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Posted by: Libby Smigel
Music Division Archives Technician Amy Poe reveals the mastery of language and tact found among the letters of philanthropist Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge.
Posted in: chamber music, Composers, Guest bloggers, Musicians, Special Collections
Posted by: Libby Smigel
The Music Division staff spotlight the Top 5 acquisitions of 2025, including the 1690 Tuscan-Medici viola by Antonio Stradivari, Igor Stravinsky's holograph for "The Nightengale," the papers of the composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich and the pianist Paul Wittgenstein, and the archives of master of musical theater Stephen Sondheim.
Posted in: Composers, Musical Instruments, Musicians, New Acquisitions, Special Collections, Women in Music
Posted by: Claudia Morales
Concerts from the Library of Congress launches an exciting, yearlong America 250 celebration this January, presenting a broad panorama of the nation’s music in concerts and conversations, lectures, film screenings, educational programs and more.
Posted in: American history, chamber music, Choreographers, Commissions, Composers, Concerts and Events, Conductors, Dance, Early Music, Instrumentalists, Jazz, Musical Instruments, Musical Theater, Musicians
Posted by: Nicholas A. Brown-Cáceres
Andrew Northrup of UCL's Slade School of Fine Art discusses research findings related to the Library's Buchla 100 modular synthesizer in the Vladimir Ussachevsky Collection in the Music Division.
Posted in: Composers, Electronic Music, Musicians
Posted by: Nicholas A. Brown-Cáceres
The Library of Congress recently published “Let the People Hear It: Concerts from the Library of Congress at 100” (Library of Congress, 2025). The book provides a visual journey through the history of the Library’s renowned concert series, which was established in 1925 by philanthropist Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge and Carl Engel, then-chief of the Library’s Music Division. Learn about this new book and where to catch the authors on book tour this coming winter and spring.
Posted in: American history, Commissions, Composers, Concerts and Events, Curators, Music Division history, Musicians, Staff
Posted by: Nicholas A. Brown-Cáceres
As the Concerts from the Library of Congress series approaches the final months of its centennial celebration, staff will share several memorable episodes from the series’ history here on "In the Muse." The first in this series recounts the famous story of how Joseph Szigeti, one of the great violinists of the twentieth century, and composer Béla Bartók came to connect with the Library.
Posted in: Commissions, Composers, Concerts and Events, Music Division history, Musical Instruments, Musicians, Special Collections
Posted by: Nicholas A. Brown-Cáceres
María Peña of the Library's Office of Communications recounts the life and legacy of Latin jazz musician Eddie Palmieri who passed away in early August. Palmieri performed at the Library in October 2024 and participated in a wide-ranging oral history interview with Claudia Morales of the Music Division.
Posted in: Composers, Concerts and Events, In Memoriam, Instrumentalists, Jazz, Latin American History, Musicians, Staff Interviews
Posted by: Claudia Morales
Concerts from the Library of Congress presents a 15-event lineup for the fall 2025 season, wrapping up its successful 18-month centennial celebration with a rich mix of classical, jazz and pop concerts, lectures, conversations and special projects that salute the distinguished history of the series.
Posted in: Commissions, Composers, Concerts and Events, Conductors, Film Music, Instrumentalists, Jazz, Musical Instruments, Musicians, Vocalists
Posted by: Claudia Morales
Learn about 2024-2025 Library of Congress Jazz Scholar Willard Jenkins' time exploring the Music Division's jazz collections. Jenkins, who is the artistic director of the DC Jazz Festival, conducted research in the archives this spring and presented a lecture on "The Enduring Importance of Jazz Archives" on June 18, 2025.
Posted in: African American History, American history, Composers, Copyright Deposits, Jazz, Musicians, Sheet Music, Women in Music