Leonard Bernstein is one of the most important conductors in American history. As a conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian Bernstein maintained a lifelong involvement with Judaism, composing several works with religious themes including his Symphony No. 3 (“Kaddish”) and the Chichester Psalms, a choral work with Hebrew text. Come join Dr. Thomas Cimarusti, Professor of Music History at Florida Gulf Coast, as he explores Bernstein's music, his faith, and his hope for humanity. Participants are encouraged (but not required) to watch the recently released feature film Maestro as an introduction to the composer's life. Method of instruction: lecture presentation with excerpts played on the piano. A handout will be disseminated on the day of the lecture. Objective: to demonstrate how music can function to reinforce one's identity, religious convictions, and life philosophy.

Live In-Person with Video Catch-up. Available 2-3 business days after live lecture. You will have approximately two weeks to view the video.

OLLI breaks into their Archives to bring you one of their most popular video documentaries! Valerie Sutter, MA, founder and director of The French Traveler, gives us a private tour of the history of Paris as seen through its beautiful monuments and other historic locations. Many sites only known to Parisians will be uncovered and explored!

Pre-recorded Presentation - No instructor present. Video catch-up is available.

Join Dr. Brian McConnell as he explores the story of Florida's Highwaymen, a group of 26 African-American artists that exhibited resourcefulness and creativity, forging a unique style of painting that offered them economic independence amidst the Jim Crow era. Starting in the 1950s and inspired by A.E. "Bean" Backus and Alfred Hair, these self-taught artists depicted Florida's landscapes in a vibrant manner, using a "fast painting" technique. Scenes of serene wilderness—beaches, marshes, sunny days, and storms -- were crafted from memory and experience into landscape abstractions that nevertheless created a very real image of an emerging Florida, America's last frontier. Using inexpensive materials, they stacked paintings in cars for efficient sales, showcasing ingenuity and adapting to expanding automobile access to the state in a manner very different from turn-of-the-century art colonies. Florida's Highwaymen turned to art as a means of livelihood, leaving a lasting legacy of artistic style and entrepreneurial spirit that remains active today.

OLLI Breaks into their Archives to bring you one of their most popular documentaries! To some people in the mid-1950s, Rock & Roll music seemed to come out of nowhere. But Rock & Roll had actually been slowly brewing for decades from a mix of music that included blues, rhythm and blues, country, bluegrass, and more. Each of these musical genres included elements from both black and white cultures. Through classic music and images, Matthew Sabatella, musician and music historian, will explore these musical roots and the birth of Rock & Roll. 

Pre-recorded Presentation - No instructor present. Video catch-up is available.

Most visitors to some of the world’s greatest and largest museums experience only a whirlwind tour of an hour or two. But if time permits, an on-your-own tour can be a marvelous journey, especially if you plan for what you’d most like to see.  This series surveys some of the highlights of each of these incredible museums. Jonson will be zooming in with commentary and Q&A.

Lectures:

1. The Louvre, Paris, France: The Louvre, former palace of French kings, is probably the most famous and most visited museum in the world. Only 35,000 of its 8+ million works are on display from the Ancient Near East and Egypt through the Renaissance, Baroque, and Neo-classical eras.  Whether you are planning a visit or remembering a past one, this armchair tour will highlight some of the museum's most important works, including the "three girls of the Louvre": Winged Victory, Venus di Milo, and Mona Lisa.​
2. The Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia: The Hermitage Museum is renowned for its collections of Western art and includes important paintings and sculptures from the Renaissance and the Dutch Golden Age through the 20th century. The museum is equally famed for the architecture and the fabulous decorations in its 1100 rooms, built by Empress Catherine the Great. This class will explore highlights of the art and architecture of this wonderful museum.
3. The Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy: Arguably Italy’s foremost museum, the Uffizi Gallery’s 45+ halls of priceless Italian and European paintings include masterpieces by Leonardo, Botticelli, Michelangelo, Titian, Bronzino and Caravaggio.  The Renaissance building, originally commissioned for offices of the Medici government, is a work of art in itself, with beautifully decorated hallways and galleries.
4. The Art Institute of Chicago, USA: The Art Institute of Chicago is one of the oldest museums in the U.S. and also the second largest in terms of space.  Its encyclopedic permanent collection spans 5000 years of history and boasts nearly 300,000 works of art from Chinese bronzes to contemporary works, from textiles to installation art.  This lecture will look at just a few of the museum’s highlights, including its European collection and its spectacular Impressionist and Post-Impressionist galleries.  The museum is also home to some works that have become icons of American art:  American Gothic and Nighthawks … and the extraordinarily beautiful America stained glass windows by Marc Chagall.

Jonson will be zooming in with commentary and Q&A. Video Catch-up is available 2-3 business days after the presentation.  You will have approximately two weeks to view the video.

 

Most visitors to some of the world’s greatest and largest museums experience only a whirlwind tour of an hour or two. But if time permits, an on-your-own tour can be a marvelous journey, especially if you plan for what you’d most like to see.  This series surveys some of the highlights of each of these incredible museums. Jonson will be zooming in with commentary and Q&A.

Lectures:

1. The Louvre, Paris, France: The Louvre, former palace of French kings, is probably the most famous and most visited museum in the world. Only 35,000 of its 8+ million works are on display from the Ancient Near East and Egypt through the Renaissance, Baroque, and Neo-classical eras.  Whether you are planning a visit or remembering a past one, this armchair tour will highlight some of the museum's most important works, including the "three girls of the Louvre": Winged Victory, Venus di Milo, and Mona Lisa.​
2. The Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia: The Hermitage Museum is renowned for its collections of Western art and includes important paintings and sculptures from the Renaissance and the Dutch Golden Age through the 20th century. The museum is equally famed for the architecture and the fabulous decorations in its 1100 rooms, built by Empress Catherine the Great. This class will explore highlights of the art and architecture of this wonderful museum.
3. The Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy: Arguably Italy’s foremost museum, the Uffizi Gallery’s 45+ halls of priceless Italian and European paintings include masterpieces by Leonardo, Botticelli, Michelangelo, Titian, Bronzino and Caravaggio.  The Renaissance building, originally commissioned for offices of the Medici government, is a work of art in itself, with beautifully decorated hallways and galleries.
4. The Art Institute of Chicago, USA: The Art Institute of Chicago is one of the oldest museums in the U.S. and also the second largest in terms of space.  Its encyclopedic permanent collection spans 5000 years of history and boasts nearly 300,000 works of art from Chinese bronzes to contemporary works, from textiles to installation art.  This lecture will look at just a few of the museum’s highlights, including its European collection and its spectacular Impressionist and Post-Impressionist galleries.  The museum is also home to some works that have become icons of American art:  American Gothic and Nighthawks … and the extraordinarily beautiful America stained glass windows by Marc Chagall.

Jonson will be zooming in with commentary and Q&A. Video Catch-up is available 2-3 business days after the presentation.  You will have approximately two weeks to view the video.

 

OLLI breaks into their Archives to bring you one of their most popular video documentaries! In 1770, the 14-year-old Austrian archduchess Maria Antonia, the youngest daughter of Empress Maria Theresa, left Vienna for Versailles to marry the future king Louis XVI. This lecture, with images and film clips, brings Marie Antoinette to life, from a teenage girl plagued by marital difficulties that subjected her to public ridicule to a young woman who allegedly engaged in a scandalous extra-marital affair with a dashing Swedish nobleman to a controversial Queen who ultimately ended up vilified as l'Autrichienne whose frivolous extravagance and foreign sympathies fired the French Revolution. Initially admired, by the time she died at the age of 38, she was loathed as no Queen of France had ever been.

Pre-recorded Presentation - No instructor present. Video catch-up is available.

In the final hours of April 14, 1912, the RMS Titanic, on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York, collided with an iceberg and ‘the unsinkable ship’ slowly sank. It was one of the most tragic disasters of the 20th Century. Fifteen hundred seventeen men, women, and children lost their lives. Based on real people aboard the most legendary ship in the world, Titanic the Musical is ‘breathtaking’ (the Guardian) and ‘magnificent’ (the Telegraph), a stunning and stirring production focusing on the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of her passengers who each boarded with stories and personal ambitions of their own. All innocently unaware of the fate awaiting them, the Third-Class immigrants dream of a better life in America, the Second Class imagine they too can join the lifestyles of the rich and famous, whilst the millionaire Barons of the First Class anticipate legacies lasting forever. With music and lyrics by Maury Yeston and a book by Peter Stone -- the pair have collectively won an Academy Award, an Emmy Award, an Olivier Award and three Tony Awards. The original Broadway production of Titanic the Musical won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Score and Best Book. This stunning production, captured live on stage for cinema screenings, celebrates the 10th anniversary of its London premiere, where it won sweeping critical acclaim. Runtime: 155 minutes including one 10-minute intermission.

OLLI breaks into their Archives to bring you one of their most popular video documentaries! In 1770, the 14-year-old Austrian archduchess Maria Antonia, the youngest daughter of Empress Maria Theresa, left Vienna for Versailles to marry the future king Louis XVI. This lecture, with images and film clips, brings Marie Antoinette to life, from a teenage girl plagued by marital difficulties that subjected her to public ridicule to a young woman who allegedly engaged in a scandalous extra-marital affair with a dashing Swedish nobleman to a controversial Queen who ultimately ended up vilified as l'Autrichienne whose frivolous extravagance and foreign sympathies fired the French Revolution. Initially admired, by the time she died at the age of 38, she was loathed as no Queen of France had ever been.

Pre-recorded Presentation - No instructor present. Video catch-up is available.

This Zoom conversation will address the latest developments in the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and their implications across the region – and beyond. We will consider how the events of October 7 altered the area’s political landscape and have further complicated efforts to find a peaceful resolution of longstanding differences. We will also examine some possible scenarios for moving beyond perpetual war and how the United States and other outside actors might influence that process. "No one has had a greater, or more positive, influence on my career than Dr. Harry Chernotsky." Dr. Jeffrey Morton

This Zoom conversation will address the latest developments in the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and their implications across the region – and beyond. We will consider how the events of October 7 altered the area’s political landscape and have further complicated efforts to find a peaceful resolution of longstanding differences. We will also examine some possible scenarios for moving beyond perpetual war and how the United States and other outside actors might influence that process. "No one has had a greater, or more positive, influence on my career than Dr. Harry Chernotsky." Dr. Jeffrey Morton

To this day, German-born Ludwig van Beethoven, who premiered his iconic 9th Symphony (Ode to Joy) 200 years ago, is the most listened-to creator of classical music. Join German Historian Anette Isaacs for an intimate look at the life and times of this tragic genius who was as famous for his fiery personality as for his divine ability to turn his personal struggles into supreme and powerful melodies.

Live In-Person with Video Catch-up. Available 2-3 business days after live lecture. You will have approximately two weeks to view the video.

This presentation will highlight how the Civil War expanded opportunities for women in public roles on both sides of the conflict. Whether as teachers, nurses, doctors, clerks, aid and relief organizers, and even some soldiers and spies, many women played important roles and provided colorful stories over the Civil War period, both in the North and in the South. We shall examine specific examples of women's greater agency in the public eye. As even General William Tecumseh Sherman said of Mary Ann Bickerdyke, a woman who organized hospitals as Union armies advanced in the South and who was mentioned in Ken Burns' PBS Civil War documentary series, "She ranks me."

Live In-Person with Video Catch-up. Available 2-3 business days after live lecture. You will have approximately two weeks to view the video.

OLLI breaks into their Archives to bring you one of their most popular video documentaries! Stephen Berk, Ph.D., discusses the historical significance of the year 1945. Germany and Japan were defeated, and Europe and Asia were kaput. Every year is important in history, but this year was special.

Pre-recorded Presentation - No instructor present. Video catch-up is available.

OLLI breaks into their Archives to bring you one of their most popular video documentaries! Bill Boggs's "Memories of Sinatra" has been presented worldwide. It includes video clips of Bill's historic interview with Sinatra, the singer's longest ever on television. Bill includes stories of his encounters with Sinatra, which happened over the years in many venues. In addition, Boggs offers intriguing insights into Frank Sinatra's life and work. We also see Sinatra performing some of his classic songs at the peak of his career. "Bill's 'Memories of Sinatra' is a show-stopping winner...The stories and insights in the Chairman of the Board and the man and his music are spell-binding." American Popular Song Society.

Pre-recorded Presentation - No instructor present. Video catch-up is available.

Your skin offers a window to what is going on inside the body. The changes to the skin may signal a more serious health problem. The key is knowing how to spot these early-warning signs so that the internal disease can be successfully treated before it becomes a bigger problem.

Live In-Person with Video Catch-up. Available 2-3 business days after live lecture. You will have approximately two weeks to view the video.

OLLI breaks into their Archives to bring you one of their most popular video documentaries! Shelly Isaacs, MA of Café Cinematheque shares how incorporating the concepts of relevance, resonance, and revelation enhance your movie-going experience.

Pre-recorded Presentation - No instructor present. Video catch-up is available.

OLLI breaks into their Archives to bring you one of their most popular video documentaries! Kurt Stone, D.D. shares interesting behind-the-scenes information about the making of the film Casablanca, including little-known facts about specific scenes, production codes and the actors, diversity, politics, world events, and the timing of the movie, characters and personalities, the Academy Award, the TV series, and more. 

Pre-recorded Presentation - No instructor present. Video catch-up is available.

We’ll describe the cosmopolitan musical textures that defined the best works of an unforgettable period when gifted young songwriters huddled in midtown Manhattan, creating enduring entries in the Great American Songbook. Stories, anecdotes, and audiovisuals will illustrate this golden era of the 50s and 60s that integrated audiences, eclectic multicultural sounds, and brought social consciousness to pop music.

Live In-Person with Video Catch-up. Available 2-3 business days after live lecture. You will have approximately two weeks to view the video.

Childlike in his innocence but grotesque in form, Frankenstein's bewildered creature is cast out into a hostile universe by his horror-struck maker. Meeting with cruelty wherever he goes, the Creature determines to track down his creator. Directed by Academy Award-winner Danny Boyle, featuring Jonny Lee Miller as the creature and Benedict Cumberbatch as Victor Frankenstein. Run time: 120 minutes.

Truman Capote is known for two of his novels: "Breakfast at Tiffany’s" and "In Cold Blood". He is even more renowned for his self-created stardom, his scandalous behavior, his “Ball of the Century,” and his gossip-style exposé of Hollywood stars. This talk addresses the rise and fall of the most famous secret-teller of the 20th century. Familiarity with any of the following Capote works is helpful, but not required: "Miriam", "In Cold Blood", "Breakfast at Tiffany’s", "Answered Prayers", or "A Christmas Memory". A PowerPoint will be used to enhance the program.

Live In-Person with Video Catch-up. Available 2-3 business days after live lecture. You will have approximately two weeks to view the video.

Delray Beach started as Linton, a farming community settled by Michiganders eager to help turn South Florida into a winter garden at the turn of the last century. Their vision soon carried the town to renown as a producer of fruits, vegetables, and, most famously, gladiolas flowers. While agriculture has changed and become a smaller part of Delray Beach's economy, growers nevertheless continue to turn out crops west of town. This lecture will explore that long history of agriculture, placing it in the context of South Florida's history as a garden spot and the larger currents of agricultural production in the U.S. and abroad.

Calling all book lovers for a conversation about books we fondly remember. "Great" literature ("The Bible," "Don Quixote," "Hamlet") aside, what books changed your perspective, gave you unexpected insights, delivered an "aha" moment, or just spoke volumes? Join Dr. Margery Marcus to discuss those special books that touched YOU. Dr. Marcus will discuss her choices, which include the Romantic potboiler "Mistress of Mellyn" by Victoria Holt, "The Women's Room" by Marilyn French, Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird," and John Irving's "A Prayer for Owen Meany." Bring the names of your favorite titles to share with the audience and leave with a list of books to add to your bookshelf.

"Margery is always a delight to listen too, knowledgeable, well organized, and a very good speaker". - OLLI Patron

OLLI breaks into their Archives to bring you one of their most popular video documentaries! Lenin and the Revolutions of 1917 - In 1913, the Romanov dynasty celebrated its 300 year anniversary having survived numerous challenges. Yet, within four years Vladimir Lenin was in power and changed both the history of the country and the world.

Pre-recorded Presentation - No instructor present. Video catch-up is available.

Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, and Michael Kors are designers who have influenced the fashion world. They built businesses that extended their designs beyond clothing into other products. Most people know their names because they are such popular designers with logos that appear on many items people still buy. You will learn about each man’s early life and what aspects helped shape their later successes. Each designer had challenges at the start of their career and took a different path to fame and fortune. You will learn about the relationships that impacted their lives. Discover key events, struggles, successes, recognitions, philanthropy, and what is currently happening in their lives. Pictures and video clips bring these designing men to life.

Live In-Person with Video Catch-up. Available 2-3 business days after live lecture. You will have approximately two weeks to view the video.

OLLI breaks into their Archives to bring you one of their most popular video documentaries! Stalin - After Lenin died in 1924, Joseph Stalin emerged as the leader of the Soviet state. How he began to revolutionize the Revolution constitutes the body of this lecture.

Pre-recorded Presentation - No instructor present. Video catch-up is available.

OLLI breaks into their Archives to bring you one of their most popular video documentaries! Ata Sarajedini, Ph.D., professor and Bjorn Lamborn Endowed Chair in Astrophysics at Florida Atlantic University, paints a broad picture of astronomy, including the fundamental properties of light, how planets, stars and galaxies form, and how the universe itself was created to give you a new perspective on astronomy and the universe and what we know about it.

Pre-recorded Presentation - No instructor present. Video catch-up is available.

OLLI breaks into their Archives to bring you one of their most popular video documentaries! "When We Were Apollo" is an Emmy-award winning documentary film highlighting the memories and experiences of nineteen individuals, from a workforce of over 400,000, who dedicated themselves to putting a human being on the moon before the end of the 1960s.

Pre-recorded Presentation - No instructor present. Video catch-up is available.

OLLI breaks into their Archives to bring you one of their most popular video documentaries! The Road to Putin - The Soviet Union became a gerontocracy. Mikhail Gorbachev attempted reform. Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin tried to resurrect Russia as a great and consequential power. Yeltsin failed; Putin has done it.

Pre-recorded Presentation - No instructor present. Video catch-up is available.

This special one-time event is your guide to Election 2024. Watson will examine a variety of election issues, the Electoral College, the party conventions, debates, polling, and what both parties and nominees need to do to win the White House, House, and Senate races. Analysis will be offered, and predictions made. You do not want to miss this very special event!

Live In-Person with Video Catch-up. Available 2-3 business days after live lecture. You will have approximately two weeks to view the video.

OLLI breaks into their Archives to bring you one of their most popular video documentaries! Bronx-born Carl Reiner and Brooklyn-born Melvin Kaminsky (aka Mel Brooks) met for the first time in 1950 when the legendary Sid Caesar brought them together for "Your Show of Shows." Brooks (a childhood friend of Caesar) became part of the comedy writing team that included Neil Simon, Larry Gelbart, Mel Tolkin, and -briefly- Woody Allen. Reiner was brought in as a supporting actor but soon started contributing as a writer himself. Brooks and Reiner hit it off immediately and often attended cocktail parties where they would improvise comedy routines. At one of these parties, Reiner held up an invisible microphone and said, "Is it true, sir, that you were present at the crucifixion?" to which Brooks sighed and replied in a heavy Yiddish accent, "Oh boy..." And the 2000-Year-Old Man was born. Individually, Reiner and Brooks went on to create the greatest comedy classics of their day. Their deep friendship withstood the test of time, lasting almost seven decades.

Pre-recorded Presentation - No instructor present. Video catch-up is available.

OLLI breaks into their Archives to bring you one of their most popular video documentaries! Former Georgetown University History professor Ralph Nurnberger tells the riveting story of the unassuming 29-year-old British Stockbroker Nicholas Winton, who saved the lives of 669 children from certain death during World War II.

Pre-recorded Presentation - No instructor present. Video catch-up is available.

OLLI breaks into their Archives to bring you one of their most popular video documentaries! Daphne Nikolopoulos, author and editor-in-chief of Palm Beach Illustrated, delves into Homer's, "The Iliad," analyzing key characters and universal themes that make this epic poem a classic that continues to resonate today.

Pre-recorded Presentation - No instructor present. Video catch-up is available.

OLLI breaks into their Archives to bring you one of OLLI's most popular video documentaries! Russell D. Hamer, Ph.D., one of the world's leading experts on the visual development of human infants, asks and answers the question, "What does it mean to see?"

Pre-recorded Presentation - No instructor present. Video catch-up is available.

Childlike in his innocence but grotesque in form, Frankenstein's bewildered creature is cast out into a hostile universe by his horror-struck maker. Meeting with cruelty wherever he goes, the Creature determines to track down his creator. Directed by Academy Award-winner Danny Boyle, featuring Jonny Lee Miller as the creature and Benedict Cumberbatch as Victor Frankenstein. Run time: 120 minutes.

What do we, Confucius, the sparrow, Abercrombie & Fitch, and many of our mothers have in common? Discover Mah Jongg's history in China and America and learn why so many Chinese people and Jewish-American Women have a love affair with this historic game. We will also look at the game's popularity (and its variations) in the United Kingdom, Japan, and on American military bases worldwide.

"She was excellent. One of the best programs ever. Loved it!" - OLLI Patron.

Live In-Person with Video Catch-up. Available 2-3 business days after live lecture. You will have approximately two weeks to view the video.

In the final hours of April 14, 1912, the RMS Titanic, on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York, collided with an iceberg and ‘the unsinkable ship’ slowly sank. It was one of the most tragic disasters of the 20th Century. Fifteen hundred seventeen men, women, and children lost their lives. Based on real people aboard the most legendary ship in the world, Titanic the Musical is ‘breathtaking’ (the Guardian) and ‘magnificent’ (the Telegraph), a stunning and stirring production focusing on the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of her passengers who each boarded with stories and personal ambitions of their own. All innocently unaware of the fate awaiting them, the Third-Class immigrants dream of a better life in America, the Second Class imagine they too can join the lifestyles of the rich and famous, whilst the millionaire Barons of the First Class anticipate legacies lasting forever. With music and lyrics by Maury Yeston and a book by Peter Stone -- the pair have collectively won an Academy Award, an Emmy Award, an Olivier Award and three Tony Awards. The original Broadway production of Titanic the Musical won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Score and Best Book. This stunning production, captured live on stage for cinema screenings, celebrates the 10th anniversary of its London premiere, where it won sweeping critical acclaim. Runtime: 155 minutes including one 10-minute intermission.