Performing Arts at the Library of Congress

Performing Arts at the Library of Congress Facts, updates, & fun from one of the biggest performing arts libraries in the world!
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Our team enjoyed sharing the work of the Library in Reykjavik this week!
06/12/2026

Our team enjoyed sharing the work of the Library in Reykjavik this week!

Who's ready for some soccer? Today marks the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. Learn abo...
06/11/2026

Who's ready for some soccer? Today marks the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. Learn about some connections in the Library's sheet music collections.

https://blogs.loc.gov/music/2026/06/music-meets-world-cup-fever/?loclr=fbmus

Image: Sheet music of the national anthems of the three host nations of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Music Division, Library of Congress.

Bravo to Joshua Henry for winning the Tony Award for leading actor in a musical. He performed at the Library in 2014 wit...
06/10/2026

Bravo to Joshua Henry for winning the Tony Award for leading actor in a musical. He performed at the Library in 2014 with Jeanine Tesori as part of our Broadway Composers Concert. Tune in at 58:30 for his entrance.

https://www.loc.gov/item/2021689552/?loclr=fbmus

Image: Screenshot of Joshua Henry performing with Jeanine Tesori, October 17, 2014.

Teaser Tuesday: This excerpt is one of nine songs in a volume documenting a special moment in American history - Charles...
06/09/2026

Teaser Tuesday: This excerpt is one of nine songs in a volume documenting a special moment in American history - Charles Wilkes's United States Exploring Expedition (1838-1842), during which the existence of the Antarctic land mass was definitively confirmed. This song, "The Old Peacock" (1840), was named for the U.S.S. Peacock, the ship from which the Antarctic continent was first sighted on January 16, 1840. Lyricist James Croxall Palmer (the expedition's surgeon) and composer James Dwight Dana (a geologist, and one of nine scientists on the expedition) provide an excellent example of traditional sea shanties, which were traditionally sung on board ships to coordinate manual labor. This volume, acquired by the Music Division in 2025, is the earliest known example of Antarctic music and poetry. https://lccn.loc.gov/2025386437?loclr=fbmus

Image: Excerpt from "The Old Peacock" (1840), written during Navy Lt. Charles Wilkes's United States Exploring Expedition (1838-1842). Music Division, Library of Congress.

As we commemorate America’s 250th birthday, the Music Division is happy to announce the acquisition of the U.S. Explorin...
06/04/2026

As we commemorate America’s 250th birthday, the Music Division is happy to announce the acquisition of the U.S. Exploring Expedition composer's song book, 1840-1842, a volume extraordinary for both its contents and the circumstances of its creation. This book contains nine compositions written by sailors on the U.S. Exploring Expedition, a four-year-long expedition led by Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, U. S. Navy, that circumnavigated the globe and confirmed the existence of the Antarctic land mass. Learn more: https://blogs.loc.gov/music/2026/06/shipboard-songs-music-of-the-united-states-exploring-expedition/?loclr=fbmus

Image: Title page for the "Antarctic Mariner's Song," a then-unpublished poem by poet and lyricist James Croxall Palmer, as seen in the composer’s songbook. ML96 .D26 no. 1, Music Division, Library of Congress.

Teaser Tuesday: Singing at your own funeral? Vaudeville star and Washington, D.C.-native Len Spencer specified in his wi...
06/02/2026

Teaser Tuesday: Singing at your own funeral? Vaudeville star and Washington, D.C.-native Len Spencer specified in his will his wish for two of his 78rpm records to be played at his funeral. Carrying out his wishes, his family rolled in a phonograph to project his voice chanting "The Lord's Prayer" and the "Twenty Third Psalm." Spencer died in 1914 and is buried at Glenwood Cemetery in Northeast Washington, D.C. In addition to the photographs and biographical materials held by the Music Division, you can listen to many of his recordings via the Library's National Jukebox, https://www.loc.gov/collections/national-jukebox/about-this-collection/?loclr=fbmus

Collection record: https://lccn.loc.gov/2016570569?loclr=fbmus

Image: Clippings about Len Spencer's funeral, 1914. Len Spencer Collection, Music Division, Library of Congress.

Born 129 years ago today: the Austrian-American composer and conductor Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957). A child prod...
05/29/2026

Born 129 years ago today: the Austrian-American composer and conductor Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957). A child prodigy, Korngold would distinguish himself as the leading composer of operas and symphonic and chamber works of the twentieth century. Korngold and his family narrowly escaped the N**i Anschluss of 1938, and made Hollywood their new American home. Korngold would become one of the most celebrated film-composers of his time. The archive of Erich Wolfgang Korngold is held in the Music Division at the Library of Congress.
Finding Aid for the Erich Wolfgang Korngold Collection: https://findingaids.loc.gov/repositories/15/resources/1481?loclr=fbmus

Image: Korngold’s Warner Brothers identification card.

Christian McBride and his band performed at the Library on May 15, 2026, as part of the Library's commemoration of Ameri...
05/28/2026

Christian McBride and his band performed at the Library on May 15, 2026, as part of the Library's commemoration of America 250. Made possible by the Revada Foundation of the Logan Family. Edmond Joe/Library of Congress

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