Ira Gershwin and a love of Gilbert and Sullivan. He attended the City College of New York but dropped out. The childhood home of Ira and George Gershwin was in the center of the Yiddish Theater District, on the second floor at 91 Second Avenue, between East 5th Street and East 6th Street. They frequented the local Yiddish theaters. While George began composing and "plugging" in Tin Pan Alley from the age of 18, Ira worked as a cashier in his father's Turkish baths. It was not until 1921 that Ira became involved in the music business. Alex Aarons signed Ira to
Songwriting competition and airplay of their songs, sometimes recording contracts. Songwriting competitions are often called "career-boosts". A variation on the theme of songwriting competitions is ComProsers, whose inaugural contest asks participants to read a short story first and create a piece of music inspired by that story. Yet another variation is the Write-With-A-Hit-Maker (WWAHM.com) songwriting contest. This annual event sponsored by the 20+ year old Durango Songwriters Expo provides the winning songwriter with the rare opportunity to write a song with a bona fide hit songwriter. Hit songwriters who have participated in this event include Jeff Silbar ("Wind Beneath My Wings"), Kim