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Category: Special Collections

Lakecia Benjamin: 2023 Library of Congress Jazz Scholar

Posted by: Claudia Morales

The following is a guest post by 2023 Library of Congress Jazz Scholar and 2024 Grammy Nominee Lakecia Benjamin. In many ways, 2023 was a breakout year for me. I was blessed to be able to perform the music I love, meet new people and experience different countries, languages, and cultures. Most people don’t know …

Acquisition Highlights for the Past Year – a Top Five List!

Posted by: Cait Miller

This is a guest post from Head of Acquisitions & Processing Vin Novara, with Senior Music Specialists Mark Eden Horowitz, Kate Rivers, and Ray White.   Nick Hornby’s book “High Fidelity” (1995) features an entertaining look at the quirks of people who intensely collect on music. Top five lists feature prominently throughout the work. As …

Vinyl record album for "Dionysus and Proserpina" by Anonymous of Greenwich. Album cover features sepia-tone image depicting the gods Dionysys and Proserpina lounging in nature, looking at one another adoringly.

Fakes and Fibs in the Music Division

Posted by: Cait Miller

There are many instances of established composers writing music under unexpected pen names, and the Music Division's special collections hold manuscripts for several such works. Read more about relevant examples from the Charles Wuorinen Papers and the Fritz Kreisler Collection.

It Runs in the Family: Heartwarming Photos from the Music Division

Posted by: Heather Darnell

It’s that time of the year when many Americans gather with their families to cut the turkey, gobble up pumpkin pie, and feel grateful for one another. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, let’s look at heartwarming photos our favorite artistic families from the Music Division’s Digital Collections: Sylvia Fine and Danny Kaye   Sylvia Fine …

Engraving depicting a scene from Verdi's opera adaptation of Macbeth

Shakespeare Everywhere: From the Stacks to the Coolidge Stage

Posted by: Nicholas A. Brown-Cáceres

This autumn, many of Washington, D.C.’s arts and culture venues are collaborating to present the Shakespeare Everywhere Festival. The Library of Congress is pleased to participate in this gathering of theatrical productions, concerts, lectures, and educational events on offer through December 31, 2023. Bibliophiles and music lovers can experience two special events as part of …

Image of four musicians onstage performing with a city backdrop

Founder’s Day 2023: Piece Offerings—Focused Encounters with Recent Works by Roger Reynolds and Kate Soper

Posted by: David Plylar

*** SPECIAL START TIME OF 7 p.m. FOR THIS YEAR’S FOUNDER’S DAY CONCERT!!!*** Each year on Founder’s Day (October 30th) we celebrate the legacy of Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, the visionary patron whose gifts of the Coolidge Auditorium and an endowment to support a concert series in that space have helped make Concerts from the Library …