AN ADULT GUIDE TO THE ORCHESTRA by Sheldon Kurland On Sale For The Holidays

Looking for the perfect gift idea for the musician in your life or the novice symphony lover? Nashville's Sheldon Kurland has an amusing paperback that will fit the bill, providing a humorous glimpse at each member of the symphony orchestra.

An Adult Guide to the Orchestra is described as "a fun and witty look at symphony orchestras and the musicians who create the music." Written by Sheldon Kurland, a classically trained musician who studied at Juilliard and was later known for his influence in bringing the lush string sound to country music in Nashville (Music City), during the heyday of "the Nashville Sound," this irreverent book casts a humorous light to the somewhat serious world of classical music.

Kurland was a Nashville musician, but an unusual one being a Juilliard-trained violinist with a master's degree in music. He began his career at Cornell University before moving to Nashville in 1964. Initially, Kurland taught at Peabody College, now a part of Vanderbilt University. Before long, he was doing session and television work with Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, George Jones, Bob Dylan, Neil Young and scores of others. 

Although a gifted musician, he was also a visionary, and with the Nashville music scene changing in the 1960s, he saw an opportunity to better organize local string players into a collective to perform live and on recordings. His group, the Shelly Kurland Strings, was instrumental in establishing the world famous Nashville Sound and won numerous "Super Picker Awards," given each year to the musicians who played on the most number one albums.

Published by daughter Amy Kurland, creator of the Bluebird Café and son Peter Kurland, co-owner of Darkhorse Theater, this quintessentially Nashville book can be found at the Symphony Store in the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville and at Amazon.com.

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