The Dr. John Bitter collection contains materials documenting Bitter's career as a conductor and composer. The collection includes sheet music for several compositions by Bitter, as well as publications about the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami and a 1953 photograph of the University of Miami Orchestra at the Miami Beach Auditorium. Also included are numerous programs from the 1940s-1960s, including ones from the UM Symphony Orchestra, the Greater Miami Philharmonic, and the Berlin Philharmonic.
The Kenneth Close Collection contains a number of prints from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and elsewhere, sheet music for "The Death of Minnehaha" by Longfellow and Ch. C. Converse, and several insurance policies from the 19th century (some which are photocopied).
Frederic H. Ashe was the nephew of the first University of Miami President Bowman Foster Ashe. Frederic H. Ashe was a composer and student of the school of music at the University of Miami. The Frederic H. Ashe collection consists of sheet music written by Frederic H. Ashe.
Dr. José Agustín Balseiro (1900-1991) was an award-winning author, poet, and scholar of Latin American Studies and Hispanic literature. He was also a professor of Hispanic Literature at the University of Miami from 1946 to 1967.
Throughout his career, Dr. Balseiro exhibited a strong interest in Latin American and Hispanic-American studies, Latin American and Spanish literature, and Puerto Rican history and literature. His papers, donated to the University of Miami, reflect all of these interests and range in date from his earliest activities as a writer in Spain to his final days working as a consultant to the University of Miami Libraries starting in 1974. Much of the content consists of correspondence, clippings, typescripts, and periodicals in which Balseiro’s writings were featured. Also included is sheet music belonging to his father, Rafael Balseiro, who was a Puerto Rican composer.
Of special note are three bronze medallions: (1) from the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriquena, commemorating el primer Centenario del Natalicio de Luiz Muñoz Rivera (the centennial of the birth of Luiz Muñoz Rivera); (2) from the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriquena, commemorating el Centenario de la Abolición de la Esclavidud in Puerto Rico (the centennial of the abolition of slavery in Puerto Rico); and (3) from the University of Panama commemorating the first 25 years of the University’s existence.
Dr. William F. Lee was Dean of the School of Music at the University of Miami. The William F. Lee papers consists manuscripts of sheet music by Dean Lee.
The Abraham Schwaczkin collection consists primarily of Jewish cantorial sheet music and lyrics.
Also included are a birth certificate and marriage certificates of Schwaczkin, a 1953 copy of the B'nai B'rith messenger newspaper, a catalog, several yearbooks from Jewish congregations, a photograph, and a series of letters between Schwaczkin and a Mrs. Morrison from 1940.
The Elizabeth Wright collection predominantly contains materials relating to Richard Wagner and family members. The materials cover a wide range, including memorabilia, such as a Wagner-themed card game and a ceramic plaque of Richard Wagner, an original note by Siegfried Wagner and facsimiles of letters by Wagner, original photographs of Wagner family members as well as facsimiles and prints of Richard Wagner and others, original advertisements and programs of Wagner's operas, a radio transcript and a typescript about Wagner's composition and staging, and a series of prints depicting scenes from Wagner's operas.
There are also several items not related to Wagner. These are a letter from W. Somerset Maugham, an autographed print of mezzo-soprano Mariana Paunova, and prints of other composers such as Beethoven, Mozart, Liszt, and Richter.
A copy of American composer Jack Beeson's sheet music with corrections for the opera, "Hello out there" (1953). The papers also include a letter from the composer.
The Johann Heinrich Hesse Papers contains a 1791 manuscript of Johann Heinrich Hesse (1712-1778)'s "Anweisung zum General-Baß," or "Guide to Thorough-Bass."
Irma Goebel Labastille was a composer and writer interested in Latin American folk music. Her work culminated in a series of scores titled Recuerdo Latino-Americano. The Irma Goebel Labastille collection consists primarily of sheet music, notebooks of sheet music, clippings, poetry, photographs, notes, and manuscripts.
The Carlos Surinach collection contains a bound, autographed photocopy of the score to Symphonic Melismas by composer Carlos Surinach. Symphonic Melismas had its world premiere at the Festival Miami of 1993, sponsored by the University of Miami School of Music. Also included is a photograph of Surinach, two copies of the 1993 program, and a photocopy of a biography of Surinach.
Alfred Reed was a composer and conductor who later became a professor and music director at the University of Miami. The Alfred Reed Papers contains condensed scores, full scores, conductor and scores of J. S. Bach's music, all by Alfred Reed. Also included is an autographed score by Brazilian composer Hector Villa-Lobos.
George Abbott (June 25, 1887 – January 31, 1995) was a famous and well-renowned playwright, producer, and director who worked out of New York City for most of his life until he retired and passed away in Miami Beach, Florida. Over the course of his career on Broadway, he received many awards and accolades for his work, including several Tony Awards, the Pulitzer Prize for Drama (1960), and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director (1983). To celebrate his vast contributions to the world of theater, George Abbott also had both a theater building, which was unfortunately demolished in 1970, and a street in New York Times Square, George Abbott Way, named after him.
His papers feature photographs, playscripts, playbills, financial documents, official records, music sheets, and other materials associated with his life and work on Broadway.
The Cronin papers consists primarily of Spanish poetry in manuscript form. However, there is also a notebook with personal reflections, a catalogue of "Teatro del Siglo XVI" (or 16th century theater), a list of authors and poems, cards with authors and poems, and a piece of sheet music.
The Thomas de Valcourt and Michael Lerner collection contains materials concerning 19th century New England poets and authors, most prominently Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, but also Henry David Thoreau, Washington Irving, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Walt Whitman, and minor figures. Much of the materials - which predominantly consists of prints, photographs, clippings, photocopies, newspapers, periodicals, postcards, reprints, poetry, and other formats - concerns their famous New England homes and their families' homes, and other literary landmarks in the vicinity. Most of the materials date from the late 19th and early 20th century.
Also included are a scrapbook of clippings of poetry, a 1962 plaster cast bust of Henry David Thoreau by Melvina Hoffman, an 1864 ceramic bust of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow by M. Milmore, two paperweights with depictions of the Longfellow house, a brick noted as "being used by Thoreau when adding to the family house on Virginia Road in Concord," and one copper ashtray.
The Harold Bauer Papers consist primarily of correspondence between the University of Miami School of Music and Bauer regarding his master piano classes. The letters are primarily between Bauer and Bertha Foster, Dean of the School of Music until 1944, and Joseph Tarpley, School of Music Secretary from 1944 to 1951 and Assistant Dean until 1967. Correspondence files also include memoranda amongst University administration regarding Bauer's classes as well as with prospective students.
The collection also contains a few photographs, concert programs, and clippings.
