Search

Back to top
Search Filters
Start Over Online Content Includes Digital Content Collection University Musical Society (University of Michigan) Records, 1879-2009
1 collection found
All results Grouped by collection
List file List

Search Results

University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library

University Musical Society (University of Michigan) Records, 1879-2009

Online

128 linear feet — 9 oversize volumes — 2 oversize folders — 46.1 GB (online)

Organized in 1879 to "cultivate the public taste for music," the Society sponsors concert series, opera, dance and theater performances at the University of Michigan. The records consist of director's files of Albert A. Stanley, Charles A. Sink, Gail Rector, and Kenneth Fischer; include correspondence relating to performances and management of the Society; ledgers and account books, board of directors minutes and packets; files concerning the Choral Union, the University of Michigan School of Music, the Henry S. Frieze Memorial Organ Fund, and Hill Auditorium; also visual materials and audiotapes of Board meetings.

The records of the University Musical Society document its founding in 1879, governance and administrative restructuring through the years, its activities sponsoring musical, dance and theatrical performances on campus, and its role in music and arts education. The records include directors' correspondence files, board of directors minutes, ledgers and financial records, photographs, sound recordings and videotapes.

Intellectually, the records are organized into eight series: Directors' Correspondence, Financial records, Historical file, Board of Directors, Committees, Topical File, Contracts, Photographs, President's Correspondence, Staff Files, Executive Directors' Files, and Motion Pictures (film, videotape and digital materials).

The records were received in several major and numerous small accessions and the physical arrangement of the records (the order in which they are arranged in boxes/folders) reflects this. In this finding aid, the records are described in term of their intellectual organization regardless of the particular accession in which they were received. As a result, the box number order in which the descriptions are displayed in the contents list will not always be consecutive.

Top 3 results in this collection — view all 32
Folder

Motion Pictures (Film, Videotape, and Digital Video Recordings)

Online

The Video Recordings (2 linear feet) document various performances sponsored by the University Musical Society. Formats include VHS videotapes, and DVCAM and DAT digital video tapes. The VHS tapes include the Distinguished Artist Award of the Ford Honors Program (1996-1998 and 2001-2002), the Hill Auditorium Re-opening Concert in January 2004, special performances by the Grand Rapids Symphony, and the Youth Performance Series (2001-2003). The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) residency videotapes include lectures by Ralph Williams, professor of English Language and Literature at the University of Michigan, delivered prior to the performance of the history plays in 2001 and the Merry Wives of Windsor and Coriolanus in 2003. There are several tapes documenting the RSC performance of Salman Rushdie's work Midnight's Children. A copy of the rehearsal script will be found in the Scripts series. Digital materials document a performance by singing group Sweet Honey in the Rock at Hill Auditorium in 2004, the 2004 Merce Cunningham Residency, and Distinguished Artist awards.

Also in the Motion Pictures series is a 16mm film entitled A Conductor Speaks featuring Arthur Fiedler and Gail Rector. An interview with legendary UM band director William Revelli is also captured on videotape.

University Musical Society (University of Michigan) Records, 1879-2009
Back to top