MUS. Music and the Arts
Collecting Area
Identifier: MUS
Queens College alumni and faculty have strong records of achievement in the creative
fields. After Queens College’s founding in 1937 the music program (now the Aaron
Copland School of Music) quickly became one of the most prestigious in the country,
while the Kupferberg Center for the Arts and Godwin-Ternbach Museum provide
world-class arts opportunities to the residents of Queens. Special Collections and Archives holds manuscripts of several musicians, composers, cultural critics, and literary figures, and looks to expand holdings in this area. SCA is also interested in documenting the role of music and the
arts in the Queens community.
Found in 11 Collections and/or Records:
Aaron Copland School of Music Records
Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: SCA-0005
Abstract
The Aaron Copland School of Music Collection (formerly the Department of Music) consists of materials about the administrative, faculty and student activities of the Aaron Copland School of Music. The collection contains a wide-range of materials including correspondence, brochures, photographs, audio tapes, press clippings, and department course and event schedules. The bulk of the collection consists of personnel files of prominent department faculty.
Dates:
1942 - 2014; Majority of material found within 1970 - 2008
Alfred Heinemann Papers
Collection
Identifier: SCA-0020-001
Abstract
Alfred Heinemann (1908-1995) was a German composer, concert pianist, and lecturer. The collection is comprised of Heinemann’s compositions from 1920 to 1964 and is in various stages of completion. The collection also includes notes on the compositions, lecture notes, programs from performances, correspondence, an audio recording of a performance of Heinemann’s String Quartet, and personal papers.
Dates:
1920-2010
Ann Birstein Papers
Collection
Identifier: SCA-0024
Abstract
The papers of Ann Birstein consist chiefly of manuscripts of published fiction and nonfiction works. The collection also includes correspondence, printed matter, photographs, and personal miscellany. The bulk of the correspondence consists of letters and postcards from Birstein’s husband, literary critic Alfred Kazin. Additional correspondence includes letters sent to Birstein from many notable writers, poets, editors, publishers, academics, and critics. Correspondents include Hannah Arendt,...
Dates:
1942-2007
Artists' Books Collection
Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: SCA-0069
Scope and Contents
Artists’ books are works of art in the form of a book. This collection consists of 67 artists’ books created between 1976 and 2012. It includes works by famous artists like Chuck Close and Ed Ruscha as well as young emerging artists during the period.
Dates:
1976 - 2014
Chapbooks Collection
Collection
Identifier: SCA-0079
Abstract
Chapbooks are small books of poems, essays, or fiction. This chapbook collection consists of 200 volumes published from 2000 to 2019, and includes works by Queens College faculty member Kimiko Hahn and other writers and poets like Sandra Cisneros, Stephen Dunn, and Louise Glück.
Dates:
Publication: 2000 - 2019
K. Robert Schwarz Papers
Collection
Identifier: INST-2014-008
Abstract
K. Robert Schwarz was a classical music critic and scholar who graduated from Queens College in 1979. He wrote for the New York Times, Out, Pulse!, and Stereo Review Magazine. His papers contain academic research files, music criticism research, subject files on various artists, printed materials, program notes, and publications written by Schwarz. Also included is in-depth research on Steve Reich and Paul Bowles, the subjects of Schwarz’s...
Dates:
1984-1999
Karol Rathaus Papers
Collection
Identifier: SCA-0044
Abstract
Karol Rathaus established himself as an exceptional compositional talent in European musical circles before immigrating to the United States in 1938. In 1940, he became the first composition professor in the music department of Queens College, a position he held until his untimely death in 1954. His papers include correspondence, manuscripts, sketches, printed materials, performance programs, press clippings, and audio recordings in various formats. Also included are papers related to Rathaus'...
Dates:
1929-1984; Majority of material found within 1938 - 1954
Kupferberg Center and Performing Arts Records
Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: SCA-0009
Scope and Contents
This collection documents performing arts related events and programs associated with Queens College from 1938 to 2004. This includes activities from the early days of the college, such as the Orchestral Society and Choral Society; the Colden Center (founded in 1960); and today's the Kupferberg Center for the Arts. The collection contains photographs, invitations, memos, brochures, programs, and other printed ephemera.
Dates:
1938 - 2011
Leo Kraft Papers
Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: SCA-0014
Abstract
Leo Kraft (1922 – 2014) was an American composer, educator, and author born in Brooklyn, New York. He taught music theory and composition at the Queens College School of Music, to later become the Aaron Copland School of Music, from 1948 to 1989. He was a key member in developing the music theory curriculum. Kraft composed many works of chamber music, and he also contributed orchestral, piano, vocal, and electronic music to his oeuvre.
Dates:
1933 - 2013
Leopold Sachse Papers
Collection
Identifier: SCA-0045
Abstract
Leopold Sachse was a German opera stage director. Because he was Jewish, he was forced to emigrate to the United States in 1935, and lived in the New York City area for the rest of his life. In the 1910s, 20s, and 30s, he worked with some of the most important European opera composers of the time, and the collection contains correspondence from many of them, often relating aspects of their collaboration. Sachse also collected important items relating to his career, including a sketchbook by...
Dates:
1824–1982
