Residing in New York City, Maurice Peress is the author of Dvorak to Duke Ellington (Oxford University Press). He teaches at the Aaron Copland School of Music and guest conducts in the United States and abroad. Recently, his 90th Anniversary Celebration of the concert that launched Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue," with Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks, sold out New York's Town Hall.