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Records by Dionne Warwick and Joni Mitchell laid on a table with a 1/4" tape and a cassette of an interview with Ian MacKaye

 

Collection Holdings at SCPA

Formats include over 1.5 miles in linear feet of manuscript materials consisting of more than 200 collections of personal papers; over 65,000 scores; over 40,000 audio, video, and film recordings; over 20,000 photographic items; 30+ collections of official records for performing arts organizations; a print collection of over 15,000 titles; multiple terabytes of born digital collections; and we work in conjunction with UMD’s University Archives to collect performing arts faculty papers, university performance recordings, and collections pertaining to ensembles or companies in residence. SCPA is located within the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library, a branch library rendered unique by its extensive special collections and its placement in the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.

SCPA's Collections

Use the expanding menu below to find the collections we have within each subject. Click on a collection's finding aid to browse contents, request materials, and learn more about the context of the collection.

  • American College Dance Association (ACDA) records (finding aid), videos from conferences
  • Jackson R. Bryer interviews collection (finding aid), interviews with notable theatre figures
  • Dance Exchange records (finding aid), videos of the company
  • D.C. punk collection (finding aid), commercial and rare recordings from D.C. punk subculture
  • Duvall record collection (finding aid), 78rpm discs of early jazz
  • Skip Groff papers (finding aid), commercial, rare, and radio broadcast recordings
  • Jim Henson video collection (finding aid), videos of works across Henson's career
  • Robert Sherman collection (finding aid), broadcaster of classical and folk music
  • Milton Stevens papers (finding aid), trombone and brass recordings
  • James J. Taylor collection of the Washington Area Performing Arts Video Archive (WAPAVA) (finding aid) (guide)
    • Productions are found in the Libraries main catalog by doing an Advanced Search and including the term "WAPAVA" in a search field.
  • Band recordings (LibGuide)
  • National Association for Music Education Historical Center recordings collection, festival and classroom recordings

Band collections contain the papers of many bandmasters, as well as the archives of band organizations. In addition, the collections contain a large number of scores, photographs, and recordings. (LibGuide)

These collections consist of the papers of composers, including their works, recordings, or personal papers. Some UMD faculty are repeated in this area.

SCPA dance collections include the records of national dance organizations, local dance companies, criticism, and prominent local and UMD-affiliated dance performers and scholars. (LibGuide)

Our Music Education collections include the papers of many music educators, as well as the archives of multiple music education organizations. In addition to papers and manuscripts, these collections hold large numbers of photographs and recordings. (LibGuide)

These collections consist of the papers of performers and scholars in music, theatre, and dance and may include manuscripts, criticism, scores, photographs, recordings and other archival materials. Also included in this area are UMD faculty papers. SCPA also maintains a biography files collection, as well as a performing arts autographs and manuscripts collection.

Faculty at UMD

Performers/Scholars

  • Allen Ahearn print collection on jazz and blues (finding aid)
  • Gillian B. Anderson papers and film music scores, conductor (finding aid)
  • Irmgard Bartenieff papers, dance and movement studies (finding aid)
  • Carl L. Todd collection A.H. Benade and the NX Clarinet (finding aid)
  • Daniel Bonade papers, clarinetist (finding aid) 
  • George Bryan papers, theatre (finding aid)
  • Michel-Dmitri Calvocoressi manuscripts, musicologist and critic, Ballet Russe scholar (finding aid)
  • Minas Christian papers, musicologist (finding aid)
  • Frank Colantuono papers, clarinetist (finding aid)
  • Jacob Coopersmith collection of Handeliana, musicologist (finding aid)
  • Martha Davis papers, dance and movement studies (finding aid)
  • Dena J. Epstein papers, music librarian (finding aid)
  • James Felton papers, musicologist (finding aid)
  • Charles Fowler papers, arts and music education (finding aid)
  • Robert Garofalo papers, band conductor and arranger (finding aid)
  • Max Gebhardt collection of clarinet manuscripts (finding aid)
  • Ephraim Goldberg collection on Benny Goodman, clarinetist (finding aid) 
  • Raymond Haggh and Hilde Wentzlaff-Eggebert correspondence, 1947-1949, music scholars (finding aid)
  • Jim Henson video collection (finding aid), puppetry
  • SCPA collection on Jim Henson (finding aid), puppetry
  • Polly Smith collection on Jim Henson (finding aid), puppetry and costume design
  • Al Jolson, Alfred Lewis collection on, Jolson's recordings (finding aid)
  • Andre Kostelanetz recordings collection, conductor (finding aid)
  • J. Merrill Knapp papers, musicologist (finding aid)
  • Margery Morgan Lowens, musicologist (forthcoming)
    • Margery Morgan Lowens collection on Edward MacDowell (finding aid)
  • Irving Lowens papers, musicologist and music librarian (finding aid)
  • Hope Haley Montoni collection of chamber music with voice (finding aid)
  • Performing arts autographs and manuscripts collection (finding aid)
  • Jerry Pierce papers, clarinetist (finding aid)
  • Ronald Richards collection of music for oboe (abstract)
  • J.P. Roads collection on Camille Saint-Saëns, collector
  • Clara Rockmore papers, thereminist (finding aid)
  • Bernard Rosen papers, clarinetist (finding aid)
  • James Sclater collection on Reginald Kell, clarinetist (finding aid)
  • Myra Wilkes Selvadurai papers and artifacts, dance (finding aid)
  • Charles Z. Serpan, Jr. collection on the University of Maryland Chorus (finding aid)
  • Robert Sherman collection, broadcaster and author (finding aid)
  • Madeleine Bartfeld Sigel collection of performing arts autographs and memorabilia, collector (finding aid)
  • Eric Simon manuscripts collection, clarinetist (finding aid)
  • Elizabeth Mruk Stevens collection (finding aid)
  • Milton Stevens papers, trombonist (finding aid) (also see Score Collections Database)
  • Leopold Stokowski collection, conductor (finding aid)
  • George Sturm correspondence collection, music publisher and author (finding aid)
  • Lester Cowan and Ann Ronell "Trial of Billie Holiday" collection, filmmakers (finding aid)
  • Marilyn Veselack papers, scholar and clarinetist (finding aid)
  • John Owen Ward papers, musicologist (finding aid)
  • Victor Yellin papers, musicologist (forthcoming)
  • Asher Zlotnik papers, music educator and pedagogue (finding aid)
  • Biography files collection, Special Collections in Performing Arts (finding aid)

These collections encompass all forms of popular music, including underground genres such as punk and indie – especially those artists and entities associated with the Washington, D.C. independent music community. Formats include recordings, fliers, photography, fanzines, personal papers, oral history interviews, and memorabilia.

  • Chris Baronner digital collection on D.C. punk, musician (finding aid)
  • Paul Bushmiller collection on punk, 1979-1992, UMD and WMUC alum (finding aid)
  • Sharon Cheslow punk flyers collection, 1979-1991, musician, artist, author, UMD and WMUC alum (finding aid)
  • Aaron Claxton collection on D.C. hardcore punk, musician (finding aid)
  • Cynthia Connolly collection on d.c. space, photographer, curator, author, publicist, booking agent (finding aid forthcoming)
  • John Davis collection on punk, archivist, musician, UMD and WMUC alum (finding aid)
  • D.C. punk collection (finding aid)
  • D.C. punk and indie fanzine collection (finding aid)
  • Jason Farrell collection, musician, graphic designer, UMD alum (finding aid)
  • Skip Groff papers, label and record store owner, UMD and WMUC alum (finding aid)
  • Don Hamerman collection of performing arts photography, photographer (finding aid)
  • Amy Heneveld collection of punk fliers and zines, musician (finding aid)
  • Shawna Kenney collection on punk & alternative rock, author and concert promoter, UMD alum (finding aid)
  • Tommy Keene papers, musician, UMD alum (finding aid)
  • Hugo Keesing collection on Jacoba Feenstra's sheet music (finding aid)
  • Hugo Keesing collection on popular music and culture (finding aid)
  • Ian MacKaye digital collection of punk fanzines, musician (finding aid)
  • Teddy McRae papers, record label owner (finding aid)
  • Nitrate Hymnal collection, "post-punk" opera (finding aid)
  • Mark Opsasnick papers, D.C.-area rock music historian, UMD alum (finding aid)
  • Punk Art collection, 1978 art exhibition in D.C. (finding aid)
  • Daisy Rooks collection, fanzine editor (finding aid)
  • Kevin Salk collection of D.C. punk photography, photographer (finding aid)
  • Kurt Sayenga collection, designer and fanzine editor (finding aid)
  • Michael Schreibman papers, concert promoter (finding aid)
  • Robert Sherman collection: Series 2.2 Woody's Children (finding aid)
  • Urban Verbs collection, Washington, D.C. new wave band, 1978-1982 (finding aid forthcoming)
  • Robbie White collection, disc jockey, fanzine editor, and Slickee Boys manager (finding aid)

These research collections offer unique strengths for study in band history, band performance, clarinet music, ethnomusicology, music education, music librarianship, music theory, musical instrument history, music recording history, and wind and percussion ensemble music. Organizational archives contain official records as well as other materials related to the sphere of each organization's performing arts activity. Within the various collections are personal and organizational papers, oral histories, photographs, recordings, scores, scrapbooks, subject files, and memorabilia. Books, periodicals, music scores, and sound recordings are also represented. There are also biographical files with information about many people active in one or more of the organizations housing their archives with us.

  • The Christopher Patton 21st Century Consort records (finding aid)
    • The Christopher Patton 21st Century Consort (formerly 20th Century Consort) is a performing ensemble specializing in new music in residence at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. The records contain scores, recordings, programs, and related materials.
    • Scores are found in the Libraries main catalog by doing an Advanced Search and including the term "Twentieth Century Consort" in a search field.
  • American Bandmasters Association Research Center (finding aid) (LibGuide)
    • In addition to official ABA records, the ABA Research Center holds collections of concert programs, publications, recordings, scores, manuscripts, and personal papers.
    • ABA score collection is described in the Score Collections Database
  • American Composers Alliance official records and score collection
    • ACA is a membership organization serving over 300 professional American composers. Founded in 1937 to protect the rights of its members and to promote the use and understanding of their music, it is the oldest national organization of its kind. The papers document the official actions and history of ACA and span the entire scope of their history.
    • American Composer Alliance official records (finding aid)
    • American Composers Alliance score collection
      • Items from the ACA score collection may be examined by contacting SCPA.
      • ACA scores are available for purchase or rental through their website.
  • American College Dance Association records (finding aid)
    • The American College Dance Association's primary focus is to support and promote talent and creativity prominent throughout college and university dance departments. This organization was formerly the American College Dance Festival Association.
  • American Handel Society records (finding aid)
    • Founded in 1986 by Howard Serwer, Paul Traver, and J. Merrill Knapp, The American Handel Society seeks to foster study of the life, works, and times of George Frideric Handel, and to encourage and support the performance of his music.
  • American Musical Instrument Society records (finding aid)
    • An international organization founded in 1971 to promote better understanding of all aspects of the history, design, construction, restoration, and usage of musical instruments in all cultures and from all periods.
  • American Society for Theatre Research (ASTR) records (finding aid)
    • The American Society for Theatre Research is a professional, nonprofit organization that promotes research in the field of theatre history. The archives contains materials relating to the structure of the society, the initiatives of the committees, the publications, the annual conference, affiliated organizations and joint conferences, and the history of the society.
  • American String Teachers Association with National School Orchestra Association records
    • American String Teachers Association with National School Orchestra Association (ASTA with NSOA) is the professional organization for music educators who teach string instruments and conduct school orchestras. Included in the archives are administrative records, periodicals, and related collections.
  • College Band Directors National Association records (finding aid)
    • The College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) is affiliated with the Music Educators National Conference and addresses the concerns and goals of college band directors. The CBDNA records have a rich variety of materials related to college bands. Included in the records are administrative papers, recordings and scores.
  • College Music Society records (finding aid)
    • The College Music Society is a consortium of college, conservatory, university and independent musicians and scholars interested in all disciplines of music. Its mission is to promote music teaching and learning, musical creativity and expression, research and dialogue, and diversity and interdisciplinary interaction.
  • Concert Society at Maryland records (finding aid)
    • The Concert Society at Maryland presented three series of concerts each year under the auspices of the University of Maryland: Chamber Music, Early Music, and WorldSong. The records consist of advertisements, promotional materials, posters, and papers regarding the concerts (such as contracts, correspondence, and programs). The Concert Society was formally dissolved in 1998, and its functions were transferred to the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at Maryland. A history of the Concert Society at Maryland can be found here.
  • Congress on Research in Dance records (finding aid)
    • Convened in October of 1964, The Congress on Research in Dance is an international community of dance researchers, scholars, teachers, and performers who seek to encourage, facilitate and disseminate dance scholarship. The organization promotes a discursive approach to researching and understanding dance as more than just art and expression, but the value of the form as a manifestation of universal communication, resonant ideas, and cultural commodity.
  • International Association of Music Libraries — U.S. Branch records (finding aid)
    • The International Association of Music Libraries (IAML) is the international professional organization for music libraries and librarians. The records consist of the administrative records and related collections for the U.S. Branch. The general IAML records are located in Denmark.
  • International Clarinet Association Research Center (finding aid)
    • The International Clarinet Association Research Center contains a score collection (over 7000 titles), approximately 1,700 clarinet recordings, the Jerry Pierce and Daniel Bonade Papers, and the Ierardi Collection of information files. Borrowing of the scores is restricted to members of the ICA and students, faculty, and staff of the University of Maryland.
    • ICA Score Collection is described in the Score Collections Database
  • International Society for Music Education records (finding aid)
    • The international companion to the Music Educators National Conference, the International Society for Music Education (ISME) is concerned with those issues that affect music education on an international scale. The ISME records contain administrative records, and publications, as well as the papers of distinguished international music educators such as Vanett Lawler and Henning Bro Rasmussen.
  • International Tuba and Euphonium Association (ITEA/TUBA) records (finding aid)
    • Tubists Universal Brotherhood Association (TUBA) is an international organization comprising performers, teachers, students, and others promoting the literature, pedagogy, and performance of the euphonium and tuba.
  • Kodály Center of America including Kodály Musical Training Institute 1969-1977 (finding aid)
    • The Kodály Center of America and Kodály Musical Training Institute were founded by Denise Bacon in order to promote the Kodály method in the United States.
  • Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies (LIMS) records (finding aid)
    • LIMS is a non-profit educational organization, centered in New York/Brooklyn, with a global network of movement professionals. They have been training movement observers, teachers, and coaches for almost forty years. The organization has produced more than 1,000 Certified Movement Analysts (CMAs) who apply movement analysis towards how people perform, communicate, observe, learn, and negotiate.
  • Major Orchestra Librarians' Association official records (finding aid)
    • The records of the Major Orchestra Librarians' Association (MOLA) include organization records, including officer, committee, and membership records, reference materials regarding music libraries, conference files, projects files, publications about and by MOLA and its members, and a small collection of ephemera and audio recordings. The records series ranges from 1983 to 2018.
  • Maryland Dance Theater records (finding aid)
    • Maryland Dance Theater, founded on the University of Maryland campus in 1971 by Dorothy Madden, performed contemporary dance in the DC and Baltimore metro areas until ending in 1988. The Maryland Dance Theater Archives consists of programs, photographs, correspondence, press clippings, publicity materials, various records of performance, and other organizational documents outlining its history. Paper documents, including photographs, are in Special Collections in Performing Arts.
  • Maryland Music Educators Association records (finding aid)
    • An affiliated state unit of the Music Educators National Conference, the Maryland Music Education Association (MMEA) unites the music educators of the state of Maryland and discusses the concerns of today's music educator in Maryland. The MMEA Archives contains the records of the MMEA as well as concert programs and tapes of performance organizations within Maryland.
  • Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic records (finding aid)
    • Founded in 1947, the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic has been the showcase for many performers and organizations, as well as a valuable tool in instructing today's musicians. The Midwest Archives includes administrative records, photographs, scrapbooks, audio recordings and other materials.
  • Music Library Association records (finding aid)
    • The Music Library Association records contain the official records of the Music Library Association (MLA) that document the history, activities, and publications of the organization since its founding in 1931. MLA is the professional association for music libraries and librarianship in the United States with the mission to provide a professional forum for librarians, archivists, and others who support and preserve musical heritage. Formats in the records include manuscripts, financial ledgers, printed publications, sound recordings, oral histories, photographs, scrapbooks, microfilm, realia, born-digital files, musical scores, and artwork. The collection also contains records of select current and former regional chapters
  • Music OCLC Users Group records (finding aid)
    • The Music OCLC Users Group Archives (MOUG) is a collection related to the Music Library Association Archives. This group is concerned with the use of the OCLC database and its applications to music materials. The collection includes administrative records and publications.
  • National Association for Music Educators (formerly Music Educators National Conference) Historical Center (finding aid)
    • The National Association for Music Educators (NAfME), the premiere music education association in the US, is devoted to assessing and improving music education in schools on all levels. The NAfME Historical Center collection includes administrative records, NAfME publications, papers of past presidents, eminent music educators, and other related historical collections. Special research resources include a textbook collection, curriculum guide collection, research papers, instructional recordings, oral histories, photographs, reference books, biography file, and an extensive serials collection.
  • National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors Research Center (finding aid)
    • The National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors (NACWPI) address the needs and concerns of instrumental instructors on college and university campuses and play a key role in the education of today's young wind and percussion musicians. In the Research Center there is a vast collection of scores and recordings. The Research Center also contains the papers of composer and former percussion instructor, Geary Larrick.
    • NACWPI Score Collection is described in the Score Collections Database
  • National Association of Teachers of Singing records (finding aid)
    • Founded in 1944, NATS encourages the highest standards of singing through excellence in teaching and the promotion of vocal education and research. Organizational goals include the professional advancement of the talented and the enrichment of the general public.
  • National School Orchestra Association records (finding aid)
    • Founded to promote school orchestras and to improve instruction of orchestral instruments, the National School Orchestra Association (NSOA) was a national voice for orchestra directors and young musicians. The Archives holds administrative papers, scores and related materials. NSOA joined with ASTA (above) in 1998.
  • Organization of American Kodály Educators records (finding aid)
    • The Organization of American Kodály Educators (OAKE) is dedicated to the educational innovations developed by Zoltán Kodály. The OAKE Archives consist primarily of administrative papers.
  • Society for Ethnomusicology records (finding aid)
    • The Society for Ethnomusicology (SEM) is an organization of scholars interested in studying music within a cultural context. The SEM Archives has administrative papers, and serial publications.
  • Society for Music Theory records (finding aid)
    • The Society for Music Theory was established in 1977 in order to promote music theory as both a scholarly and a pedagogical discipline. The Archives consists of correspondence, professional papers, publications, and conference materials.
  • Viola da Gamba Society of America records (finding aid)
    • The Viola da Gamba Society of America (VdGSA) support activities relating to the viola da gamba in the United States and abroad comprised of players, builders, publishers, distributors, restorers and others.

Some of these collections circulate upon request and all are accessible for use in SCPA's reading room. More than 26,000 scores across various collections can be found in our Score Collections Database, which includes instructions for accessing and borrowing items.

University of Maryland Collections

These collections consist of records related to performing arts facilities and programs at the University of Maryland.

  • The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center records (finding aid)
  • University of Maryland Percussion Program records (finding aid)

Our theatre collections include the archives of many Washington, D.C.-area theatre companies, criticism, media collections, photographs, and the papers of theatre-related educators and scholars. (LibGuide)

  • African Continuum Theater Company (ACTCo) records (finding aid)
  • American Society for Theatre Research (ASTR) records (finding aid)
  • Harry M. Bagdasian theater posters and playbills collection (finding aid)
  • Stanford Barouh photographs (finding aid)
  • George Bryan papers (finding aid)
  • Jackson Bryer interviews collection (finding aid)
  • The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center records (finding aid)
  • Charles H. Eisenhardt, Jr. collection of Baltimore memorabilia (finding aid)
  • "Follow the Fringe Project" collection (finding aid)
  • Ford's Theatre records (finding aid forthcoming)
  • Patti P. Gillespie slides collection (finding aid)
  • David Goldenberg collection on Washington-area theatre (finding aid)
  • Kenneth F. Hoke-Witherspoon collection (finding aid)
  • Leon Major papers (finding aid)
  • Jane Minesinger theatre programs collection (abstract)
  • New Playwrights' Theatre records (finding aid)
  • Nitrate Hymnal collection (finding aid)
  • Potomac Stages theatre reviews (finding aid)
  • Lee G. Rubenstein collection of theatre programs (finding aid)
  • SCPA theatre programs collection
  • Howard Shalwitz papers (finding aid)
  • Madeleine Bartfield Sigel collection of performing arts autographs and memorabilia (finding aid)
  • Smallbeer Theatre company records (finding aid)
  • E. Thomas Starcher collection on the UMD Drama Wing (finding aid)
  • Studio Theater records (finding aid)
  • James J. Taylor collection of the Washington Area Performing Arts Video Archive (WAPAVA) (finding aid) (guide)
  • UMD School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies records (finding aid forthcoming)
  • UMD Visual Press & San Quentin Drama Workshop: Samuel Beckett's Endgame collection (finding aid)
  • Max Waldman collection of performing arts photographs (finding aid forthcoming)
  • Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company records (finding aid forthcoming)

Navigating Archival Collections

Whether you are a seasoned researcher or exploring our collections for the first time, this video will introduce you to how exactly to find and request what you are looking for in our collections.
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