- unitid
-
{"value"=>"22310", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"JPB 13-35", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"b19994669", "type"=>"local_b"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1976-1997", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1976/1997"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Kevin Oldham papers"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"13 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"4.21 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear_feet"}]}
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"109 computer files", "unit"=>"computer_files"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"5.4 megabytes", "unit"=>"megabytes"}]}
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"167 audio recordings", "unit"=>"audio_recordings"}]}
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"9 video recordings", "unit"=>"video_recordings"}]}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">Music Division</span>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"Kevin Oldham (1960-1993) was an American pianist and composer. The Kevin Oldham papers, dating from 1976 to 1997, document primarily the musician's professional life and career. The collection holds sound and video recordings, scores, correspondence, subject files, programs, publicity files, photographs, and personal writings."}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"English"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Oldham, Kevin, 1960-1993", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Kevin Oldham (1960-1993) was an American pianist and composer. Born in Kansas City, Missouri to parents who were both musicians, he began piano studies at age three. Oldham attended Northwestern University for three years before transferring to the Juilliard School in New York City, where he received his bachelor's and master's degrees. His teachers at Juilliard were Herbert Stessin and Sascha Gorodnitzki. Oldham made his orchestral debut with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 1980, and his New York debut solo recital took place at Carnegie Recital Hall in 1985. Through the mid-1980s, Oldham performed well-reviewed recitals in New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Atlanta, Houston, and other cities in the United States. He also performed many school concerts for young children, presented by Young Artists, Inc.</p> <p>In 1988, after learning that he was HIV-positive, Oldham mostly abandoned piano performance and devoted the rest of his life to composition. He received the Festival of the Atlantic Young American Composers Award, and the Festival commissioned his <span class=\"title\">Concerto for Piano</span>, Op. 14, which the Festival orchestra premiered with Oldham at the piano in 1991. Oldham also performed the piece with the Kansas City Symphony a few weeks before his death. His other works include <span class=\"title\">Variations on a French Noël</span>, Op. 7; <span class=\"title\">Symphony Number One for Organ</span>; solo piano pieces; songs for voice and piano; choral works commissioned by, performed, and recorded by the choir of Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan, with which Oldham sang; an uncompleted opera, <span class=\"title\">Thérèse Raquin</span>; <span class=\"title\">Titanic</span>, an uncompleted musical; solo piano transcriptions and arrangements of the music of J.S. Bach and other composers; and humorous and cabaret songs. Several of his pieces were published during his lifetime. Oldham recorded an album of his transcriptions of J.S. Bach and various Romantic composers, and several recordings of his music were released in the years following his death.</p> <p>Oldham was active in the AIDS Music Emergency Network and the Estate Project for Artists with AIDS. He died of AIDS-related causes on March 11, 1993. His partner, Stephen Rotondaro, was his executor and oversaw the posthumous recording, publication, and promotion of Oldham's music.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Kevin Oldham papers, dating from 1976 to 1997, document primarily the musician's professional life and career as a pianist and composer, though some personal letters and papers are present as well. The collection holds sound and video recordings, scores, correspondence, subject files, programs, publicity files, photographs, and personal writings. Audio recordings, subject files, and correspondence comprise the bulk of the collection. Posthumous material was contributed by Oldham's partner and executor, Stephen Rotondaro.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Kevin Oldham papers are arranged in three series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mus/22310#c1783682'>Series I: Professional Files</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1976-1997</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series, dating from 1976 to 1997, concerns Oldham's professional life, but personal papers are present as well. It holds subject files, correspondence, photographs, programs, publicity material, biographies, school papers, writings, and poetry. Posthumous material was contributed by Stephen Rotondaro.</p> <p>The bulk of the series consists of subject files and correspondence. The subject files contain letters, programs, flyers, and contracts and other business papers. They include files on recitals and other performances; Oldham's transcription album for Aperto Recordings; particular compositions such as <span class=\"title\">The Boulding Chorales</span>, the <span class=\"title\">Concerto for Piano</span>, <span class=\"title\">Symphony Number One for Organ</span>, and <span class=\"title\">Thérѐse Raquin</span>; the Estate Project for Artists with AIDS; and the \"Tickle Pickle\" file, a set of humorous letters or writings from Oldham or other friends and acquaintances. There is also a file regarding the Westboro Baptist Church, an anti-gay hate group that picketed Oldham's funeral. The file holds correspondence and clippings regarding fliers sent to Oldham's parents by the Church shortly after his death, the church's presence at Oldham's funeral, and a counter-protest organized by ACT-UP/Kansas City.</p> <p>Other files pertain to Oldham's will, Young Artists Inc., the Marble Collegiate Choir, and publisher information.</p> <p>Correspondence (separate from letters held in the subject files) is mainly professional in nature and reveals Oldham's efforts to acquire performance opportunities and composing commissions. It includes letters to musicians, conductors, former teachers, critics, ensembles, and potential patrons. There is also correspondence with Oldham's family and friends discussing the refocusing of Oldham's artistic life toward music composition following his positive test for HIV.</p> <p>The photographs are promotional, consisting of headshots dating from the early 1980s to early 1990s, but also including a backstage photo from Oldham's Carnegie Hall debut. The concert programs cover mainly the mid to late-1980s and are not a comprehensive documentation of Oldham's career. Publicity material is comprised of promotional literature, press releases, and clippings. The school papers cover Oldham's time at Northwestern University and the Juilliard School.</p> <p>Oldham's writing and poetry, which include short stories, journal-like entries, fiction, song lyrics, and drawings, are not dated. The writings also hold personal correspondence between Stephen Rotondaro and Paul Bonin-Rodriguez dating from after Oldham's death, as well as writings by Bonin-Rodriguez.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mus/22310#c1783732'>Series II: Scores</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1976-1994</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series, dating from 1976 to 1994, holds the scores for Oldham's compositions and piano transcriptions and arrangements. Most of the scores consist of manuscripts or manuscript copies, computer prints, and sketches and parts in some cases. A few of the compositions also have Finale score software files, or published scores. Posthumous content consists of published scores.</p> <p>Major works present include <span class=\"title\">Concerto for Piano</span>, Op. 14; <span class=\"title\">The Boulding Chorales</span>, Op. 16; <span class=\"title\">Ballade for Piano</span>, Op. 17; Oldham's choral settings of Psalms 121, 130, and 150; <span class=\"title\">Symphony Number One for Organ</span>; <span class=\"title\">Variations on a French Noël</span>, Op. 7; <span class=\"title\">Three Carols</span>, Op. 20; and the unfinished opera <span class=\"title\">Thérѐse Raquin</span>. The scores also include art songs, such as <span class=\"title\">Five Songs</span>, Op. 2, <span class=\"title\">Not Even If I Try</span>, and <span class=\"title\">It's All Your Fault</span>; and humorous songs including \"Behind the Beguine,\" \"I Won the Lottery,\" \"It's Not Like You, Stella,\" \"J.S. Rock,\" \"Yum,\" and \"Zabar Dance.\"</p> <p>The <span class=\"title\">Concerto for Piano</span> has initial sketches, Oldham's two-piano score, full scores of orchestrations by Steve Cohen, and parts. Cohen produced a second, revised orchestration as well, and there are parts for both versions.</p> <p>The series also contains a few early compositions, song lyrics without music, unidentified works, and an untitled sketch.</p> <p>Oldham's piano arrangements and transcriptions consist primarily of music by J.S. Bach, with one transcription each of works by Maurice Duruflé, John Jacob Niles, and Jean Sibelius.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mus/22310#c1783804'>Series III: Sound and Video Recordings</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1977-1997</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series, dating from 1977 to 1997, documents Oldham's piano performances and compositions through recordings of solo recitals; appearances with orchestras; piano competitions; performances of Oldham's music by other musicians; demos; and studio recordings. It also holds interviews; memorial services for Oldham held in Kansas City and New York City; and posthumous recordings of Oldham's music.</p> <p>Recorded Oldham compositions include <span class=\"title\">Ballade for Piano</span>, Op. 17; <span class=\"title\">Concerto for Piano</span>, Op. 14; <span class=\"title\">Variations on a French Noël</span>, Op. 7; the unfinished opera <span class=\"title\">Thérѐse Raquin</span> and unfinished musical <span class=\"title\">Titanic</span>; <span class=\"title\">Symphony Number One for Organ</span>; three choral settings of psalms performed by the choir of Marble Collegiate Church; art songs; and cabaret and humorous songs. There are also recordings of Oldham's piano transcriptions and arrangements of music by Bach, Beethoven, Liszt, Schubert, and Johann Strauss.</p> <p>Oldham's piano performances include works by Bach, Beethoven, Liszt, Debussy, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Ginastera, Ravel, Schubert, Poulenc, Schumann, Scarlatti, and other composers. Oldham's performances date from 1977 to 1989, the exceptions being his 1991 and 1993 appearances performing his <span class=\"title\">Concerto for Piano</span>, and as accompanying pianist for song performances, including the December 1991 Benson Concert for United AIDS Relief Efforts.</p> <p>The Broadcasts and Interviews include Oldham's appearances on WQXR's The Listening Room, National Public Radio, a television station in Kansas City, and other broadcasts. There are two extended interviews of Oldham by Tim Page, one broadcast on WNYC in 1991, and another private recording not long before Oldham's death.</p> <p>The memorial services were captured on audio and video, and feature performances of Oldham's work. The posthumous recording sessions were eventually released commercially, and were produced by Stephen Rotondaro.</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Donated by <span class=\"name\">Stephen Rotondaro</span> in <span class=\"date\">1996</span> and <span class=\"date\">2002</span>.</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by <span class=\"name\">Matthew Snyder</span> in <span class=\"date\">2013</span>.</p>"}
- revisiondesc
-
{"value"=>"Additions processed, audio and video described, and finding aid revised by\n Matthew Snyder in ", "date"=>"2025."}
- date_start
-
1976
- keydate
-
1976
- date_end
-
1997
- date_inclusive_start
-
1976
- date_inclusive_end
-
1997
- extent_statement
-
4.21 linear feet (13 boxes). 5.4 megabytes (109 computer files). 167 audio recordings. 9 video recordings
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"Kevin Oldham papers, JPB 13-35. Music Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts"}