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Posted by: Melissa Wertheimer
The following is a guest post from Hallie Chametzky, one of the Music Division’s Fellows from this past summer. Dance Archivist Libby Smigel introduces her. Meet Hallie Chametzky, a senior in dance at Virginia Commonwealth University. Selected this past summer as a Junior Fellow working on the Martha Graham Legacy Project, Hallie chose to …
Posted in: Dance, Guest bloggers
Posted by: Melissa Wertheimer
The Music Division mourns the immense loss of composer and pianist George Walker. He was closely connected to the Music Division for decades.
Posted in: Composers, Concerts and Events, In Memoriam, Musical Instruments, Musicians, Special Collections
Posted by: Larry Appelbaum
Today marks the 109th birthday of tenor saxophonist Lester Young, the first so-called modernist instrumental stylist in jazz. His playing and hip, creative use of musician’s jargon is admired for breaking from the prevailing saxophone style of Coleman Hawkins. In his classic recordings with Count Basie’s Orchestra, Billie Holiday, Benny Goodman and others, he demonstrated …
Posted in: Birthdays, Jazz, Musicians, Special Collections
Posted by: Paul Sommerfeld
For me, the phrase Merchant-Ivory conjures scenes from sumptuous period films like A Room with a View (1985), Maurice (1987), Howard’s End (1992), or The Remains of the Day (1993). I’ve always found the music for these films to be particularly haunting yet beautiful, as if disclosing the tensions that can exist beneath the veneer …
Posted in: Composers, Film Music, Special Collections
Posted by: Paul Sommerfeld
The following is a second guest post from Stephanie Ruozzo, a doctoral candidate in musicology at Case Western Reserve University. As a summer CWRU Fellow in the Music Division, Stephanie organized the additions to the papers already held in the Marge Champion Collection. For this post, Stephanie highlights the variety and extent of documentation of …
Posted in: Dance, Guest bloggers, Special Collections
Posted by: David Plylar
Concerts from the Library of Congress is pleased to announce the 2018-2019 season, filled with an astonishing roster of artists and speakers. Building on the world-class chamber music you love to hear in the Coolidge Auditorium—which this year includes the Emerson Quartet with David Finckel, the Brentano Quartet with Hsin-Yun Huang and the Tetzlaff-Tetzlaff-Vogt Trio, …
Posted in: Composers, Concerts and Events, Curators, Dance, Film Music, Interviews, Jazz, Musicians
Posted by: Paul Sommerfeld
The following is a guest post from Kelli Minelli, one of the Music Division’s summer Fellows from Case Western Reserve University’s graduate program in musicology. Dance Specialist Libby Smigel introduces her: I’ve been delighted to have Kelli Minelli assisting the Music Division in identifying the scores and sketches found in the John Herbert McDowell Papers. …
Posted in: Guest bloggers
Posted by: Larry Appelbaum
Today marks the birthday of singer, songwriter, actress, and political activist Abbey Lincoln (Anna Marie Wooldridge August 6, 1930 – August 14, 2010). One of many singers influenced by Billie Holiday, she made her breakthrough in 1956 with her first recording, Abbey Lincoln’s Affair, and her appearance in the film The Girl Can’t Help It. Though she …
Posted in: African American History, Birthdays, Interviews, Jazz, Musicians, Special Collections, Women in Music
Posted by: Paul Sommerfeld
This is a guest post by Stephanie Akau, who just completed a 2018 Library of Congress Junior Fellowship. She is working towards a Master of Library and Information Science degree at San José State University and will graduate in May 2019. She is currently a library information specialist at the University of New Mexico. She …
Posted in: Composers, Guest bloggers, Musical Instruments, Musicians, New Acquisitions