Gary Holzman, founder of the Shir Madness Jewish music festival and Sydney Shir Madness festival director, is an intellectual property lawyer who has spent most of his spare time (and a fair bit of his work time) listening to and reading about popular music. Through his extensive (some would say excessive) research Gary has developed an encyclopedic knowledge of music, with a particular emphasis on the history of Jewish songwriters and performers. He has parlayed this knowledge into a 10-week course entitled 'The Jewish School of Rock', which he has presented to enthusiastic music lovers on a regular basis. For more than 10 years he has also delivered numerous talks on the subject at Shalom, Limmud-Oz, North Shore Temple Emanuel, Moriah College, Cremorne Synagogue, B’nai B’rith and to the general public.