The University Library System

The University Library System (ULS) supports research, teaching, and learning in music on Pitt’s Oakland campus, regional campuses, and beyond. The collections of more than 7 million print and electronic items are searchable in PittCat and in special collections finding aids. Millions of items are available online through databases and ULS Digital Collections. Patrons can easily have physical items shipped throughout the ULS for access at various locations, including Oakland’s Hillman Library, the Theodore M. Finney Music Library, Frick Fine Arts Library, and Center for American Music; the Thomas Blvd. Library in the Point Breeze neighborhood of Pittsburgh; and the regional campus libraries at Greensburg, Johnstown, Titusville, and Bradford.

The ULS offers many services relevant to music studies. An Evidence Synthesis service supports researchers conducting systematic reviews and scoping reviews. The Text Mining and Analysis service and Research Data Services support the creation, derivation, management, and sharing of data. Library specialists assigned to each academic department and other areas of specialization—including music, publishing, metadata, open access, and more—are also available for consultation.

Music studies at Pitt are enhanced by the ULS’s physical spaces. Patrons make audio recordings for podcasts, films, and other media in Hillman Library’s sound-isolated Whisper Room, where they can utilize technology from the Media Equipment Lending Program. At the Open Lab @ Hillman, patrons gain experience with virtual reality workstations, 3D printers, a vinyl cutter, 360-degree video cameras, and a laser cutter/engraver. At the Text & conText Lab, patrons participate in papermaking, printing, and bookmaking. Exhibits in the Archives & Special Collections gallery space in Hillman Library and the Center for American Music’s museum in the Stephen Foster Memorial building regularly highlight music materials in the ULS’s rich collections.

The Theodore M. Finney Music Library

Of the hundreds of thousands of music items in the ULS, many of the most popular items can be found in the Theodore M. Finney Music Library in the Music Building on Pitt’s Oakland campus. Global in scope, the Music Library houses 65,000 scores and books, 25,000 recordings in various formats, 1,500 microforms, 500 video recordings, 150 journals, and facsimiles of European music manuscripts from the Middle Ages through the twentieth century. Highlights in the archives include field recordings of African church music and aboriginal music in Australia, printed music of the Polish Singers Alliance of America, the papers of faculty composers Eric Moe and Roger Zahab, and recordings from former Pittsburgh radio programs Radio Italia and Music of India. The library’s rare book collection includes Gregorian chant leaves, early American hymnals and tunebooks, seventeenth- and eighteenth-century prints of English sacred and secular works, and much more.

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The Center for American Music

The Center for American Music (CAM) is a museum and research center located in the Stephen Foster Memorial building on Pitt’s Oakland campus. The original holdings, given to the University in 1937 as the Foster Hall Collection, document the work and controversial legacy of minstrel composer Stephen Collins Foster. Today, the scope of the Center’s collections and activities extend to other significant composers, performers, organizations, and musical practices, with particular emphasis on popular music and culture of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Highlights include collections of early printed music in the United States, minstrelsy materials, the Ethelbert Nevin Collection, and the Adolph M. Foerster Collection. CAM’s jazz holdings include the Erroll Garner Collection, Dave Burrell Archive, Sam Rivers Archive, and Joe Negri Collection. The Charles and Frankie Pace Collection documents the careers of early Black gospel musicians, publishers, and activists Charles and Frankie Pace. And the Ruth and Thomas Martin Archive documents the work of opera librettists and translators Ruth and Thomas Martin. Researchers can make an appointment to access these materials in the reading rooms at Hillman Library or the Archives Service Center.  

Archives & Special Collections

Archives & Special Collections houses many music materials that are searchable in finding aids and accessible in the reading rooms in Hillman Library and at the Archives Service Center. Highlights include the Marilyn Horne Foundation Records, Mildred Miller Posvar Papers, Mirskey Collection of Salon Orchestra and Silent Film Music, and the Fidelis Zitterbart Manuscripts.

The University of Pittsburgh Sonny Rollins International Jazz Archive contains video and audio tapes of more than 30 years of the department's annual Jazz Seminar and Concert, including performances by such artists and guest lecturers as Kenny Clarke, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, and James Moody. The archive also includes original scores, musical instruments, letters, and artifacts related to the history of jazz.