Library of Congress Announces Spring 2025 Concert Series. Concerts from the Library of Congress continues to celebrate a century of landmark concerts in spring 2025, offering a rich and diverse kaleidoscope of classical music, jazz, pop, folk and dance events, with a major focus on American contemporary voices across genres.
Electronic music pioneer Morton Subotnick visits the Library this Thursday, December 5 at 5:00 p.m. ET for a special event that will feature a live demonstration of his recently restored, historic Buchla 100 synthesizer. Subotnick, whose papers are held by the Library, will be joined by composer Steve Antosca and members of the Modular Electronic Music Systems (MEMS) team. Attend in person or via livestream (registration required).
Learn about new collection finding aids that have been published by the Library's Music Division. These finding aids provide bibliographic access to the Milton Ager Music Manuscripts, Marvin Hamlisch Papers, Arthur Mendel Correspondence with Igor Stravinsky and Others, Trude Rittmann Papers, William Schuman Music Manuscripts, Robert Wright and George Forrest Papers and more.
While every week at the Library offers something exciting for visitors, researchers and staff, there are certain occasions (like this week) when there is a confluence of musical activity that should perk up everyone's ears. Three major events will grace the Coolidge Auditorium stage, featuring a Broadway and film star, a stellar vocal group that features graduates of the Thomanerchor in Leipzig (that's the chorus that J.S. Bach led at Thomaskirche) and a blockbuster evening of chamber music with the Belcea and Ébène Quartets. Attendees of each event will have a unique chance to see items from the Music Division's collections.
In commemoration of Veterans Day, Senior Music Specialist Loras John Schissel presents a sketch of an important American arranger, composer, and conductor who broke the color barrier in the U.S. armed forces in 1918. This man was Bandmaster William “Will” Henry Bennet Vodery. Vodery's service in the military and his work as a musician is documented in collections available for researchers in the Performing Arts Reading Room.
Film music and musical theater buffs can now explore the scores and papers of composer-arranger Marvin Hamlisch in the Library of Congress Performing Arts Reading Room. Archivist Janet McKinney describes the range of materials, which include photographs, programs, scrapbooks, staging lists, and even Hamlisch's entertainment trophies.
The Music Division commemorates the 160th birthday of Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, a trailblazing American philanthropist and musician who founded the Library's concert series and commissioning program, and established the longstanding tradition of public-private philanthropic partnerships at the institution. Explore previous Founder's Day concerts and learn more about this storied titan of American music history.
On Friday, October 18, the Music Division had the honor of presenting 10-time Grammy winner, NEA Jazz Master, “El Sonero Mayor,” American pianist, composer, arranger, band leader and social activist, Mr. Eddie Palmieri. In 1975, Palmieri won the first-ever Grammy in the category of Best Latin Music Recording with his album “The Sun of …
This year we celebrate the 150th anniversary of Arnold Schoenberg’s birth. The Library of Congress is the home to nearly all of Schoenberg’s music for string quartet, and over the course of two concerts given by the superb Quatuor Diotima, we will explore most of what we have, including: String Quartet in D major (1897) …
