The following is a guest post from Anne McLean, Senior Producer in the Music Division. On May 28 Concerts from the Library of Congress launches a virtual programming initiative and premieres a new Library commission online Aural Explorations: Farrin, Fure and Messiaen features the stellar International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) in a special livestreamed concert capping […]
The following is a guest post from pianist and independent scholar Bonny H. Miller, author of Augusta Browne: Composer and Woman of Letters in Nineteenth-Century America (Boydell & Brewer, 2020): The life story of the American musician Augusta Browne (ca. 1820–1882) embodies persistence and faith amidst the antebellum era, the Civil War, and the […]
On April 2, 2020, academia lost Claudio Spies, a beloved music scholar, conductor, composer and author whose pedagogical wisdom will continue to inspire students for generations to come. The Library of Congress is home to the Claudio Spies Papers.
The Music Division of the Library of Congress has compiled a guide for K-12 music educators that highlights online resources available from the Library of Congress.
Mississippi-born composer William Grant Still (1895-1978) holds a significant place in the history of American music, and May 11, 2020 is his 125th birthday! I hope that this birthday blog post piques your interest about the many research possibilities in the Music Division about William Grant Still.
While traveling in Israel in 1948, Leonard Bernstein wrote a letter to his mother with beautiful illustrations by artist Jossi Stern. In anticipation of Mother’s Day weekend, “In the Muse” highlights that digitized letter from the Leonard Bernstein Collection and encourages readers to send illustrated letters of their own.
On Saturday, October 16, 2019, Concerts from the Library of Congress hosted Afro-Cuban jazz master, Chucho Valdés. Founder and director of the legendary Cuban jazz band Irakere, winner of six GRAMMYs and four Latin GRAMMYs, Chucho Valdés is not just an authority in the jazz world, he is a living legend. As part of his engagement at […]
The following is a guest post from Processing Technician Pam Murrell. In addition to being an adroit cellist, bassist, and pianist, Charles Mingus was also an accomplished composer. During his lifetime he wrote over three hundred scores, creating his first concert piece, “Half-Mast Inhibition,” at the age of seventeen. Ultimately, he aspired to be a […]
On Patriots’ Day, we celebrate musician, publisher, and patriot Josiah Flagg (1737-1794), a friend of Paul Revere and major figure in Early American music.
The following is a guest post from Music Reference Specialist James Wintle. Let me begin with a personal anecdote. My parents are or were both musicians – my father was a composer – and so my appreciation for classical music was probably equal parts nature and nurture. So, when I entered graduate school as a […]