Northern Virginia Music Center at Reston collection

Access and use

Location of collection:
George Mason University
2400 Fenwick Library
Special Collections Research Center
Fenwick Library MS2FL
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Mieko Palazzo
Phone: (703) 993-2220
Fax: (703) 993-2669
Restrictions:

Only the digitized recordings are available for listening.

Terms of access:

The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)

Preferred citation:

Northern Virginia Music Center at Reston collection, C0191, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

Summary

Extent:
3.5 Linear Feet 9 boxes
Creator:
Meir, Robert C.
Abstract:
The Northern Virginia Music Center at Reston collection contains correspondence, articles, photographs, and 56 audiotape reels related to music center. Photographs include both images of performances as well as publicity shots of the musicians.
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Northern Virginia Music Center at Reston collection, C0191, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

Background

Biographical / historical:

The Northern Virginia Music Center at Reston was established in 1967, and held its first summer camp for young musicians that same year. Initially, its founders aspired to develop the summer camp into a full-faculty, national summer music training program that would eventually become a year-round high school for the performing arts. Although it never developed into a high school, the Center did manage to draw 150 talented student enrollees who came not only from the Greater Washington area, but also from 30 states and a half dozen foreign countries. From 1969-1972, the Music Center faculty and students held regular concerts in Northern Virginia. In 1972, students and faculty traveled to Lausanne, Switzerland, to participate in a series of concerts. By the mid-1970s, the Music Center encountered budget problems, and many board members, including the president, Paul S. Frick, resigned and the Center gradually dissolved. The collection contains some materials from 1978 since some students and faculty from the Center later became associated with the Northern Virginia Youth Symphony Association.

Acquisition information:
This collection was donated by Loren Bruce (Reston Historical Trust).
Processing information:

Processed in November 2011 by Kate Grauvogel. EAD markup completed in January, 2012 by Kate Grauvogel and Jordan Patty. Finding aid updated by Amanda Menjivar in September 2022.

Arrangement:

Series 1: Music Center Papers, 1967-1979, consists of correspondence, programs, articles, and photographs documenting the Center and its performances. Funding, budget, board minutes, member mailings, photographs, and resumes of musicians visiting the Center constitute the bulk of the materials in series 1. The photographs include both images of performances as well as publicity shots of musicians. This series is arranged alphabetically by subject.

Series 2: Reston Recordings, is a collection of 56 audiotape reels containing Music Center performances by both faculty and students from 1969-1972. This series is arranged alphabetically by the name of the recorded performance.

Series 3: consists of digitized duplicates of the recordings in Series 2. There are audio discs of the recordings as well as digital files on an external drive. The arrangement follows that of Series.

This collection is arranged by subject.

Series
  1. Series 1: Music Center Papers 1967-1979 (Boxes 1-2)
  2. Series 2: Reston Recordings 1969-1972 (Boxes 2-6)
  3. Series 3: Digital Duplicates, 1969-1972 (Boxes 7-9)
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard