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Posted by: Pat Padua
The following is a guest post by Constance Valis Hill, jazz tap dancer, choreographer, and scholar of performance studies. Her book, Brotherhood in Rhythm: The Jazz Tap Dancing of the Nicholas Brothers (2000) received the ASCAP Deems Taylor Award. Tap Dancing America, A Cultural History (2010) was supported by grants from the John Simon Guggenheim …
Posted in: Dance, Digital Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
The Music Division is proud to offer two new web presentations in the Performing Arts Encyclopedia. The collection of notable dancer, choreographer and teacher Bronislava Nijinska (1891-1972) contains a diverse variety of materials documenting dance and the arts in the twentieth century. Available here are over 200 collection items, including manuscripts, books, diaries, choreographic notebooks, …
Posted in: Dance, Digital Collections, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
Forty-one years ago today, astronaut Neil A. Armstrong became the first human being to set foot on the moon. The Apollo 11 broadcast from the moon on July 20, 1969, which transmitted Neil Armstrong’s immortal words, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” was named to the National Recording Registry in 2004. Remember one giant …
Posted in: Sheet Music, Special Collections
Posted by: Heather Darnell
On June 27, 2024, actor and comedian Jim Belushi visited the Library of Congress, where he received a special tour of the collections of the Music Division, Recorded Sound Division and American Folklife Center. Belushi took part in “Live! At the Library: The House of Blues Moves into the Library of Congress,” an event celebrating …
Posted in: Uncategorized
Posted by: Claudia Morales
After much anticipation, we are excited to unveil our Fall 2024 Centennial Season, featuring a remarkable lineup of groundbreaking commissions, vibrant musical celebrations, and heartfelt tributes to iconic artists. The 2024-2025 season is the centerpiece of our commemoration of the 100th birthday of Concerts from the Library of Congress. Join us as we honor a …
Posted in: Commissions, Composers, Concerts and Events, Early Music, Instrumentalists, Interviews, Jazz, New Music
Posted by: Heather Darnell
Celebrating the reopening of the Folger Shakespeare Library, the Library of Congress's neighbor just a block away, Dr. Stacey Jocoy provides an overview of music scores related to Shakespeare's drama that are housed in the Library of Congress Music Division.
Posted in: Early Music
Posted by: Libby Smigel
Rockettes dancer Ann Murphy (born in Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1942) danced with the precision tap dance company from the 1960s through the 1970s. Now her photographs, programs, and other Radio City Music Hall memorabilia are available to the public in the Library of Congress Performing Arts Reading Room, thanks to Murphy's generous gift of her legacy materials.
Posted in: Dance, New finding aid, Special Collections, Women in Dance
Posted by: Nicholas A. Brown-Cáceres
The 2023-2024 season of Concerts from the Library of Congress came to a rousing conclusion on June 20 with a performance by New Orleans-based band Cha Wa. As final preparations are made for the 2024-2025 season announcement, the Music Division is pleased to share a multitude of concert and event videos that have been released …
Posted in: African American History, Commissions, Composers, Concerts and Events, Conductors, Curators, Dance, Instrumentalists, Interviews, Jazz, Musical Instruments, Musicians, New Music, Special Collections, Staff, Webcasts, Women in Dance
Posted by: Heather Darnell
It’s the summer of 2018, and I’ve once again found myself at the Marina in Corpus Christi, TX, sitting with my father on his sailboat. Guitars in hand, we are playing a special concert for the seagulls and pelicans, our only true fans. The vibrations of our strings loft into the air in perfect harmony …
Posted in: Instrumentalists, Jazz, Musical Instruments, Musicians, Uncategorized