Exemplar for next year..

The Life of Aaron Copland
By Sophia Kellogg

Have you ever heard of Aaron Copland. Aaron Copland wrote lots of ballets and music that you may know. Some of the things he wrote were, Billy the Kid, and The Fanfare of the Common Man, you may have heard this at presidential inaugurations. Copland was a musician and a composer. Some of the reasons for his success were his fight for lessons, his influences, and Nadia Boulanger.

One of Copland’s reason for success was when Copland fought for lessons when he was a child. The text states, “The two parents got lessons for their older four children, and decided against it for their youngest son, Aaron.  However, Aaron begged for lessons and finally won them over.” This example shows that Copland fought for lessons as a child.

Another reason for Copland’s success were his influences. The author says, “The second break came when Koussevitsky, a very famous conductor, gave the second performance of the work.  Best of all, Koussevitsky continued to support Copland by having his pieces played for the next few decades by his symphony orchestra.” This is one of Copland’s influences. Other influences of Copland were, his audience, Europe’s music, American jazz, Broadway music, and the young composers Copland taught. These are a few examples of Copland’s influences.

My last reason for Aaron Copland’s success is Nadia Boulanger. Nadia gave Copland lessons in compositions. The author states, “There he met Nadia Boulanger, a brilliant teacher with great musicality.  With the help of his family, Aaron remained in France and took private lessons from her for three years.” Another piece of evidence is, “ Later he said meeting Nadia was the most important event of his life.” These two examples show that Nadia was one of the reasons for his success.


The examples I listed show some of Copland’s reasons for success. The fight for music lessons, the influences, and Nadia Boulanger. Now go and listen to Aaron Copland’s beautiful music.