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 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 It contains holograph music manuscripts, printed scores, published and unpublished writings, business and personal correspondence, subject files, photographs, programs and promotional materials, scrapbooks, artwork, biographical materials,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 Luiz Heitor Corrêa de Azevedo (1905-1992) was a Brazilian musicologist, folklorist, educator, and music critic. His papers document his life and career through correspondence, writings, teaching materials, notebooks, research and subject files, photographs, and awards. Correspondence, as well as holograph, facsimile, and inscribed scores, illustrate Azevedo's relationships with twentieth-century composers from South America, North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. His own...

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 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 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,...

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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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Herbert L. Kirk (1926-1994) was a writer, editor, and publishing consultant. The collection chiefly consists of material relating to his book, Pablo Casals, a Biography (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1974). It includes his extensive research material on Casals, his research notes and business papers, correspondence, photographs, programs, drafts and proofs of the book, clippings, articles, posters, and a scrapbook.

Abstract José María Castro was an Argentine composer, conductor, and cellist. He was a member of the Sociedad del Cuarteto and a co-founder of Grupo Renovación, an avant-garde musical youth movement in Argentina that became the International Society for Contemporary Music’s Argentine Section in 1932. The collection includes musical compositions, arrangements, and transcriptions by Castro; music by others; correspondence; writings; programs; clippings; scrapbooks; personal papers; photographs; and...

Abstract Harry Chapin (1942-1981) was an American singer-songwriter and philanthropist. Primarily active in the 1970s, he was known for songs written in a narrative style, such as "Cat's in the Cradle" and "Taxi." Chapin was also one of the founders, along with Bill Ayres, of the World Hunger Year organization, now known as WhyHunger. This collection consists of interviews, writings, photographs, song and poetry books, scrapbooks, and clippings pertaining to Chapin's personal...

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Peggy Clark (1915-1996) was an American lighting, scenic, and costume designer. The collection includes light plots, scenic renderings, correspondence, published and unpublished writings, blueprints, programs, photographs, posters, scripts, scrapbooks, clippings, notes, memorabilia and other materials related to her life and career.

Abstract Miriam "Mimi" Cole (1926-2012) was an American dancer and choreographer who performed solo as well as with the Martha Graham Dance Company and other contemporaries. The Miriam Cole Papers consists primarily of programs; clippings, articles, and scrapbook pages; photographs; music for her choreography; and contracts. Much of the material relates to Cole's association with the Graham company: photographs, programs, articles, and other items documenting the Graham European tour in 1954 are...

Abstract The Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation Collection documents the life and professional activities of composer, pianist, and patron of music Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge (E.S. Coolidge). In 1925, she created the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation (E.S.C.F.) at the Library of Congress in support of chamber music and established the gift to construct the Coolidge Auditorium in the Library's Thomas Jefferson Building. E.S. Coolidge spent her career promoting chamber music and musicians...

Abstract The Aaron Copland Collection consists of published and unpublished music by Copland and other composers, correspondence, writings, biographical material, datebooks, journals, professional papers including legal and financial material, photographs, awards, art work, and books. Of particular interest is the correspondence with Nadia Boulanger, which extent over 50 years, and with his long-time friend, Harold Clurman. Other significant correspondents are Leonard Bernstein, Paul Bowles, Benjamin...

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George Crumb was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer who was long associated with the University of Pennsylvania. The collection consists of holograph manuscript scores and sketches, correspondence, business papers, subject files, and a series of meticulously assembled scrapbooks that chronicle Crumb's career as a composer.

Abstract Includes biographical materials, correspondence, writings, music, programs, clippings, artwork, photographs, awards, and other materials. Biographical materials include a copy of autobiography of Leopold Damrosch and memoirs of Marie von Heimburg, the aunt of Clara, Frank, and Walter Damrosch. Both items also exist in Damrosch-Tee Van Collection and Damrosch-Blaine Collection. The correspondence consists of letters between members of the Mannes and Damrosch families and other important...

Abstract The Damrosch-Tee Van Collection consists of the papers of violinist, conductor, and composer Leopold Damrosch; his son Frank, who was also a conductor; and and their families. The collection includes biographical materials, correspondence, writings, manuscript and printed music, financial and legal papers, programs, scrapbooks, artwork, and photographs. The papers of Leopold Damrosch consist of correspondence, a few examples of writings, four scores, and biographical materials. The papers of...

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Oliver Daniel was an American arts administrator, musicologist, radio director and producer, and composer. The collection includes correspondence, manuscript and printed scores, photographs, programs, clippings, scrapbooks and periodicals.

Abstract Denishawn, which modern dancers Ruth St. Denis (1879-1968) and Ted Shawn (1891-1972) founded in 1915, was a renowned dance company through which numerous prominent performers, including artists such as Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman, Louise Brooks, Anne Douglas, and Grace McCrea, received dance training and began their careers. The Denishawn Legacy Collection consists of programs, promotional materials, photographs, correspondence, articles, and scrapbook pages pertaining...

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Vernon Duke (born Vladimir Dukelsky) was an American composer and songwriter. He rose to success in the 1930s with hit songs such as "April in Paris" and "Autumn in New York" and later collaborated with many leading composers and lyricists of the period, including George and Ira Gershwin, Serge Prokofiev, and Serge Koussevitzky. The collection contains manuscript and printed music, correspondence, subject files, photographs, and other materials related to his career.

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Selma Epstein (1927-2014) was a concert pianist, teacher, promoter of contemporary music, and champion of 20th-century black and female composers. The collection contains contemporary music scores, many by women and African-American composers, as well as a small amount of clippings and promotional materials.

Abstract Alice Eversman (1885-1974) and Elena de Sayn (1884?-1966) were a performing duo active in the early 1900s. Eversman was an operatic soprano and de Sayn was a violinist. During the 1930s, they both settled in Washington, D.C., and became music critics for the Washington Star. They were important members of the local musical community as well as newspaper writers' groups. De Sayn also continued her performing and teaching career through the early 1960s. The...

Abstract The Federal Theatre Project, created by the U.S. Works Progress Administration in 1935, was designed to conserve and develop the skills of theater workers, re-employ them on public relief, and to bring theater to thousands in the United States who had never before seen live theatrical performances. The collection includes correspondence, memoranda, play and radio scripts, reports, research studies, manuals, publications, bulletins, forms, lists, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, charts,...