working in the collections

Exploring America’s musical past to compose the future

Feb. 25, 2020

On the third floor of Norlin Library, tucked away from studying students, four cardboard boxes filled with weathered manila envelopes contain sheet music, scribbled with 100 years’-worth of annotations from past owners.

Susan Thomas

Emphasizing diversity in American music

Feb. 11, 2020

With special collections ranging from colonial era tunebooks and pirate radio to silent film scores and big band works, the American Music Research Center (AMRC) creates an experience far beyond serving as a research center jointly held by the College of Music and the University Libraries.

Video of History of College of Music

The CU Boulder College of Music: A Century in the Making

Jan. 22, 2020

Former Director of the AMRC and Professor Emeritus Thomas Riis and College of Music students reflect on the first 100 years of music at CU Boulder and what the next century could hold as the college celebrates its Centennial.

Danile Party

AMRC Hosts 'Music Under Dictatorship' Researcher, Daniel Party

Jan. 17, 2020

The American Music Research Center will host Dr. Daniel Party, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, on Monday, February 2 to present his work on " The uses of Víctor Jara in Chilean Social Movements (2009-2019) ." As has been widely noted, the Chilean social uprising of October 2019 had as...

Call for Papers

Call for Papers: “Borders / Boundaries / Fronteras:  Rethinking American Music” Editor, Susan Thomas

Jan. 10, 2020

Americas: A Hemispheric Music Journal invites article submissions for a themed issue that explores the way that music, musicians, music-making, and listening are impacted by the construction, maintenance, and/or policing of borders.

News Release

The AMRC and the University of Nebraska Press Join Forces in Journal Launch: Americas: A Hemispheric Music Journal

Jan. 10, 2020

An annual, peer-reviewed journal published with the University of Nebraska Press, Americas takes its view of American music broadly, including the diverse soundscapes within the United States as well as the wider Americas, including the Caribbean.

Pro Musica Colorado

Pro Musica Presents, Diverse Voices 

Jan. 8, 2020

Pro Musica Colorado Chamber Orchestra is presenting a concert program of “Diverse Voices,” on February 1st and 2nd in Denver and Boulder. In today’s era, classical music journalists, policy makers, and funders have been asking about diversity in classical music.

Glenn Miller

75 years ago, Glenn Miller vanished on a flight over the English Channel

Dec. 30, 2019

The news broke most places on Christmas Day 1944, crammed onto front pages amid the blaring war headlines: Glenn Miller was missing. The legendary American big band leader, whose music cheered the war-weary and thrilled a generation, had vanished over the English Channel while flying from Britain to France.

Phantom Carriage

‘The Phantom Carriage,’ a haunting tale of morality, shows at Muenzinger

Nov. 22, 2019

The University of Colorado Boulder offered a screening of Victor Sjöström’s 1921 silent film, “The Phantom Carriage” Sunday in the Muenzinger Auditorium. The film featured a live performance of the score by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra

Phantom Carriage clip

Film Clip: Live Music of The Phantom Carriage

Nov. 20, 2019

Thank you to the International Film Series, Rodney Sauer and the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, CU Presents, University Libraries and many others for helping to celebrate the new Grauman Theater collection. Here is a short video clip of the MAMPO performing along side The Phantom Carriage screening.

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