C'mon
Down to
Dear Old
Newport
Town !
Music Library Association |
No. 151 |
November–December 2007 |
| C'mon Down to Dear Old Newport Town ! |
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C’mon Down to Dear Old Newport Town!
Michael Rogan, Tufts University, with the Local Arrangements Committee The New England Chapter of the Music Library Association invites you to historic Newport, Rhode Island, to attend the 77th Annual Meeting of the Music Library Association, February 18–24, 2008.
The hotel’s convenient proximity to the hub of the Visitors' Center allows for a wealth of opportunities to explore the complex diversity of all that Newport has to offer. The area near the hotel offers the best of a New England coastal village: historical colonial architecture, a working fishermen’s waterfront and boatyard (where some amazing yachts are built and repaired), and two wharfs crammed with restaurants, bars, and shops. Like Cape Cod and similar summer coastal resort areas in the region, Newport has been developing into a year-round destination. While there may still be some restaurants open only for dinner, the variety and quality of gustatory offerings are extraordinary. (Note: Seafood is a specialty! Visit http://www.destinationnewport.com/food.asp for restaurant information.)
And speaking of jazz, the musical heritage of Newport is both broad and deep. Although the Newport Jazz Festival was founded here in 1954, prominent events in music history began here over 200 years earlier, when in 1734 Trinity Church procured the services of Charles Theodore Pachelbel (son of Johann and teacher of Peter Pelham—truly a link between the Old World and the New) to install an organ built by the London maker Richard Bridge and reportedly played upon by Handel. (The original console is now on display at the Museum of Newport History.) No doubt a remarkable experience for the parishioners of the day, but perhaps not as revolutionary as Dylan playing an electric guitar at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival! Today, Newport has one of the highest concentrations of Colonial Era homes in America, thanks to the restoration efforts of Operation Clapboard and the support of local resident Doris Duke. Doris Duke’s own mansion, Rough Point, is but one of the many “cottages” that were built in Newport for the summer retreats of the wealthy and famous since the Gilded Age. The Local Arrangements Committee is delighted to be able to offer two different tours that include some of these architectural marvels: the “Life in the Gilded Age” and the “Vanderbilt’s Newport” tours. Perhaps your historical curiosity has been piqu ed by Newport’s Colonial heritage? You will enjoy the Local Arrangements tour offering, “Newport in the 18th and 19th Centuries.” (See below for more information on tours.) And speaking of jazz, the musical heritage of Newport is both broad and deep. Although the Newport Jazz Festival was founded here in 1954, prominent events in music history began here over 200 years earlier, when in 1734 Trinity Church procured the services of Charles Theodore Pachelbel (son of Johann and teacher of Peter Pelham—truly a link between the Old World and the New) to install an organ built by the London maker Richard Bridge and reportedly played upon by Handel. (The original console is now on display at the Museum of Newport History.) No doubt a remarkable experience for the parishioners of the day, but perhaps not as revolutionary as Dylan playing an electric guitar at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival!
OK, so some busy MLA’ers will barely be able to make it out of the conference hotel, but even they will have a good time, thanks to your Local Arrangements Committee’s efforts to keep the “Music” in Music Library Association! At the Hyatt Regency on Thursday evening, February 21st, the Rum-Soaked Crooks will perform an evening of shanties and songs from Ye Olde New England— including a performance by the Crooks of the winning entry of the MLA Librarian’s Shanty Contest! The Rum Soaked Crooks are known and loved throughout New England. Accompanied by concertina, guitar, ukulele, banjo, and fiddle, their songs and stories commemorate captains and cooks, mermaids and mythical monsters, deckhands and denizens of the deep, and their tuneful mix of sailors' shanties, ballads, and ditties leaves toes a-tapping and choruses echoing in their wake! Also at the Hyatt, and back by popular demand, the MLA Big Band will perform at the cocktail hour before the concluding conference banquet on Saturday evening. After the banquet, the local Rhode Island Magnolia Cajun Band will get everybody out on the dance floor.
On Friday evening, the Newport Baroque Orchestra is offering a concert with internationally acclaimed Uilleann piper Jerry O’Sullivan at St. John the Evangelist Church just around the corner from the hotel. Our ever-resourceful LAC have scored reduced-admission tickets for MLA attendees—check your registration packet for information. Sounds like Newport is going to offer a little bit of everything, doesn’t it?! And you don’t want to miss it—so c’mon down to dear old Newport Town! |
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The “Life in the Gilded Age” tour begins with a driving tour of Ocean Drive and Bellevue Avenue, and continues with Beechwood, home of Mrs. Astor, the leader of Newport Society at the turn of the century. Actors and actresses will welcome you to the year 1891 as they portray members of the Astor family, their friends, and domestic staff. The “Vanderbilt’s Newport” tour begins with a driving tour of Ocean Drive and Bellevue Avenue, and continues with Marble House, a Beaux Arts mansion built by Richard Morris Hunt, also the architect for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and inspired by the Petit Trianon at Versailles, the Temple of Apollo, and the Temple of the Sun at Heliopolis. Both tours will conclude with The Breakers, an Italian Renaissance palazzo built for the Vanderbilts in 1895, sited on 11 acres overlooking the famous Cliff Walk. With 70 rooms, The Breakers is the largest of Newport’s summer “cottages.” “Newport in the 18th and 19th Centuries” begins with the Touro Synagogue. Dedicated in 1763, it is the oldest synagogue in the United States, housed in a Georgian structure designed by Peter Harrison, a renowned 18th-century American architect. Next is the Redwood Library and Athenaeum, also the work of Peter Harrison. Founded in 1747, Redwood is one of the oldest lending libraries in America, and the oldest library building in continuous use in the country. MLA attendees will receive a private tour, and will view music-related rare materials from the library’s vaults. The tour concludes with the Newport Art Museum, which collects and exhibits current and historical art, emphasizing the artistic heritage of Newport, Rhode Island, and southeastern New England.
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The Breakers |
The Newport art Museum |
Swingin’ into Newport: The 2008 MLA Annual Meeting D.J. Hoek, Chair, Program Committee The program for MLA’s 77th Annual Meeting will honor Newport’s role in jazz history while also presenting sessions on professional development, technology, collection building, and a full range of timely topics. The conference’s first plenary session, “Newport Jazz Festival: Perspectives on Its History, Present, and Future,” is sponsored by the Black Music Collections Roundtable and will feature a distinguished group of speakers offering various perspectives on Newport’s importance to jazz past and present. Researcher and author Anthony Agostinelli will provide introductory remarks on the history and current status of Newport’s famed jazz festival, and then he will be joined by legendary record producer and writer George Avakian, journalist Nate Chinen, and Dan Morgenstern, Director of the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University, for a panel discussion. The theme established by the opening plenary session will continue throughout the first day of the conference with two related roundtable sessions. The Black Music Collections Roundtable will feature “A Conversation with George Wein, Founder of the Newport Jazz Festival” and the Jazz and Popular Music Roundtable will present “Jazz Research in the United States,” with Agostinelli, Morgenstern, Michael Fitzgerald, Ed Komara, and Vincent Pelote as speakers. A second plenary session, “MLA Full Circle: Mentoring Each Other,” will highlight MLA’s several professional services, including Job Placement, Conference Mentoring, New Members Forum, Résumé Review, Career Mentoring, and Educational Outreach. Sponsored by the Personnel Subcommittee, Membership Committee, Education Committee, and Placement Service, this session will clarify the purpose and scope of each service and demonstrate how these offerings provide opportunities for involvement and learning to both new and seasoned MLA members. A three-part series of sessions presented under the title “Music Librarianship Online” will showcase innovative applications of technology in different areas of the profession. Efforts to preserve and enhance access to sound recordings at the University of South Carolina and Texas Tech and Harvard Universities will be covered in the first session, “Digital Audio Projects.” A session on “Research Tools” will address the development and use of specialized databases, and the final session of the series, “The New MLA Website,” will explain the design and function of MLA’s updated Web presence. Beyond jazz, a wide spectrum of other musical traditions will be represented. Other aspects of American musical culture will be discussed in “American Music Periodicals” and “The Many Facets of American Song,” co-sponsored by the Bibliography and Sheet Music Roundtables. “Collecting World Musics from North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia” will cover approaches to collecting Jewish, Arab, Chinese, Indian, and Indonesian musics as well as how the next edition of A Basic Music Library will incorporate world musics. “American Jewish Contributions to Musical Theatre” will be discussed by the Jewish Music Roundtable, and the World Music Roundtable will present “The Sacred Sounds of Hinduism.” Rounding out the program are sessions on “Licensing Music,” sponsored by the Legislation Committee, a “Presidential Q & A on MLA Committee Structure” with President Phil Vandermeer, “Hot Topics in Music Librarianship,” the latest on RDA and other cataloging matters, and much, much more. The program for the 2008 MLA Annual Meeting has something for everyone—professional opportunities, the latest technology developments, music from around the world, and all that jazz. We look forward to seeing you there. You’ll dig it!
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Speaking of Newport Don’t forget: A new roundtable, the Music Industry and Arts Management Roundtable, has been established. Alicia Hansen (Loyola University) is the coordinator. The roundtable will meet for the first time at the annual meeting in Newport. A pre-conference workshop will be held Feb. 20, 2008, rolling out a new MLA initiative, the Educational Outreach program. See MLA Newsletter no. 150 for details. Contestants entering the Sea Shanty Contest must submit entries by 14 January 2008. More information, including the preliminary program, is available on the Annual Meeting Web site.
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Visit the MLA SHOP and SILENT AUCTION The Merry Marketeers (a.k.a. the Marketing Subcommittee of the Development Committee) will once again sponsor the MLA Shop and Silent Auction tables at the annual conference. You’ll find wonderful new products as well as old favorites at the shop and a wide array of delectable items to bid for at the auction. So come pick up a few things for your little seaside cottage or find a hidden treasure or two (aaargh!) and help support MLA! |
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I Give Because I Received When I became MLA’s Development Officer this summer, one of my first requests to our Business Office, A-R Editions, was to run a report asking for the total percentage of our membership who donated, in any amount above the dues, to the Association. The answer was surprisingly low: no more than 20%. I used this information to introduce a new fundraising initiative, which I am calling the $5.00 Campaign. The idea behind the $5.00 Campaign is to increase the percentage of the membership who contribute to the Association by giving anything at all—even $5.00—to any fund of their choosing. $5.00 for Gerboth, $5.00 for Epstein, $5.00 for Freeman… You might give in memory or honor of a colleague or mentor, or to a socially responsible investment. Please consider $5.00—the cost of a frappy-latte-whatacino (my daughter studying in London this year at the Royal College of Music says the current rate for a cup of coffee there is 4 pounds = $8.00!) or a drink at the bar, or a clump of hits on iTunes—to be a thank you either to a mentor, or for a session where you felt you came away with something useful, or to an MLA publication that addressed a particular, quotidian need. I well understand that for many of you who are at the beginning of your career or are a student member, making a donation may seem not feasible at this point. But if you have been helped by the Placement Office, or supported by the Gerboth or Freeman fund, or made good use of RILM, please consider giving back this token amount. We are not trying to raise a particular amount, but rather to create an environment where giving to the Association from which many of us have received so much seems like a logical thank you. I know that I began giving $5.00 to Oberlin my first year after graduation to express gratitude for the wonderful education I felt I had received. I don’t give at a much higher rate now—preferring to give to other causes such as MLA!—but I still feel compelled to give a relatively small amount as gratitude for a very important period in my life. I have been a member of MLA for almost 20 years, and what I’ve received from all of you has been much more than what I’ve been able to contribute. But I’ll continue to donate at the level I can out of gratitude and great appreciation. There is good news, which will allow making donations easier: beginning 1 November you will be able to make contributions on-line via MLA’s Web site. We are very grateful to A-R for making this possible, and I really like the idea of saving a stamp when making a $5.00 gift! The Development Committee members have reached our goal of 100% participation in giving. I hope that we will be able to double the percentage of total MLA membership giving by then end of the annual meeting. I encourage all of you to consider this option to give back to the Association that has given so much to us. With all best wishes, Paula Matthews And what have I to give you back, whose worth |
Fran Barulich, Mary Flagler Cary Curator of Music Manuscripts and Printed Music, The Morgan Library & Museum | |
MLA Offers Opportunities for Involvement | |
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Assistant Convention Manager/Convention Manager | |
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The Music Library Association is seeking an Assistant Convention Manager/Convention Manager. The position description, from the MLA Convention Manual, is below. The term of service begins 1 July 2008. Subject to reappointment, the successful applicant may serve for a total of four years. The first two will be served as Assistant Convention Manager and the third and fourth as Convention Manager. Application: Send a letter of application, résumé, and names and contact information for three professional references via snail mail or e-mail to: Deadline: December 15, 2007 Recommendations for candidacy are welcome and should be sent to Anna Neal at the above mail or e-mail address. Interviews will be held at the annual meeting in Rhode Island. Members of the Search Committee are: Catherine Dixon and Anna Neal, Co-Chairs; Stephen Henry; Dana Jaunzemis; and James Zychowicz. Position Description: The Convention Manager (CM) and Assistant Convention Manager (ACM) are authorized by the President and the Board to coordinate and oversee the planning of national conventions of the association. The ACM accompanies the CM on site inspection/hotel negotiation trips and manages all facets of exhibits and advertising for the convention. The CM oversees all convention details and is responsible for onsite management of national conventions. The CM serves as liaison among the Program Committee chair, the chair of the Local Arrangements Committee and its budget officer, the publicity officer, the chair of the Education Committee (if a pre-conference workshop is being planned), the Treasurer/Executive Secretary, the Board, the MLA Business Office, and other affiliated groups planning events in conjunction with MLA’s annual conference. The CM negotiates with hotels for future conventions, signs contracts (countersigned by the President) to secure accommodations for meeting and sleeping rooms and makes all solicitations and arrangements concerning exhibitors whose publications, products and services are displayed at conventions. The position demands heavy involvement, especially in the early fall when the Convention Budget is prepared and exhibitors/advertisers are solicited, and during the two months prior to the annual convention, with lesser involvement throughout the year. Specific Duties: ACM duties include: solicitation of exhibitors and program advertisers for the annual convention, maintaining a master list of exhibitors/ advertisers, fund-raising among exhibitors, and overseeing all aspects of exhibits for the convention. This includes communications/negotiations with decorating/drayage firms, security firms, and telephone/internet/electrical services, and on-site management of the exhibit area during the convention. The ACM works closely with the CM, consulting whenever necessary to become familiar with the duties and responsibilities of the position. CM duties include: site inspection, reporting findings/recommendations to the Board, and hotel contract negotiations, communications with the hotel's sales staff, coordination of the work of the Program Committee and Local Arrangements Committee, assigning meeting rooms; communications with the hotel's catering/banquet service, the A-V service, the photocopy service, and other services as necessary. The CM prepares the convention budget, working with the Program Committee and the Local Arrangements Committee, and attends the fall meeting of the MLA Board. The CM has final responsibility for on-site management of all facets of the convention, reports to the membership at the annual convention on recent, current and future national conventions, and confirms and submits all bills to the MLA Treasurer. In addition, the CM is responsible for maintaining, revising and updating, and distributing MLA’s Convention Manual. Qualifications: Five year's experience as a music librarian; membership in the Music Library Association, with good understanding of its organizational and annual convention structure; administrative experience with good organizational and management skills; ability to set and meet deadlines; budgeting experience; effective communication skills in person, on the phone and in writing; availability for business trips of 2-3 days duration 3-5 times per year; availability to attend all annual conventions for a full week; good computer skills including word processing software and spreadsheet management with access to a high quality printer, modem, fax machine, and electronic mail. Skills in database management are highly desirable. Benefits: The CM and ACM receive support for expenses required to carry out the responsibilities of the position (travel, telephone, postage, etc.) and honoraria. Honoraria are determined annually by the Executive Board. Duration of Appointment: The ACM's term begins July 1 of the specified year. Initial appointment is one year, with reappointment possible up to a total of four years. The first two years are spent as ACM; the third and fourth years are spent as CM.
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MLA Seeks Publicity & Outreach Officer |
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Position Description: The Publicity & Outreach Officer promotes the activities of the Music Library Association through informational campaigns and exhibits. The Publicity & Outreach Officer is an ex-officio member of the Development Committee, the Publications Committee, the Membership Committee, and the Outreach Subcommittee (though these relationships and duties may change slightly based on the final recommendations of the Committee Structure Task Force); reports to the President and Board of Directors and prepares relevant budgets and annual reports. Within the first year of service, the successful candidate will assess the effectiveness of MLA's current publicity, outreach Responsibilities:
Job Requirements: Membership in the Music Library Association with a good understanding of its organizational structure and publications. Effective communication skills including excellent writing and editorial skills. Experience in writing press releases desirable. Ability to be creative in enhancing and intensifying the visibility of the Association. Excellent organizational and management skills. Honorarium: $2,500 per annum and expenses necessary to carry out responsibilities. Term: The duration of appointment is one year, beginning 1 July 2008, with reappointment possible for a total of four years. The Board reviews the performance of the Publicity & Outreach Officer annually. The President reappoints upon successful review and the desire of the incumbent to continue. The successful candidate will be appointed at the February-March 2007 annual meeting and will work closely with the Board of Directors and the current Publicity Officer until the term of appointment begins. Interested MLA members should submit a letter of application along with three references to Ruthann McTyre, Search Committee chair, no later than 31 December 2007. Applications sent via e-mail or USPS are acceptable. Interviews will take place during the Newport meeting with the successful Send applications to: Ruthann McTyre, Rita Benton Music Library, 2000 Voxman Music Building, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242 or ruthann-mctyre@uiowa.edu. Search Committee Members: Leslie Bennett, Tom Caw, Alan Karass, Lee Richardson.
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Welcome to these new members!
Lawrence Appelbaum, Washington, DC |
11–16 January 2008 14 January 2008 17–24 February 2008 19–20 February 2008 14 March 2008
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Atlantic Chapter Mary Prendergast, Atlantic Chapter members convened at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania in Indiana, Pa. on October 5–6, 2007 for their annual fall meeting. The venue for the first day’s program was the “Victorian jewel” of IUP, the Breezedale Alumni Center, a beautifully restored late 19th-century mansion. Our guest speaker for the day, Dr. Theodore Albrecht (Kent State University), delivered a delightful and dramatic presentation on “Reconstructing Beethoven's Orchestras in Viennese Libraries and Archives,” which included many examples of how astute archivists and librarians have aided him in his research on tracking down the original orchestral players for early performances of Beethoven works. Three of the chapter’s members also presented on current research topics. Erin Mayhood (University of Virginia) explained how early usability testing and use of focus groups can inform the process of development of a new catalog interface in “What Music Users Want: Taking a User-Centered Design Approach to Customizing the Library Catalog.” Steve Gerber (George Mason University) reported on the first year of his new user instruction program in “Drop-In Musicology: a Liaison Librarian’s Initiative.” In the final talk of the day, “X55 Implementation: Music Materials as a Test Group for Voluminous Subject Headings”, Geraldine Ostrove (Library of Congress) presented an analysis of the thorny issues that must be solved prior to any full-scale rollout of X55 headings, which enable form and genre aspects of an item to be distinguished from topical aspects in subject and authority headings. After the meeting, the group dined together at a local restaurant before proceeding to a community contra dance specially arranged for the meeting by Carl Rahkonen, Program Committee Chair. The dance featured music by Cornsilk, a local folk band, augmented by several chapter members, and calling by Dr. Susan Wheatley, a professor of music education at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
The meeting ended with a tour of IUP’s music building, Cogswell Hall, which has also undergone an extensive renovation. Making good use of the unseasonably warm temperatures and the easily accessible local rails-to-trails network, several attendees stayed on for communal biking or running. The chapter extended warmest thanks to local hosts Carl Rahkonen and Teri McFerron for organizing a most enjoyable and informative meeting. Mountain–Plains Chapter Janet Bradford,
Myrna Layton (Brigham Young University) started Friday’s morning session with “Playback Singers: Bollywood Style, Hollywood Style.” She showed the similarities and differences of these two film-making entities by paralleling the lives of Lata Mangeshka, Bollywood singer/actress, with Marni Nixon, ghost singer for many Hollywood hits (My Fair Lady, West Side Story). In his presentation, “The Most Sensational Twentieth-Century Opera You’ve Never Heard, or Even Heard of, and Why,” Steve Luttmann (University of Northern Colorado) gave an enlightening look at Max Brand’s Machinist Hopkins, which premiered in 1929.Anita Breckbill and Carole Goebes (University of Nebraska) concluded the morning’s session by telling us about their adventures, minus Carole’s suitcase, while gathering information for their article which will appear Notes (63:4, June 2007). Their presentation was entitled: “Music Circulating Libraries in France: Borrowing in the Nineteenth Century and Researching in the Twenty-First.” After a leisurely lunch, Janet Bradford (Brigham Young University) suggested items required for a core Mormon music collection in her paper, “Songs of the Heart: Collecting Sacred and Popular Mormon Music.”The final session Friday afternoon was “Hot Topics,” moderated by Steve Luttmann and patterned after the recent trend in MLA’s national meetings. A lovely discussion ensued covering a broad range of subjects: commiserating over low budgets, tips on acquisitions, exercising care with approval programs, determining which streaming services are best for your library, finding monies for digitizing projects, use of LPs, disabling “rip & burn” options on new computers, encouraging grant writing/endowment campaigns, dealing with backlogs, teaching freshman, online tutorials, library hours, and comparing vacation/sick and work week requirements. Time was allowed for each attendee to present his/her institution’s current projects and/or challenges. The Hofbrauhaus restaurant, conveniently located directly next door to the conference AmeriSuites hotel, offered wonderful German cuisine for dinner. Saturday morning’s session began with Anita Breckbill’s presentation, “Music Libraries in London: Visits and Impressions, 2006.” Her husband was awarded a fellowship at the British Library Sound Archives so Anita took advantage of this opportunity to delve into the Royal College of Music, the Royal Academy of Music, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Barbican Public Library. A delicious lunch followed in the Music Library, Beam Music Center. Cheryl conducted a short tour and answered questions before the Business Meeting. Thus ended another successful MPMLA meeting. Pacific Northwest Chapter Terry Horner, The chapter held its annual meeting April 27–28, 2007, in Eugene, Oregon at the University of Oregon. Julia Simic, Visual Resources Librarian at the University of Oregon Library gave a talk on “ArtStor & Images of Music.” John Fenn, adjunct assistant professor of English at U. of O. spoke on “World Pop Music: Building a Collection.” Betty Woerner led a discussion on “Outsourcing: Acquisitions, Cataloguing and Beyond.” The group also enjoyed a tour of the Hult Center and Leslie Bennett hosted a terrific dinner at her home. Bob Tangney was elected Vice Chair/Chair-Elect for 2007/2008 and Bill Blair will be the new Secretary/Treasurer. Terry Horner is taking over as Chair. The chapter also recognized the retirement of three long-time chapter members, Paula Elliot, Chris Gordon and Betty Woerner. Several people reported on local projects at the chapter business meeting. Leslie Bennett is still working on the complete editions project. She also reported that at the University of Oregon they are creating a digital collection of Oregon sheet music published prior to 1922 using ContentDM. When complete they will begin a collection focused on women composers. Sheila Knutsen has been investigating the possibility of a scores recon project. Bob Tangney of Seattle Public Library acquired 10,000 tunedex cards. He is making a catalog of them in MSExcel. Seattle Public Library already has 9000 songs indexed in their catalog/song index. Debbie Pierce reported that the University of Washington is improving the ARIA art song index using Inmagic. Beverly Stafford is working on a volunteer project with the Portland Chapter of the American Organists Guild to create an online index of the Guild’s pipe organ music, using open-source software that can be added to the chapter Web site. Anna Seaberg of King County is researching the open source ILS (http://www.open-ils.org/) developed and used by the Georgia Pines Library Network. Terry Horner and other music library staff at UBC have completed the cataloguing of the Philip J.Thomas Popular Song Collection. The Music Library has also accepted some of Philip Thomas’ vinyl recordings of popular music. |
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WGBH Educational Foundation Relocates |
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Pioneer America Society Offers Book Review Opportunities and More Ralph Hartsock The Pioneer America Society, the Association for the Preservation of Artifacts and Landscapes, held its 39th national conference October 10–13, 2007, in Hagerstown, Maryland, with the theme, “Landscapes in Stasis, Landscapes in Change.” (http://www.pioneeramerica.org/) Tours emphasized the Civil War landscapes of Harper’s Ferry (known most famously for the song “John Brown’s Body”), the Antietam and Monocacy battlefields, and the Chesapeake and Ohio canal. The keynote speaker, Warren R. Hofstra (Shenandoah University), spoke on the development of the Shenandoah Valley, including reference to the famous song. Papers presented covered a wide array of topics, including Scottish clocks in Virginia, the Warren E. Roberts Pioneers Museum of Indiana Folk Life, Baltimore’s historic little Italy, and various structures on Maryland farmsteads. Dreams of Utopia included placement of the concert hall in urban planning in rural countryside communities. This organization serves as an intersection between material culture, geography and other disciplines such as music. It offers several opportunities for music librarians to review book about music and the arts, and their correlation to material culture and geography. A complete list of over 200 books is available from http://www.castleton.edu/~scr10240/books.html. Some titles currently available for review include: Mark Pedelty’s Musical Ritual in Mexico; Jessie Ann Owens’ Music in Early Modern England; Carol Armstrong’s Women Artists at the Millennium; Harvey Kubernik’s Hollywood Shack Job: Rock Music in Film and On Your Screen; Barbara Buhler Lynes’ Georgia O’Keeffe and New Mexico; Emily Thompson’s The Soundscape of Modernity: Architectural Acoustics and the Culture of Listening in America, 1900-1933.
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ARSC Accepting Applications for Grants Programs | |
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The ARSC Preservation Grants Program is accepting applications. The ARSC Program for the Preservation of Classical Music Historical Recordings was founded by Al Schlachtmeyer and the ARSC Board of Directors to encourage and support the preservation of historically significant sound recordings of Western Art Music by individuals and organizations. It will also consider funding: projects involving preservation in any valid and reasonable fashion; projects promoting public access to recordings; projects involving commercial as well as private, instantaneous recordings; and projects involving collections anywhere in the world For more information, visit: http://www.arsc-audio.org/preservationgrants.html. The ARSC Research Grants Program supports scholarship and publication in the For more information, visit: http://www.arsc-audio.org/researchgrants.html
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ARSC Seeking Award Nominations |
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Deadline for nominations: January 31, 2008. You are invited to propose candidates for the 2008 ARSC Awards for Excellence Eligible publications include any original printed work—book, monograph, article, liner notes, etc.—first published during 2007. The work may treat any subject related to recorded sound, but must embody the highest research standards. It should deal primarily with historical subjects, pertaining to periods at least ten years prior to the year of publication, with the exception of works related to modern preservation or playback technology. The Awards Committee especially welcomes information concerning eligible journal articles, as well as foreign and small-press publications that might otherwise be overlooked. Nominations for the ARSC Lifetime Achievement and Distinguished Service Awards are also being accepted. The ARSC Lifetime Achievement Award is presented annually to an individual, in recognition of a life’s work in research and publication. The ARSC Award for Distinguished Service to Historic Recordings honors a person who has made outstanding contributions to the field, outside of published works or discographic research. |
At this writing, I just returned from a very enjoyable three days in Jacksonville, Florida where I attended the annual meeting of the Southeast Chapter of MLA. The most populated city in Florida and the largest city in area in the lower 48 states, Jacksonville is situated on the St. Johns River close to the Atlantic Ocean. One of the things I like best about MLA, both at the national and chapter levels, is that we have an opportunity to visit wonderful places in our country that we might never think to visit otherwise. Jacksonville did not disappoint. A charming city, all of the participants seemed to enjoy their visit greatly, especially the beautiful, newly constructed public library right downtown where we had our conference sessions. There were wonderful presentations on local music, performance art, jazz, Polish music during communism, and musical biography. Special thanks go to Lynn Jacobson, MLA member and head of technical services at the Jacksonville Public Library, who did yeoman’s duty as chair of both the Local Arrangements and Program Committees.
The conference hotel is the Hyatt Regency Newport Hotel and Spa, majestically located at 1 Goat Island, across a short causeway from the Newport Visitors’ Center, which places it directly on the Newport Harbor and provides over 200 of its splendid rooms with stunning ocean views. 
Shopping opportunities abound, with something for everyone’s taste, pocketbook, and sense of humor. (Ned Quist, Local Arrangements Chair, recommends a visit to the “Bite Me Bait Shop” for some local apparel to jazz up your conference duds!)
And if these tour packages don’t fit into your busy conference schedule, you can always partake of Newport’s other attractions during your free time—such as the International Tennis Hall of Fame, the National Museum of American Illustration, the Navel War College Museum, the Museum of Newport History mentioned above, or historic Trinity Episcopal Church (recently restored).
Since 1989, Magnolia has been New England's hometown Cajun band. Learning their music form Louisiana's finest has earned them a solid reputation at home and recognition in the Cajun heartland. Their dance lessons and music have helped build a strong sense of community at festivals and fais-do-dos all over the Northeast. Their monthly Saturday night dance has been New England's hottest ticket for more than fifteen years! Playing high energy two steps and sultry waltzes, the band's twin fiddles, accordion, guitar, bass, and of course, rich vocals keep the audience on its feet long into the night. (Visit their Web site at 
On Saturday the chapter convened in the Commons of the newly renovated Orendorff Music Library. Guest speaker Dr. Matt Baumer (Indiana University of Pennsylvania) spoke eloquently on “Music for Charity, Charity for Music: Humanitarianism, Aesthetic Advocacy, and Self-Promotion in the Career of Franz Liszt,” which led to a broader discussion of how the relationship between music and charity operates today. Carl Rahkonen moderated a panel discussion on “The Future of Librarianship” featuring Kathy Glennan (University of Maryland), George Kipper (Library of Congress), and Amanda Maple (Pennsylvania State University). Each provided insights in their respective areas of expertise: cataloging; reference and retooling of skills; and collection development and management, after which lively discussion ensued. The chapter business meeting followed, concluding with the results of the biennial chapter elections, which were conducted by the Nominating Committee (Amanda Maple, Chair; Joe Clark from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; and Carl Rahkonen). Robert Follet (Peabody Institute) is our new Chair-Elect and Kristin Heath (Carnegie Mellon University) returns as Secretary/Treasurer. For the 2008 meeting, the chapter has been invited to Charlottesville, Virginia for a meeting co-hosted by the University of Virginia and the College of William and Mary. 
Splendid weather and the dazzling sites of Las Vegas greeted MPMLA members for their annual meeting on May 18–19, 2007. Cheryl Taranto, chair of MPMLA plus local arranger, welcomed attendees, including special guests Bonna Boettcher, MLA past president, and new member Tammy Ravas (University of Montana). Our venue for the meeting was the Amargosa Room in the Lied Library at UNLV.
Laurie Sampsel and Marcelyn D’Avis (University of Colorado, Boulder) capped off the session with “Folk Songs are Made to Be Sung: Digitizing the Ben Gray Lumpkin Collection at the University of Colorado at Boulder.”Laurie demonstrated Web site navigation while Marcy gave us an overview of the cataloging dilemmas.