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The Library of Congress Music Division has a vast amount of primary and secondary resources specific to the profession, craft, education, and research needs of orchestra conductors. This research guide outlines how to find materials available in our holdings related to score study, conducting technique and instruction, reference publications such as biographies and dictionaries, and 19th- through 20th-century orchestral concert programs. This guide also features links to online content such as digitized correspondence, scores, and photographs from special collections; web archives about conductors' careers, ensembles, and the conducting profession; past exhibits at the Library of Congress with original exhibit text that featured conductors, conductor-composers, and conductor-performers; and selected blog posts about conductors from the Music Division's blog.
The Performing Arts Reading Room is the access point for the collections in the custody of the Music Division at the Library of Congress. Numbering approximately 20.5 million items and spanning more than 1000 years of Western music history and practice, these holdings include the classified music and book collections, music and literary manuscripts, iconography, microforms, periodicals, musical instruments, published and unpublished copyright deposits, and close to 500 special collections in music, theater, and dance.
