Special Collections at the Marta and Austin Weeks Music Library subjectId: 690245

The Weeks Music Library is able to provide access to rare and often fragile special collections materials thanks to the superb facility made possible by the generosity of Marta Weeks Wulf (1930-2023) and L. Austin Weeks (1925-2005). The daughter of a school teacher, Weeks Wulf was a passionate advocate for the arts and education. She and her first husband Austin Weeks were devoted philanthropists who funded multiple major initiatives across the University of Miami. Marta became a member of the Board of Trustees in 1983, and she was the first woman to chair the board (2007-09). The Weeks gave the naming gift for the library in 2005, the same year that the facility opened. "The quiet but astounding generosity of Marta and Austin Weeks has had a profound influence on the qualitative growth of our School of Music," said former Music School Dean William Hipp. "The Weeks' make their gifts without fanfare, yet are deeply committed to supporting our talented and deserving students." 

Una Austin Weeks was born in London, England and became a professional concert mezzo-soprano singer. She had elegant charm and personality, and during World War I she gave concerts to entertain the British soldiers in India. Her affinity for music was instilled in her son, Austin, whose love for music remained until his last days. Austin said about his mother:

During World War I, my mother was among those who entertained and gave concerts for British soldiers in India. She was a forerunner in a way for people like Bob Hope and others who entertained out troops in World War II. My mother was blessed with an enormous sense of humor and a powerful mezzo-soprano voice. Her power of projection was such that she could be heard clearly talking in a normal manner across a crowded room at a cocktail party. She left me a love of music and a sense of humor. I dearly loved her - we were the best of friends.

Una met her husband, Lewis Weeks, in India in 1921. They lived abroad for many years because of his work as a geologist, but Una's memories of India were always with her. Below are some excerpts from her diary:

Bangalore, January 12, 1921

Tonight we are to dine at the residency. I am told I shall be asked to sing. This rumor that I sing has spread throughout Bangalore. My army friends are very anxious that no one should know I am a professional. They say everyone out here is such a snob that it would go badly for them if it were learned they were having anyone so "low" in their company. That does amuse me.

Wellington, January 24, 1921

The local broken down theatre held a concert last week. It was amusing in its terribleness. After the performance someone asked that I sing. I had no choice and it was very embarrassing because I received a larger encore than had the performers. No one yet knows I am a “low” professional. But I was tickled when I met the general and his wife again. They were admiring my endeavors. Said the general's wife, “Have you never thought of going in for singing professionally?” (trying to pump me of course). Said I, “I have sung a great deal in London, but only for charity.” Such snobbism!

Sambalpur, April 12, 1921

We had four exciting days in Gungpur. Our last shoot It was too wonderful and I am still hearing the roar of rifles in my ears, which blew me from one side of the machau to the other. The Rajah of Gungpur, a young and most amusing boy, sent two cars for us which took us through the jungle to Gungpur. The guest house for officials was simply splendid, the rooms palatial, with view to match, and all day and night in front of our door strutted an armed man with fixed bayonet. We had a most magnificent machau, very large, with thatched roof, actually in the tops of a tree. I was there all day, and very happy to be in the shade, after having ridden a mile and a half on an elephant, a huge beast named Saphyre.

To learn more about Ms. Una Austin Weeks, visit the Marta and Austin Weeks Music Library, where additional portraits and journal entries are displayed in the Una Austin Weeks lobby.  

A complete list of materials in the Camner Family Music Collection is available in uSearch, the University of Miami's Library Catalog.

Barbara Pierce, "A New Home for Musical Treasures: A Third Gift from the Camner Family Expands the Magnificent Weeks Music Library Collection at the Frost School," University of Miami News, May 26, 2023.

"Noteworthy Trove: Trustee Alfred Camner and His Family Make a Second Donation of Rare Musical Scores to the University," University of Miami News, April 26, 2019.

"UM Trustee Donates 'Exhilarating' Music Treasures to Weeks Library," University of Miami News, Oct. 14, 2016.

Thanks to the generosity of Professor Frank Cooper’s family and friends, the Weeks Music Library houses a growing collection of facsimiles of music manuscripts dating from the 12th century to modern times.

A facsimile edition is one that recreates the appearance of an original hand-written manuscript. The most authentic facsimiles replicate the size, colors, paper, binding and physical condition of the original. These editions are used as tools for study by students, teachers, and researchers who might not have access to the original material. These facsimiles thus offer a stimulating sensory experience and help bring music history to life for our students and faculty.

• Music for the Eyes a digital sampling of the Frank Cooper Music Facsimile Collection.
• Browse the facsimiles held by Weeks Library (UM Libraries' uSearch)

Frank Cooper is Research Professor Emeritus of Musicology at the University of Miami's Frost School of Music. Professor Cooper is a noted harpsichordist, pianist, and conductor who first gained an international reputation as the founder of the Festival of Neglected Romantic Music at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. The festival, which Professor Cooper directed and conducted from 1968 until 1977, was praised by NY Times music critic Harold C. Shonberg, who noted that "the music served to illustrate how much real wealth there is in the unexplored musical territory of the 19th century." Professor Cooper founded the Mainly Mozart Festival in Coral Gables in 1994, and he is Lecturer-in-Residence for the prestigious Miami International Piano Festival of Discovery. He taught at the New World School of the Arts prior to joining the musicology faculty at the University of Miami.

Professor Cooper is a highly regarded lecturer whose wildly popular bi-annual course "Musical Experiences for Adults" broke the record for repeat registrations at the University of Miami. He provided regular lectures at many South Florida venues and events, including the Von Liebig Art Centre in Naples, the Naples Philharmonic, the Vizcaya Mueseum and Gardens, the Miami Art Museum (formerly the Dade County Center for the Fine Arts), the Lowe Art Museum, the New World Symphony, and the Arscht Center for the Performing Arts. Professor Cooper's other achievements are detailed in his biography for the Miami International Piano Festival, which states the following:

"Called by the Miami Herald “South Florida’s cultural maven” and “a Renaissance man,” Prof. Cooper has lectured in the Coolidge Auditorium of the Library of Congress, Indiana University, MacMaster University (Ontario), SUNY Purchase, and the University of Illinois (Champaign-Urbana), and appeared on National Public Radio, the CBC (Toronto), the BBC (London) and Radio Nederlands (Hilversum). Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Van Cliburn Foundation, Ford Centre (Toronto), Rialto Centre (Atlanta), TIME/LIFE, Arabesque Records, RCA Victor, Audiofon Records and the International Piano Archives have commissioned annotations from Prof. Cooper, who is the author of more than seventy published articles about music. He is the recipient of honors from the State of Gelderland (Netherlands), the Hungarian Ministry of Culture, and the National Federation of Music Clubs."

In addition to the Frank Cooper Music Facsimile Collection, the Frost School of Music has established a fund to support "The Frank Cooper Distinguished Musicology Series." Two teaching studios in the Patricia Louise Frost Studios are named in his honor.

 

The Larry Taylor-Billy Matthews Musical Theater Archive is a comprehensive collection of audio and video recordings and printed materials focusing primarily on American musical theater and popular music.

The collection of audio and video recordings comprises 8,000 long-playing records, over 2,700 compact discs, and several hundred video and audio cassettes. It includes complete coverage of American recordings, a virtually complete representation of British recordings of Broadway musicals, and a wide selection of foreign recordings. Many of the audio-cassettes are unpublished recordings made in the studio at the time the published recordings were made. These unpublished versions are often more complete than those released for sale.

The Archive's printed materials include 14,000 pieces of sheet music and more than 2,100 piano-conductor scores, vocal scores and volumes of vocal selections. 50 of the piano-conductor scores are special presentation editions produced by the Chelsea Music Service. Also in the collection are 3,000 playbills and programs.

This extensive Archive was assembled over the last quarter century by two New York collectors, Larry Taylor and Billy Matthews. Additional materials for the Archive were donated by Chuck Linkner and the family of Terry Miller. The bulk of the collection was received in 1991. The Weeks Library continues to acquire recordings, scores, videos, scripts, and playbills of the American musical theater as part of its commitment to build upon the work begun by Mr. Taylor and Mr. Matthews.

• Browse Musical Theater Archive scores 
• Browse Musical Theater Archive recordings
• Browse Musical Theater Archive scripts 
• Browse Musical Theater Archive playbills and programs 

Larry Taylor was born in Akron, Ohio in 1946. He grew up in Anaheim, California then moved to New York City in 1966. In his early career, he toured with Dorothy Collins, Gig Young and others. Taylor later performed as one of Judy Garland's back-up singers during her last New York appearance. Taylor transitioned from a singing career to become the printing coordinator and office manager for the Chelsea Music Service, Inc. In his position, he handled the music for many popular shows, including  The Phantom of the Opera, Cats, and Les Miserables. He also served as music librarian for such artists as Liza Minelli, Chita Rivera, Dolly Dawn, and Roberta Peters. Taylor died in March of 1991.

Billy Matthews was born in Austin, Texas in 1920. While a student at the University of Texas, he was associated with several musical comedy productions that are represented in scrapbooks in the archive. Matthews graduated with a B.A. in fine arts in 1942. In 1946, Matthews produced and directed historical pageants for the Texas and New Mexico State Centennial Committees. Matthews had a long and successful experience as a director and production stage manager that included work on Broadway and with national touring companies, as well as a broad range of university, stock, and dinner theaters. A highlight of Matthews's career was his production of Oklahoma for the White House during Lyndon Johnson's presidency. He died in January 1997.

Terry Miller, a resident of Greenwich Village, had an eclectic career as a writer, photographer, collector, researcher and historian. He majored in theater at Boston University, and later contributed articles on the theater to newspapers, magazines and encyclopedias. Miller's massive collection of LP recordings, tapes, scores, scripts, and playbills filled 98 cartons. Miller's family donated his musical theater collection to the University of Miami after his death in 1995 at the age 47.

Alba Rosa Viëtor’s music has been described as engaging, poignant, potent, somber, and dramatic. With a musical career spanning more than seven decades and three continents, Ms. Viëtor distinguished herself as a composer, concert violinist and teacher.

Today, with the valued assistance of former Frost School of Music Dean William Hipp, Ms. Viëtor's music has a permanent resting place at the Marta and Austin Weeks Music Library at the University of Miami. Thanks to a collaboration between her son, Hendrik Viëtor, and the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music, her works, which range from orchestral pieces to compositions for piano, are currently being converted from their original manuscript form into a printed format known as an engraving. You can browse a complete list of materials in uSearch, the University of Miami's Library Catalog.

Alba Rosa Viëtor (1889-1979) was a distinguished concert violinist, dedicated teacher, and accomplished composer. Born and raised in Italy, Viëtor demonstrated an innate musical talent at a young age. When she was eight, it was discovered that she had “perfect pitch,” and on that basis she was awarded a scholarship at the Verdi Conservatory of Music in Milan. She continued to the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels, where she received her advanced degree in 1905.

Alba Rosa wrote a vast amount of music for orchestras, ensembles, single instruments and voice, and many of her compositions were performed professionally by such notable ensembles as the National Gallery of Art Symphony Orchestra and The Frost Symphony Orchestra, among others.

Viëtor held teaching positions at the Conservatory of Music in Buenos Aires, the Masters Institute of United Arts in New York, and the Columbia School of Music in Washington, D.C. One of her best known works, Primavera Lombarda (Springtime in Lombardy), received its south Florida premiere at Festival Miami 2003 at the University of Miami.

More information on Mrs. Alba Rosa Viëtor and the Alba Rosa Viëtor foundation can be found by visiting www.albarosavietor.com.

Hendrik W. Viëtor, son of accomplished performer and composer Alba Rosa Viëtor, was born and raised in a unique international family environment. His parents, a Dutchman and an Italian woman, met on the high seas and fell in love, though neither could speak the other’s native language.

Their passion for music – his father, an accomplished amateur violin player; his mother, a professional concert violinist – superseded their cultural differences, and the couple married and settled in the United States, "to make beautiful music together."

Hendrik had always dreamed of establishing a permanent home for his mother’s compositions and to have all of her manuscripts converted to print through a computer-assisted engraving process.

In heartfelt appreciation and gratitude for the Frost School of Music's support for the Alba Rosa Viëtor Archive, Hendrik was moved to establish the Alba Rosa Viëtor Graduate Fellowship Endowment. In time, this gift annuity will provide financial assistance to deserving graduate music students.

Dr. Lucas Drew was a faculty member of the University of Miami Frost School of Music from 1959 to 2000. In June 2000 he became Professor Emeritus as well as Principal Double Bass Emeritus of the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra.

Dr. Drew was editor-in-chief of the International Society of Bassists (1974-82) and was the first double bassist to be elected President of the American String Teachers Association (1982-84). Over the years Dr. Drew has helped secure donations and initiate and guide several collections now housed in the Marta and Austin Weeks Music Library.

In 2001, Dr. Lucas Drew and Valerie Von Pechy Whitcup established St. Francis Music Publications ("a glimpse into the mind of the composer, our noble link to the world of music"). Since its inception, more than 100 works have been published for double bass, chamber music, string ensembles, harp solo, and other instrumentations. Copies can be found in the Weeks Music Library. Several works of Arnold Volpe, founder of the University of Miami Symphony Orchestra, are included. For the complete catalog and bio, visit www.stfrancismusic.com.

Dating from the 1970s, The Frederick Zimmermann Memorial Series of Double Bass Music comprises some of the first works published by the University of Miami Music Publications (founding editor Dr. Alfred Reed). These publications were initiated by a gift from Dorothy Zimmermann, widow of Frederick Zimmermann, who during his distinguished career was Assistant Principal Double Bass of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, a faculty member at Juilliard School of Music, and one of the leading pedagogues and editors of double bass music of his generation. The collection consists of editions of American and European music and includes solos, etudes, methods, and pedagogical materials.

The International Archive of Double Bass Recordings was established in 1997 by a gift from Alumni of the University, Paula and David Bonner. The collection of CDs, DVDs, and LPs is designed to assist students and professionals in their study of performing artists and the repertoire of the double bass. Dr. Lucas Drew and Brian Powell, current Professor of Double Bass, serve as advisors for the Archive.

The Lucas Drew Collection of Double Bass Music was donated in 2010. The collection includes approximately 175 works from many authors, as well as selected memorabilia concerning the bass. Other publications of Dr. Drew from Kalmus, Belwin/Mills, G. Schirmer, Carl Fischer, Schott, and others are also in circulation in the Weeks Music Library. The collection also includes Frost School of Music related archives which partially document the increased national prominence of the double bass.

In general, during the second half of the 20th century, bass performance and pedagogy improved and achieved a level similar to the other bowed string instruments. UM bass students are contributing to the music profession in such roles as performers, teachers, administrators, composers, and conductors.

Bernard J. Korn, MD, was a successful physician and amateur violinist who enjoyed performing string quartet music throughout his life. His love of string music is evident in the collection of string music he carefully curated and indexed. To honor the late Dr. Korn, his daughters, Jacqueline Banchik and Robyn Altman, donated this collection to the Marta and Austin Weeks Music Library in 2010.

The Korn Family Music Collection contains hundreds of mint-condition and rare printed music editions of string chamber and orchestral music (primarily music for string quartet), as well as a large number of high-quality CD recordings featuring notable artists such as Fritz Kreisler, Jascha Heifetz, the Mannheim String Quartet, and the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields.

The Korn Family Music Collection is housed in Weeks Music Library.

Browse the Korn Family Music Collection (UM Libraries' uSearch)

 The Roger Gross Collection is a collection of materials relating to the world of singers and opera, which was acquired by the Weeks Music Library in 2014, after the death of Roger Gross.

Gross (1938-2013) was an antiquarian who specialized in musical manuscripts and opera memorabilia and who was considered unmatched in his knowledge and love of opera. The collection was his personal library and is a major resource for those interested in singers, vocal performance, and opera and theater generally.

The Gross Collection consists of approximately 2,000 volumes and is available at Weeks (a majority of the volumes are circulating, some are on reserved access).

 With an emphasis on historical operatic materials, the collection includes books about opera, biographies of singers, libretti, concert programs, journals, theater yearbooks, and histories of theaters around the world. Additionally, there are books on architecture, drama, dance, costume design, and staging.

The collection includes some rare nineteenth-century volumes and books in a variety of languages; it is particularly strong on the Greek-American soprano Maria Callas. The majority of items are housed on the second floor of Weeks, at call numbers ML385-ML429 and ML1700-ML1751; those outside the music subject area are housed in the second floor reference section, at call numbers CT200-Z999.

• Browse the Roger Gross Collection (UM Libraries' uSearch)

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Summary produced by students in Professor Karen Henson's course "Singers and Opera Performance from Handel to 'Live-in-HD'" (MCY594-S).

Dr. Lee Kjelson, Professor Emeritus, was recruited to run the University of Miami’s Music Education program in 1967. He founded the Civic Chorale of Greater Miami in 1970 and for more than twenty years led the Chorale to be Miami's most prestigious University-Community choral ensemble. He retired in 1993 as both the artistic director of the nationally renowned Chorale and as a longtime professor and chair of the Choral Studies Department at the University of Miami Frost School of Music.

While at the University, Dr. Kjelson donated many choral scores to the Weeks Music Library. At the Civic Chorale’s annual “Messiah Sing-In” he would ask the singers to make a donation which was then given to the Music Library to purchase new scores and CDs of choral music.

Dr. John Bitter served as the Dean of the School of Music at the University of Miami from 1950-1963. The 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 Dr. John Bitter Collection is housed at the University of Miami Libraries Special Collections.

• Link to Finding Aid

Richard Dering’s Cantica Sacra is a collection of sacred part-songs which was originally published by Playford in London in 1662. These four part books were a gift from Charles Deering. Selected pieces from the Cantica Sacra were edited by University of Miami alumna Susan Potter and published by Theodore Presser in 1979.

The Special Collections department of Richter library holds an original 1662 copy of the Cantica Sacra.

• Link to Catalog Record

The David Ewen Collection contains the papers of David Ewen (1907-1985), prolific writer, editor and Associate Professor at the University of Miami's School of Music. Ewen conducted research in all areas of music, both serious and popular. He was particularly noted for his works on American musical theatre and the history of American popular music. The collection includes books, newspaper & magazine clippings, photographs, pamphlets, brochures, and other materials on composers, performers, and other subjects related to music.

The David Ewen Collection is housed at the University of Miami Libraries Special Collections.

• Link to Finding Aid

"A technical introductory treaty to singing and music. It starts with the musical notes or syllables and voices; this sections includes an illustration of Guidonian hand: a mnemonic device used to assist singers in learning to sight-sing. Pages 11-13 illustrates the musical notations. Onwards, the manuscript focuses on timing, intonation and singing scales. The last part, of examples, includes practical examples, tones and intervals"--description from Libreria Urbe, bookseller.

This treatise is housed at the University of Miami Libraries Special Collections.

• Link to Catalog Record

These papers document the professional activities of Manuel Ochoa, Cuban exile musician and choral and orchestra conductor who founded the Miami Symphony Orchestra.  The materials consist of correspondence, published and unpublished musical scores, photographs, concert programs and pamphlets, clippings, writings about classical music, minutes of the meetings, concert papers, memorabilia, diplomas, magazines, scrapbooks and working papers of Miami Symphony Orchestra.

The Manuel Ochoa Papers is housed at the University of Miami Cuban Heritage Collection.

• Link to Finding Aid
• Link to Digital Collection

The Aldemaro Romero Archive comprises the artistic and intellectual production of the Venezuelan composer from 1945 to his death in 2007. His collection is divided in two sections: concert music and popular music. Aldemaro Romero's concert collection consists of one hundred original manuscripts and copies of scores and includes works for symphonic orchestra, chorus and orchestra, solo concerts for wind and string instruments with orchestra, and chamber music. The popular music collection contains 126 songs and 31 instrumental works (vol. 1 and vol. 20), manuscripts, copies of the lead sheets and/or lyrics, and recordings.

The musical scores from the concert portion of the Archive have been digitized and are available through the University of Miami Libraries Digital Collections site. The Aldemaro Romero Archive is housed in the Special Collections department of Richter Library.

• Link to Finding Aid
• Link to Digital Collection of Scores

This collection documents the activities of Panart, a pioneering Cuban record label created by Ramón S. Sabat (1902-1986) in the 1940s. Panart sold millions of records worldwide and, according to Mr. Sabat, it was generally responsible for the extensive circulation of Cuban music around the world. The bulk of this collection consists of sound recordings in different formats: various phonograph record types, audiocassettes, reel to reel tapes and eight-track stereo tapes. In 1961, the Cuban government took over Panart's holdings in Cuba. Mr. Sabat and his family settled in the U.S. during the early 1960s, and they created a company in Miami that continued to distribute Panart recordings until the 1980s.

The Ramón S. Sabat (Panart) Collection is housed at the University of Miami Cuban Heritage Collection.

• Link to Finding Aid