George Gershwin, who was born in Brooklyn in 1898, was determined to (1) ... an impression as a serious composer, which he achieved in 1924. At its New York premiere, one of his most famous compositions, Rhapsody in Blue, received wild applause from an audience that (2) ... musical celebrities such as the Russian composers Rachmaninov and Stravinsky. Gershwin followed this success with innovative orchestral works such as An American in Paris and, in 1935, the memorable opera Porgy and Bess. No one has been able to match Gershwin’s ability to write original works that (3) ... the boundaries of jazz, opera and classical music and his (4) ... on modern music has been enormous. It is appropriate to add that he made the American composer a respectable (5) ... around the world, at a time when very little American music was being performed.