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Posted by: Cait Miller
The following is a guest post by Contract Archivist Janet McKinney. At a time of year when the airwaves are saturated with holiday music, I continually hear the strains of one man’s iconic songs stand out from the rest – those of Irving Berlin (1888-1989). It occurred to me that many may not associate these …
Posted in: Composers, Guest bloggers, Holidays, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
The following is a guest post by Senior Music Specialist Mark Horowitz. As it’s the holiday season, it seems appropriate to express thanks for a series of extraordinary opportunities that the Music Division has afforded me…and to celebrate some of the other good things they lead to. It mostly started in 1996 with a grant …
Posted in: Composers, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
The following is a guest post by Senior Music Specialist Robin Rausch. The weekend of December 3-5, I participated in a MacDowell Festival & Symposium at Elizabethtown College in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, to commemorate the 150th birthday (on December 18th) of the distinguished American composer Edward MacDowell. MacDowell is generally acknowledged to be the first American …
Posted in: Composers, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
One year ago today, In the Muse launched with Meet the Music Division, a post that interviewed several staff members about their personal experience with Beatlemania. Since then, we’ve brought you news of Music Division events, including our world-renowned concert programs. We’ve highlighted a wide variety of treasures from the collection – from old maestros like Bach …
Posted in: Composers, Sheet Music, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
The following is a guest post by James Wintle, Reference Specialist, and Mark Horowitz, Senior Music Specialist. This winter, one of the hottest tickets in Washington DC is the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s revival of Leonard Bernstein’s operetta Candide, in a new production written and directed by Mary Zimmerman. Fans of the show, who want to …
Posted in: Composers, Special Collections
Posted by: Cait Miller
Aaron Copland, eminent composer of 20th-century American music, was born 110 years ago yesterday, on November 14, 1900. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Aaron studied piano as a child and later studied with American composer and pianist Rubin Goldmark. In 1920, Copland traveled to Paris to study with renowned French composer, conductor and teacher Nadia …
Posted in: Birthdays, Composers, Digital Collections, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
Every other Friday the Music Division releases a batch of photos from the William P. Gottlieb Collection to Flickr Commons. This week’s release includes portraits of musical legends like Frank Sinatra, Billy Strayhorn, Sarah Vaughan, and Billy Taylor, whose collection resides in the Music Division. You can also view a gathering of Smiths, including violinist Stuff, alto …
Posted in: Composers, Jazz, Musicians, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
Many virtual servings of cake and ice cream are on hand this week in the Music Division, as we celebrate the birth dates of a veritable constellation of stars in the musical firmament. These October children grew to be the august personages who populate the Performing Arts Encyclopedia with dulcet tones – or, in some …
Posted in: Birthdays, Composers, Digital Collections, Jazz, Musicians, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
The thirteenth of October may fill the superstitious with dread, but today we celebrate the birthdays of three great musicians whose work fills the Music Division’s precious vaults. Celebrate gospel singer Shirley Caeasar (born October 13, 1938) with a medley including “You’re Next in Line,” an excerpt from Gospel: A Joyful Sound, a concert Caesar and her …
Posted in: Birthdays, Composers, Concerts and Events, Jazz, Musicians, Special Collections