached the world in the 20th century, Jewish-American songwriters played a major part. From the patriotism of Irving Berlin to the protest of Bob Dylan, from the jazz-inflected Gershwin show tunes to the coming-of-age ballads of Carole King, from the unforgettable melodies of Richard Rodgers to the sophisticated pop of Paul Simon, and from "Over The Rainbow" to "The Way We Were" to "The Producers," these writers have created some of the most historic songs of our time.
   Join Rod MacDonald and The Humdingers for a low-decibel celebration in song of these and more great writers of popular music for the ages.

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: Rod MacDonald, guitar/vocal, has released 14 CDs of his songs, plus three 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 song. An instructor with FAU Lifelong Learning since 2006, his 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

Place: Lifelong Learning Complex, Jupiter Campus, Donald Ross Rd
Dates: Thursday December 5
Time: 7 p.m.
Fee: $35 / member; $40 / non-member

(561) 799 - 8547 or click here
Boca Raton Campus

Time: 7 pm
Date: Wednesday, December 4
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: