Music Library Association Greater New York Chapter
October 2000 NEW SERIES NO. 38
CHAPTER OFFICERS
Chair: John Shepard, Music Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, 521 West 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036 (212) 870-1654; fax: (212) 870-1794 email: jshepard@nypl.org
Vice-Chair: Elizabeth Davis, Music and Arts Library, Columbia University, 2960 Broadway -- Room 701, New York, NY 10027 email: davise@columbia.edu
Secretary-Treasurer: Linda Fairtile, Music Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, 521 West 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036 (212) 870-1682; fax: (212) 870-1794 email: lfairtile@nypl.org
Newsletter Editor: Jane Nowakowski, Talbott Library, Westminster Choir College of Rider University, 101 Walnut Lane, Princeton, NJ, 08540 (609) 921-3658 ext. 305; fax: (609) 497-0243 email: nowakows@rider.edu
MESSAGE FROM THE CHAPTER CHAIR
John Shepard
Reports on meetings
The winter meeting of the Greater New York Chapter of the Music Library Association took place in Louisville, Kentucky, on Thursday 24 February 2000 from 7:30 to 9 p.m., during the 69th Annual Conference of MLA at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. In order to keep those of you who were not able to attend informed, I offer a brief summary of the business of the meeting.
MLA Convention Manager Don Roberts spoke about plans for the 2001 annual meeting, with particular focus on the conference hotel (the Grand Hyatt next to Grand Central Terminal). The room rate has been fixed at under $200 ($195/night, single or double). This is good news-the $200 line is an obvious threshold-but Don urged our local chapter members not to offer to put up our out-of-town colleagues in our homes, because MLA has a quota of booked rooms to meet (and hopefully surpass) on each night of the conference. (Don need not worry about those of us who live in New York City apartments-we don't have room for guests anyway!)
Because Linda Fairtile was unable to attend, I read her Secretary-Treasurer's report. As of the time of the meeting, bank deposits for the fiscal year totaled $4,540 ($500 for dues + $4,040 in contributions toward the 2001 annual meeting), leaving the chapter's account balance at $8,183.98. 59 members have paid dues through 1999-2000, 22 have paid only through 1998-99, and 15 have paid only through 1997-98. There are 70 people (excluding the deceased) who are listed in our membership rolls who have not paid dues since 1996 or before.
I announced the addition of an introductory message from the Chair to our chapter website (http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~kalbach/), and that the Bylaws link is now active. In the course of converting the Bylaws, last revised by Barbara Hampton Renton and Walter Gerboth in 1981, from a typescript to a document in electronic form, I read the document, and I urge you to do the same. I learned some things that surprised me. The bylaws stipulate three standing committees: in addition to the Nominating Committee, whose members have been regularly appointed through last year, there is supposed to be a Publications Committee and a Membership Committee. The numbers at the end of the preceding paragraph speak to the need for a membership committee. On the topic of publications, I am reminded that it has been 18 years since the chapter published the Directory of Music Collections in the Greater New York Area. So, I plan to appoint members to the newly convened Membership and Publications Committees, but before doing so, I would love to hear from those of you who are interested in serving on one committee or the other. Please contact me via e-mail (jshepard@nypl.org) or telephone me at 212-870-1654.
The spring meeting of the Greater New York Chapter took place on Wednesday 31 May 2000 from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. at the Pierpont Morgan Library. The main purpose of the meeting was to exchange information about plans for the MLA annual meeting in New York City in 2001. All of our chapter officers and most of the members of our 2001 Local Arrangements Committee were at the meeting to present information, receive suggestions, and answer questions.
The chairs of the subcommittees for 2001 local arrangements gave reports. Jane Gottlieb reported on fundraising and the big-ticket items for which we hope to receive funding. (In the ensuing weeks, a number of these items were funded: the Local Arrangements reception at the Pierpont Morgan Library, thanks to Grove's Dictionaries Inc.; the conference bags, thanks to J.W. Pepper; program printing, thanks in part to New York University; and two coffee breaks, thanks to European American Music, Warner Brothers Publications, and Musical America.) Jane elaborated on the other fundraising to be accomplished. (Please see my appeal below.)
I reported on tours for Bob Kosovsky, the Tours Subcommittee chair. The tours line-up will include the Louis Armstrong House and Archives, Lincoln Center (New York Philharmonic Archives, Metropolitan Opera Archives, with a Met backstage tour), the Steinway piano factory in Astoria, Broadway theater tours led by the staff of the Shubert Archive, and the perennial Organ Crawl. We are also counting on the members of our chapter to escort small groups of librarians for informal gastronomic tours (Chinatown, Indian restaurants on East 6th Street, Greek restaurants in Astoria-what else?) on an ad hoc basis.
Matt Wise reported on the preparation of maps and guides. The registration packet will include a city map, a restaurant guide, and probably an alternative night life guide. The restaurant guide [now completed] will review every sit-down restaurant within a block of the Grand Hyatt. Fran Barulich reported on the cover design for the conference program, which will elaborate the "Big Apple" theme. Maureen Buja reported that the real work of the Registration Subcommittee had not yet begun (other than the selection of sturdy canvas bags with long shoulder straps), but it was noted that many of the registration tasks formerly handled by Local Arrangements committees will now be handled by Kimball Associates, MLA's new provider of administrative services.
Rigbie Turner reported that the Local Arrangements Reception will be held on Thursday evening (22 February, from 6 to 8 p.m.) instead of the traditional Friday time slot, owing to The Morgan Library's schedule. Exhibitions will be open, but there will not be much music on display. There will probably be two bars, and the reception space will be donated by The Morgan Library. Musical entertainment for the banquet was still under consideration.
The meeting concluded with questions and suggestions from the members who attended. In response to a question about participation by the Theatre Library Association and the ALA Dance Librarians' Discussion Group, it was noted that the 2001 conference will be MLA's meeting, but that the Program Chair asked all committees and roundtables to consider theater and dance concerns in planning their sessions. The opening plenary session will address all the performing arts. Suki Sommer observed that neither group is as large or as organized as MLA, and Jane Gottlieb characterized the dance librarians as a minority within a minority at ALA. Jane expressed hope that some of the dance librarians might join MLA; this is consistent with Plan 2001 initiatives.
Appeal for $$$
We have come very close to raising the goal of $40,000 we set for local fundraising, but we would do well to raise more money. There are still some big-ticket items which remain unfunded (at least two coffee breaks in the exhibits area in the hotel, the Plan 2001 concert and reception on Friday night 23 February, and entertainment for the banquet the next night). A number of our local chapter members have convinced their institutions to make significant donations to MLA in support of the 2001 meeting (the main argument in favor of the donations is that in most years these members have received money to travel to MLA meetings in other cities). If you have not yet asked your institution to contribute, would you please do so right away? Our Fundraising Committee would also appreciate suggestions of potential funding sources to approach; if you have any, please contact me (jshepard@nypl.org) or Jane Gottlieb (gottlieb@juilliard.edu).
Metrocard fund
Moreover, we would like to encourage our attendees to take advantage of NYC public transit by putting a $3.00 Metrocard in every conference packet. Won't you consider sponsoring three or more of your colleagues from other MLA chapters by donating funds toward metrocards? If the answer is "yes," please send your check, with the memo "Metrocard fund," made out to MLA-Greater New York Chapter, in care of me (John Shepard, Music Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, 521 West 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036). Also, if any of our members find themselves in possession of TransitCheks they will not be able to use, we can accept these too.
Next chapter meeting
The Fall 2000 meeting of the Greater New York Chapter will take place on Wednesday 8 November 2000 from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, on the 11th floor of the building at 229 West 28th Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues in Manhattan. Bruce Pomohac, Director of Music for R&H, will introduce us to its Concert and Theatre Libraries, describe the ongoing editorial work of the organization, and give us an overview of its archival holdings. Because space is limited at R&H headquarters, I would appreciate knowing in advance who will plan to attend. Please RSVP by sending e-mail (with "GNYC meeting" in the subject line) to me (jshepard@nypl.org) or, if you don't have e-mail, by telephoning 212/870-1654. I recommend arriving a little early for the meeting, because the elevator at 229 West 28th Street is small and ascends slowly!
Next stop, Grand Central!
At its meeting in St. Louis 5-8 October, the MLA Board prepared and approved the budget for the 2001 annual meeting, and just a few days later the contents of the conference mailing were finalized. Up until this moment, the few -- the Program Committee, the Local Arrangements Committee, and its Fundraising and Maps & Guides Subcommittees -- have been laboring, but very soon it will be time for the many -- all of you have volunteered (and will volunteer!) to help in various capacities -- to make it possible for this conference to happen. Expect to be hearing from subcommittee chairs soon! Jane Gottlieb and I, as Co-chairs of local arrangements, chair the Fundraising Subcommittee. The other subcommittee chairs are Frances Barulich (Program and other conference printing), Maureen Buja (Registration), Christine Hoffman (Publicity), Bob Kosovsky (Tours), J. Rigbie Turner (Receptions and Entertainment), and Matthew Wise (Maps & Guides).
John Shepard
NEWS OF CHAPTER MEMBERS
HAROLD J. DIAMOND (Lehman College) has been Acting Chief Librarian since September 1999. He also has been teaching a graduate course in music at Lehman called The English Musical Renaissance since September 1999. The course covers English music of the mid-nineteenth century to the twentieth century.
PATRICK HARDISH (NYPL) had an article on Otto Luening published in the American Music Center's online magazine "NewMusicBox" in November 1999. His Sonorities II for solo violin was performed in a concert of American music on in Moscow 2 December 1999. His "Soliloquy" for bassoon was performed on 8 January 2000 at the Sunriver Public Library, Sunriver, Oregon. His Duo for piano and percussion was performed in concert on 24 January at William Patterson University, Wayne, NJ. And the premiere of his Sonorities VI for vibraphone took place at NYU on May 23 along with a performance of his Sonorities I for cello.
ELIOTT KAHN (Jewish Theological Seminary of America) reports that he has recently completed cataloging The Heinrich Schalit Collection at the Seminary's library. The scores and archival material of the collection are now available for research and perusal by scholars and patrons. All scores are listed separately on the OCLC World-Cat database. Photocopies of scores and archival material are available from the Library according to the Fair Use provisions of the U.S. Copyright Law. The Library reserves the right to deny access to any patron whose intention is to violate these copyright laws. Eliott has recently received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in choral conducting from the University of Iowa. His doctoral essay was entitled: "The Choral Music of Heinrich Schalit."
