HLS Administrators Rhapsodize Gershwin

By day Benjamin R. Sears and Bradford L. Conner are administrators at the Harvard Law School, but by night they are members of a successful piano and vocals duo who perform 1920s-style music in the Boston area.

Sears and Conner will perform tonight at 8 p.m. at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education on Brattle Street. Their show is titled, "Oh Kay, Oh George," after the composers Kay Swift and George Gershwin.

Sears and Conner originally put the show together for Swift's 100th birthday in 1997. Tonight's concert, however, is part of the nationwide celebration of Gershwin's centennial birthday.

"We are the only people that I know of to do a uniquely George and Kay concert," Sears said.

The duo will be performing a mixture of old favorites and rare pieces by Gershwin and Swift. "It's a look at their personal and creative lives," Sears said.

"We are very loosely putting their lives together both musically and romantically as it plays out in the songs," Conner said.

Although Swift is best known for being romantically involved with Gershwin, she was also a successful composer and the first woman to write the complete score for a Broadway musical.

Sears and Conner plan to perform Gershwin favorites such as "Stairway to Paradise," "Love Is Here To Stay," "Strike Up the Band" and some of his obscure pieces such as "There's More To the Kiss Than the X-X-X."

Conner and Sears will also be performing what they believe is the localpremiere of the Gershwin song "Hi-Ho!"

Sears believes there are only 500 copies of thesong in existence. "We were lucky enough to find acopy," Sears said.

"The piece was lost for ages and we're bringingit back out again," Conner said.

Conner and Sears plan to play some of Swift'smore popular songs such as "Can't We Just BeFriends" and "Fine and Dandy" as well as thecuriosity piece "Sawing a Woman in Half."

Conner has been a classical pianist since theage of 15 and was first introduced to show musicas an adult when he produced Irving Berlin'sAnnie Get Your Gun.

"I realized how much that music was in myblood," Conner said.

Conner and Sears have been performing togetherfor nearly 10 years and have made five recordingstogether.

Sears and Conner enjoy tracking down rarepieces by well-known composers.

"We look through piles of dusty sheet music,"Conner said.

Sears cited Harvard's music library as one ofthe best resources in the search for forgottenpieces.

"We do a lot of research," Conner said.

Sears and Conner also worked with rare musiccollectors and collaborated with Swift'sgranddaughter to gain access to her personalarchives.

"You network," Sears said.

As much as they enjoy researching, Conner andSears love performing.

"One thing we like is we always hear frompeople," Conner said.

In between songs Sears and Conner talk to theaudience about the composers' and the songs'backgrounds to put the music in perspective.

"We try to talk to the audience about where asong is coming from," Conner said.

Sears and Conner want to inspire in theiraudience the excitement they feel about the musicof the 1920s.

"I've always been fascinated by songs of thisera," Sears said. "I was always interested insinging.

Sears believes there are only 500 copies of thesong in existence. "We were lucky enough to find acopy," Sears said.

"The piece was lost for ages and we're bringingit back out again," Conner said.

Conner and Sears plan to play some of Swift'smore popular songs such as "Can't We Just BeFriends" and "Fine and Dandy" as well as thecuriosity piece "Sawing a Woman in Half."

Conner has been a classical pianist since theage of 15 and was first introduced to show musicas an adult when he produced Irving Berlin'sAnnie Get Your Gun.

"I realized how much that music was in myblood," Conner said.

Conner and Sears have been performing togetherfor nearly 10 years and have made five recordingstogether.

Sears and Conner enjoy tracking down rarepieces by well-known composers.

"We look through piles of dusty sheet music,"Conner said.

Sears cited Harvard's music library as one ofthe best resources in the search for forgottenpieces.

"We do a lot of research," Conner said.

Sears and Conner also worked with rare musiccollectors and collaborated with Swift'sgranddaughter to gain access to her personalarchives.

"You network," Sears said.

As much as they enjoy researching, Conner andSears love performing.

"One thing we like is we always hear frompeople," Conner said.

In between songs Sears and Conner talk to theaudience about the composers' and the songs'backgrounds to put the music in perspective.

"We try to talk to the audience about where asong is coming from," Conner said.

Sears and Conner want to inspire in theiraudience the excitement they feel about the musicof the 1920s.

"I've always been fascinated by songs of thisera," Sears said. "I was always interested insinging.