ARCHIVE

Laura Kuhn talks with Jonathan Hiam, Curator of Music and Recorded Sound at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, who specializes in American music and recorded sound, with emphasis on 20th-century music. He oversees one of the world’s largest sound archives, which contains audio recordings and other materials that document the earliest days of recording through to today’s digital media. He also curates and assists researchers with the extensive American Music Collection, which covers the full range of American music, from early manuscripts, scores, and sheet music to the papers of major contemporary American composers, including the extensive “John Cage Music Manuscript Collection.” Most recently Hiam has produced a series of short videos that explore composer and sound artist Maryanne Amacher’s work through conversations as a shared engagement across social time and distance. Hiam holds an MA in Music History and Literature from Boston University and a PhD in Musicology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His blog posts are available at target="_new">https://www.nypl.org/blog/author/818