Abstract

John Adams (1947-) is an American composer, conductor, and writer. He is the winner of five Grammy Awards and recipient of the 2003 Pultizer Prize for his work On the Transmigration of Souls in tribute to the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks. The collection includes music scores by Adams and others, correspondence, business and financial papers, biographical materials, programs and promotional materials, and clippings.

Abstract The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) was founded by choreographer and dancer Alvin Ailey (1931-1989). Ailey used Lester Horton and Martha Graham technique and added movement expressive of African American culture and social dance to elevate African American experiences through his work. AAADT became one of the most prolific and celebrated American dance companies. The collection contains documentation of the creation and performance of dances for the AAADT, correspondence and...

Abstract Laurindo Almeida was a Brazilian-American guitarist and composer. Often credited for contributions to the development of jazz samba, Almeida was a prolific composer and arranger of music for both classical Spanish guitar and popular guitar. He was an acclaimed recording artist and became the first person to win Grammy Awards for both classical and jazz performances. The collection contains manuscript and printed music, correspondence, publicity materials, photographs, and other items related...

Abstract American Ballet Theatre (ABT), established in 1940 as Ballet Theatre, is recognized as one of the world's largest and most distinguished dance companies. By act of Congress on April 27, 2006, ABT became America's National Ballet Company. The archive includes music scores, choreographic notes and Benesh dance notation scores, correspondence, business papers, scrapbooks, programs, clippings, photographs, posters, video recordings and films, and prints and drawings, including set and costume...

Abstract The American Conservatory at Fontainebleau was originally established in 1919 to improve the quality of United States military bands mobilized in France at the end of World War I. In 1921, the school opened to American civilians, welcoming music students for summer classes in the Louis XV wing of the Château de Fontainebleau. The School of Fine Arts was established in 1923, and architecture has become the focus of its instruction. Still active today, the Conservatory's faculty has featured...

Abstract George Antheil was a composer, pianist, author and inventor. The collection consists of materials related to the professional and personal activities of George Antheil and his wife, Elizabeth (Böske) Antheil. It contains holograph music manuscripts, printed scores, published and unpublished writings, business and personal correspondence, subject files, photographs, programs and promotional materials, scrapbooks, artwork, biographical materials, and memorabilia which document the life of this...

Abstract

George Antheil was a composer, pianist, author, and inventor. He first gained fame and notoriety in the 1920s for his mechanistic compositions. This collection principally consists of letters between George Antheil and his longtime patron, Mary Louise Curtis Bok. Other items include several writings by Antheil, photographs of his staged works, promotional materials, and clippings.

Abstract

Lucille "Sweets" Preston (1921-2020), a dancer at the Cotton Club and member of the vaudeville comedic duo Slim & Sweets, was an intimate partner of jazz legend Louis Armstrong beginning in the early 1950s. This collection consists of correspondence, photographs, and other materials formerly owned by their daughter Sharon Preston-Folta. The items document both the relationsip between "Satchmo" and Lucille Preston as well as Preston's colleagues in the entertainment industry.

Abstract The Arnold Volpe Papers contain letters, photographs, music, scrapbooks, posters, and other materials reflecting Volpe's career, from his student days in Russia to his accomplishments as a conductor, composer, violinist, and mentor in the United States. He was founder and director of the Young Men's Symphony Orchestra of New York (1902-1919) and the Volpe Symphony Orchestra of New York City (1904-1914). He is also credited with founding and conducting the initial Lewisohn Stadium Concerts...

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Arsis Press was a music publishing company in Washington, D.C., founded by composer Clara Lyle Boone in 1974 to publish music by women composers. The Arsis Press Records include printed music by nearly forty composers, financial records, business papers, and correspondence.

Abstract Howard Ashman (1950-1991) was a lyricist, librettist, playwright and director. The papers chiefly consist of materials from his work, including his collaborations with composer Alan Menken, such as Little Shop of Horrors and the Disney animated musicals The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin. Materials include scripts, piano-conductor scores,...

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Ernst Bacon was an American composer, pianist, and conductor. Largely a self-taught composer, Bacon also became an esteemed administrator and educator, serving as director of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) Federal Music Project in 1935 and later as composer-in-residence at Syracuse University from 1947-1963. The collection contains music, writings, correspondence, iconography, programs, clippings, publicity materials, and other miscellaneous items.

Abstract Pearl Bailey was an American singer and actress who established herself as a prominent nightclub entertainer on the East Coast during the mid-twentieth century. She also appeared in several Broadway productions, including House of Flowers and Hello, Dolly! Bailey also starred as Maria in the 1959 filmed production of Porgy and Bess. She later hosted her own televised variety series, the ...

Abstract Samuel Barber remains one of America’s eminent composers, best known for the "Adagio" from his String Quartet, op. 11 in B minor. He composed large and small-scale works for piano, voice and piano, chorus, and orchestra, as well as three operas. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Barber's compositional style remained decidedly tonal. The collection is comprised of correspondence, music from Barber's personal library, printed music, writings,...

Abstract The Barry Sisters (Merna and Claire Barry) was a popular American Jewish vocal group whose careers as Yiddish jazz singers spanned from the late 1930s through the early 1970s. They made their first recordings on Victor Records, and they performed on the radio and television, at New York's Catskill resort hotels, and toured in the United States and abroad. The collection chiefly documents their musical careers through musical scores, parts, and lead sheets, as well as other related...

Abstract Ethel Bartlett and Rae Robertson comprised the piano duo Bartlett and Robertson, who were active in the first half of the twentieth century. They met as students at the Royal Academy of Music and married in 1921, forming their piano duo shortly thereafter. The collection includes primarily manuscript music, both newly composed works for piano duet and two-piano transcriptions and arrangements, as well as compositions written by Bartlett and Robertson. Of note are holograph scores of...

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Béla Bartók was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. The Etelka Freund Collection on Béla Bartók consists chiefly of correspondence between the composer and pianist Etelka Freund (1879-1977), and printed music for his early works, some of which are annotated. Additional materials include photographs, clippings, programs, publicity materials, and journal articles that document Bartók’s professional activities.

Abstract Harold Bauer was an English violinist and pianist, teacher, and music editor who corresponded with many musical luminaries of his day, including Ernest Bloch, Nadia Boulanger, Pablo Casals, Gabriel Fauré, Percy Grainger, Jascha Heifetz, Josef Hofmann, Gustav Holst, Vincent d'Indy, Fritz Kreisler, Charles Martin Loeffler, Pierre Monteux, Moritz Moszkowski, Vladimir de Pachmann, Ignace Jan Paderewski, Isidore Philipp, Henry Prunières, Carl Ruggles, Carlos Salzedo, Gustave Schirmer, Leopold...

Abstract Irwin "Bud" Bazelon (1922-1995) was an American composer of both concert and film music, as well as a conductor and author. His compositional output includes symphonies, chamber music, music for documentaries and television commercials, and other works. His Knowing the Score: Notes on Film Music, first published in 1975, was one of the early scholarly texts on film music. The collection consists of Bazelon's music, writings (especially pertaining to...

Abstract

Alban Berg (1885–1935) was an Austrian composer and member of the Second Viennese School, along with Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, who together advanced atonal and twelve-tone music. The Willi Reich Collection on Alban Berg consists of correspondence between the composer and musicologist Willi Reich (1898-1980), articles and clippings, and printed music for Berg's vocal and instrumental works.

Abstract Irving Berlin was an American lyricist and composer of over 1,200 songs. He was also a music publisher, theater owner, and a founding member of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP). The collection, which documents all aspects of his life and career, contains music scores, Berlin's handwritten and typewritten lyric sheets, publicity and promotional materials, personal and professional correspondence, photographs, business papers, legal and financial records,...

Abstract Unpublished and published textual materials, photographs, sound recordings, scrapbooks, artifacts, and a motion picture documenting the life and work of the German-born immigrant to America who invented the gramophone, the flat disc recording, the radio microphone, acoustic tile, and an early version of the helicopter. Included are unpublished and experimental gramophone records dating from the 1890s, some of them featuring the voices of Berliner and various family members, as well as...

Abstract Leonard Bernstein was an American composer, conductor, writer, lecturer, and pianist. The collection contains correspondence, photographs, writings, personal business papers, the archives from his corporate identity, Amberson Inc., scrapbooks, clippings and press materials, programs, datebooks and schedules, iconography, address books, and fan mail. In addition, it contains music manuscripts for many of his compositions, including The Age of Anxiety (Symphony no....

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Ernest Bloch was a Swiss-born composer, violinist, conductor, and photographer. The collection, which documents his life and work, includes manuscripts (music and lecture material), correspondence, business and financial papers, photographs, programs, promotional material, clippings, writings about Ernest Bloch, personal papers, and printed matter.

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Adolph Bolm (1884-1951) was a renowned ballet dancer, choreographer, and dance teacher. This collection, which documents his career both in Russia and the United States, contains photographs, correspondence, programs, pamphlets, articles, business papers, writings, artwork, and music scores.