American music icon George Gershwin dabbled in a bit of everything.

From recording piano rolls in Tin Pan Alley, to playing piano as an accompanist in Vaudeville and Broadway and onto the pop charts as a song writer, the legendary composer also branched onto the classical music stage and into the opera before his death at age 37 in 1937.

He’s considered one of the most influential forces of American music. Countless singers and musicians have recorded his tunes — from Louis Armstrong to Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra to Billie Holliday, Miles Davis, Fred Astaire and even Barbara Streisand and Sting.

“People have been hearing these tunes all their lives, and loving it,” lecturer Norm Hollingshead noted. “People just love it because the music is so irresistible. My lecture about Gershwin is basically his life story, using those musical excerpts.”

Think George Gershwin, “Behind the Music,” at the Kitsap Regional Library. Hollingshead presents his series on the composer divided into three self-contained sections: “The Early Years through ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ ” March 2; “The King of Broadway” March 30 and “ ‘Porgy and Bess’ Hollywood and Tragic Early Death,” April 6.

All sessions are free and begin at 2:15 p.m. at the Sylvan Way branch of the Kitsap Regional Library, 1301 Sylvan Way in Bremerton.

Info: Call series organizer Margaret at (360) 377-0973 or the library at (360) 405-9100.