Explore the lives, artistry and legacies of three generations of Jewish American songwriters from Tin Pan Alley to the Brill Building. Kern, Berlin, Gershwin, Rodgers, Loesser, to Dylan.

Explores great songs from classic American films and celebrates their creators. Includes Berlin, Gershwin, Kern, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Hamlish, Bacharach, the Bergmans, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, & others.

This multi-media, 5 part survey lecture series introduces basic concepts of 5000 years of Jewish mysticism and explores their expression in Jewish song and dance, the art of the Chagall and of Jewish ritual objects, the Sephardic poetry of Shabbat, the stories of the Torah and of Singer, Peretz, Malamud and Potok, as well as such films as the Dybbuk and The Golem.

A cross-cultural exploration of how communities worldwide use both sacred and secular songs, based in Jewish literature, to organize, fuel active resistance to oppression and pursue peace, justice and survival.

Explores the music, artistry, lives and legacies of such great American songmakers as W.C. Handy, Scott Joplin, Eubie Blake, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin and Duke Ellington.

Laura's concerts and lectures (solo or with trio) specially created in thematic conjunction with conferences, poetry performances, art gallery and museum shows. As seen at The Javits Center, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, Rutgers, ABC NO RIO Gallery; Brooklyn Historical Society, Holocaust Museums, Do The Right Thing Festival, NYC; Hudson River Maritime Museum, Dixon Place, Nuyorican Poets Café, Womens One World Festival, Center for Anti-Violence Education, NYC, Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, International Festival Ovadia, Italy.

Songs from both Sephardic and Ashkenazi communities celebrating the vitality of prewar Jewish life to commemorate the Holocaust. Laura's father Rudi was a Nazi era survivor from Frankfurt, AM Germany.

Enjoy the beautiful songs created by Jews living in such places as Spain, Turkey, Greece, Sarjevo, Iran, Iraq, Ethiopia, Uganda, Morocco, Syria, India (everywhere but Eastern Europe, Germany and the U.S)... Discover how the great Sephardic poets influenced Jewish literature and song the world over; trace these sacred and secular songs on their journey through time and place.

A musical celebration of the contributions of women to Jewish life through songs from all over the world; also the lives and songs of women composers, performers and collectors who create, rescue, renew and transmit this cultural heritage.

An exploration of the songs of these brilliant creators whose work still challenges us to ask what the role and responsibility of the artist is in any culture. A survey of the German Jewish music legacy.

Fiddler and beyond: Explore the Jewish experience as depicted on the Broadway musical stage. Milk & Honey, the Rothschild's, Two by Two, Wholesale, Funny Girl, Parade and others.

Celebrate the artistry of Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Mahalia Jackson & Nina Simone and their enormous influence on American music.

Celebrate the artistry of Ethel Waters, Lena Horne, Mabel Mercer, Ethel Merman, Mary Martin, Judy Garland and their influence on the history of American entertainment.

Celebrate the artistry of Fannie Brice, Sophie Tucker, Barbra Streisand & Bette Midler and their influence on the history American entertainment.

A tribute to America's best folk and popular songs from Shenandoah, Storyville, Vaudeville, Nashville, Tin Pan Alley, Broadway, Motown, Hollywood, the Brill, Billboard, and places in between. Lecture: Explore one of the most powerful mysteries of music-the power of a simple song. What makes a timeless, great song in each genre? What are the multicultural, historical and other influences on the lyric, rhythmic, melodic and harmonic elements, content and form, that contribute to a good song? Which traditional folk, contemporary folk, Jazz, Blues, R&B, Rock, country and pop songs might belong in the "Great American Songbook" and why.

Celebrate three generations of masters of the art and craft of lyric writing in several genres including The Child Ballads, Shaker hymns, spirituals, Blues, lullabies, Berlin, Hart, Gershwin, Porter, Hammerstein, Razaf, Harburg, Loesser, Harnick, Sondheim, the Bergmans, Mitchell, Meeropol, Cohen (ok, he's Canadian) Simon and others.

Celebrating three generations of tunesmiths: Joplin, Blake, W.C. Handy, Berlin, Kern, Ellington, Gershwin, Rodgers, Arlen, Loesser, Loewe, Bernstein, Sondheim, Bacharach, Legrand, Bock, Simon, Joel and many others.

A celebration of the women who fought their way through the songwriting establishment to become writers or co-writers of some of America's best songs in every genre, from Blues divas to Broadway, and up the Billboard charts. From Kay Swift, Betty Comden, Dorothy Fields, to Ellie Greenwich, Marilyn Bergman, Shirley Caesar, Nina Simone, Joni Mitchell, and Carole King.

Explores the songs and songwriters that have helped fuel social justice movements in the US in the 20th century; a celebration of vision, action and change as expressed through the inspiring voices of artists such as Robeson, Berenice Johnson-Reagon, Dylan, Reynolds, Collins, migrant worker, labor songs, Mitchell, Wonder, Seeger, Baez, Ochs and many others.

A celebration of the vital contributions of African-American composers and singers to every style of vocal music; the songwriters, the vocal artistry, musical elements, historical influences and the role of the church in this diverse, multicultural heritage. Joint series with Janiece Thompson & Laura Wetzler.

An exploration into the history of gospel music with singers Janiece Thompson & Laura Wetzler.

Nurturing the creative spirit inherent in every person, The Kidsong™ Songwriting Workshop encourages kids ages 7-16 to express themselves and explore their culture, history, identity, feelings and values through the group creation of original songs. A fun, guided, cooperative process set in an atmosphere of emotional safety and mutual respect, the workshop uniquely reinforces reading, writing, thinking and listening skills through the dual arts of lyric writing and music composition. Creating together with professional singer-songwriter Laura Wetzler children gain an immense sense of validation and accomplishment, proudly culminating in a performance of their work. Also: The Finding Your Voice Songwriting Workshop for Adults.

Explore the diverse Jewish musical traditions that combine into one of the most ancient, beautiful and influential Jewish communities in the world.

Rosenblatt, Kwartin, Koussevitsky, Hershman, Oysher, Waldman, and more. Explore the spiritual art of Eastern European cantorial music. Enjoy the beautiful voices of these gifted sacred singers. Compare and contrast the Ashkenazi aesthetic with the sacred musical traditions of other world Jewish cultures.

Enjoy the artistry of some of the finest voices to emerge from Jewish culture: Rosenblatt, Oysher, Tucker, Peerce, Sills, Peters, Merrill, Jolsen, Cantor, Patinkin, Picon & Streisand.

Explore the life, career, and artistry of the wonderful Molly Picon, star of Broadway, Hollywood, and Yiddish stage and screen. Enjoy rare classic performances from the 50- year career of this versatile artist.

Learn how Jewish American pop songwriters in commercial music managed to use their songs to foster social change based on the concept of tikkun olam, “repair of the world”.

Explore the life and work of Kurt Weill and his partnership with Lotte Lenya.

Explore the life and careers of America’s greatest Broadway producers. Enjoy backstage stories and excerpts from a century of hit shows.

Explore the life and work of some of the most original dance masters in American popular entertainment. Examine the history of popular dance in America and its resurgence in contemporary music video. George Balanchine, Agnes DeMille, Gower & Marge Champion, Eleanor Powell, Astaire, Rogers, & Hermes Pan, Katherine Dunham, the Nicholas Brothers, Bill “Bo Jangles” Robinson, Jerome Robbins, Gene Kelly, Garth Fagen, Greg Hines & Bob Fosse.

Laura volunteers as www.kulanu.org Coordinator for Uganda and works closely with the Abayudaya Jewish Community in Uganda on over 24 development projects. In this multi-media lecture, Laura shares her eight years of experience in Jewish Africa, creating innovative grassroots community based projects with visionary rural Ugandans and Kulanu volunteers. It features images of four Abayudaya synagogues in Uganda, two schools, African Jewish women's empowerment and child hunger programs, water, sanitation and electricity projects. Hear the story of the fair trade, organic, kosher, interfaith “Delicious Peace” Coffee Project (www.thanksgivingcoffee.com) featured in Oprah Magazine, the Jewish Life in Uganda Mitzvah Tour and Wildlife Safari, (www.kulanu.org) and the Abayudaya micro-finance small business loan project, all anti-poverty projects created by Laura and the leaders of the Abayudaya community, supported by a nationwide network of volunteers. ALSO no media lecture: Volunteer Work: Best Antidote to the Evening News.

Explore the genius of these great composers who helped define American music. Learn how their outsider status moved them to try and articulate American strivings through their music.

Explore the influence of Jewish texts and culture in the dynamic music of Leonard Bernstein.

Celebrate the work of Eddie Cantor, Danny Kaye and Sylvia Fine, Carl Reiner & Sid Caesar, Mel Brooks, Elaine May and Mike Nichols.

Enjoy the work of our most tuneful tunesmiths: Jerry Herman, Lerner & Lowe, Frank Loesser, Harnick & Bock.

Enjoy a multi-media celebration of the lives, artistry and legacies of Yiddish musical artists who advanced Jewish culture and greatly influenced the American entertainment business in the 20th century.

Explore the explosive, joyous work of dance pioneers from Isadora Duncan, Ted Shawn, Ruth St. Dennis, Martha Graham to Jerome Robbins, the Nicholas Brothers and Alvin Ailey.

Explore the trajectory of the African American performing artist, from Jazz to Swing to Pop to the concert hall to Hollywood.

Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennet, Nat King Cole, Johnny Mathis. Celebrate the male voices that first mastered the microphone and early singing techniques of 20th century pop music.

Alice Fay, Billie Holiday, Mabel Mercer, Rosemary Clooney Celebrate the female voices that first mastered the microphone and the early singing techniques of 20th century pop music.

Explore the lives and careers of Toscanini, Reiner, Koussevitsky, Bernstein

Explore the meeting of intellect and passion in the brilliant musical structures of Bach.

Explore the fresh inventiveness of the Master’s work.

A musical journey through select masterworks from the inside out.

Explore the exciting and courageous breakthroughs found in the music of Stravinsky and learn how he freed composers for generations to come.

Explore the experimental world of modern music in the last century.

Bathe in the luxuriant music of this Italian master of melody and melodrama.

Explore the depths and lugubrious musical wanderings of this fascinating composer.

Celebrate the beautiful mountains alive with the history of American dance and music.

Explore musical characteristics and history of Jazz and discover how it found its way into the work of classical composers, from Stravinsky and Milhaud to Copland and Bernstein.

A joyous celebration of the human voice en masse.

Galli-Curci, Tebaldi, De Los Angelis, Callas, Price, Horne, Sills, Sutherland and more.

Caruso, Warren, Tucker, Peerce, Domingo, Pavarotti, and more.

Explore the history of multi-cultural and multi-national African, Native American and Spanish musical elements, particularly as they invigorate and energize American music.

Explore the history of American music and how we got here.

Explore the major works of our most esteemed contemporary Broadway composer and lyricist.