“Let the drums roll out
Let the trumpet call
While the people shout
Strike up the band!”
—George and Ira Gershwin
“Strike Up the Band,” 1927

The story of George Gershwin— the great American composer —and his collaborator and brother—the brilliant lyricist Ira Gershwin—is a study of talent matched by determination, engagement and a passion for music. Born Jacob and Israel Gershowitz, these sons of Russian immigrants became icons of modern American music whose influence endures.

George, who bridged the gap between jazz and symphonic music with “Rhapsody in Blue,” composed this signature work during a three-week period in 1924, when he was 26 years old. Just 10 years earlier, at age 16, George dropped out of high school to become a song plugger for a Tin Pan Alley music publisher. His breakthrough came in 1920, when Al Jolson recorded Gershwin’s first hit song, “Swanee.”

At age 16, Ira was an English major at New York’s City College. He wanted to be a writer, but nothing seemed to take. He joined the circus, worked as a clerk and wrote theater reviews. Eventually, he tried writing a lyric for one of George’s songs and never looked back, writing with his brother more than a dozen Broadway shows and the opera “Porgy and Bess,” and becoming the first songwriter to win the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1932.

Seemingly out of nowhere, the Gershwins became the most celebrated innovators of American music and musical theater. It would be easy to attribute this to raw talent alone because, without question, the Gershwins had a gift. But they also had the other ingredients of greatness: drive, a disciplined work ethic, and an understanding, ultimately, of the value and power that came from a marriage of their work with the equally important work of the broader performance community—the musicians, actors, singers, dancers and others who made their work come alive on stage, in symphonic performances and through motion pictures.

Lives like those of the Gershwins are inspirational and of special meaning to those of us who are part of a vibrant and growing trade association. We keenly feel the vital role the community can play, through our Metals Service Center Institute, in the success of member companies. Not every member participates in every activity; not every instrument is required for every Gershwin performance. But as we strive, through and with our members, to bring together the discussions, learning, data, policy positions and thought leadership that ultimately inform us all, we perform, in our own way, with the strength, teamwork and fine sense of purpose that characterizes a memorable night of Gershwin music.
Perhaps none of us at MSCI is a George or Ira Gershwin. Yet the beauty of our trade association is that, through the engagement of individuals and a passion for our work, we collectively create harmonies that we individually rarely approach.

There is a value and power to be found in our many communities. Each day, our band makes a little more memorable music. It is our great, shared opportunity—challenging, exhilarating and very rewarding.

Gentlemen and ladies, strike up the band!