Remembering Relief: The Federal Music Project

Items

• Free Band Concerts at Brooklyn Museun
  This WPA poster for the Federal Music Project advertises free band concerts on Sundays at 4pm and Thursdays at 3pm at the the Brooklyn Museum on Eastern Parkway in New York. The poster itself includes a depiction of a blue and brown conductor raising the baton in front of an illustration of musical notation.
• Composer's Forum Laboratory Performance
  This audio recording from the NYC Municipal Archives, WNYC Collection features the Composer's Laboratory Forum, a series of programs that began in New York City by the Federal Music Project's Music Education Department. The forums sought to introduce the public to American composers with weekly concerts and audience-involved discussions. This particular recording features Hunter Johnson's "The Valley of the Muted Songbird" and "Scherzo from the South," performed by pianist Richard Singer; "Cradle Song in a Modern Mining Town" with music by Goddard Lieberson and words by Mildred Waterman, performed by soprano Louise Taylor with piano accompaniment; and "Hotel Music" by Paul Frederic Bowles, performed by the Modern Art Trio.
• Black Choral Performances on Air
  This audio recording, published by the National Endowment for the Humanities Preservation Project - Annotations, features a program of Spirituals with the Juanita Hall Choir, the Los Angeles Colored Chorus, and Negro Melody Singers, and the Los Angeles Negro Choir. Although the Federal Music Project provided opportunities for Black and Latinx musicians and offered performances of non-Eurocentric music, it did so within the greater context of a highly racist, Jim Crow society. Musicians of Color received less pay than white people and were segregated and othered. However, performances by all-Black casts and musical groups were often the most popular and widely attended events.
• Children's Festival for Pupils
  This black-and-white photograph captures four children singing into a microphone, surrounded by other children at the Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park, New York City. The children are participants of a Federal Music Project Children's festival for pupils. The digital image is part of the National Archives exhibit, A New Deal for the Arts and the National Archives Records of Works Projects Administration. The photograph is taken from an unknown photographer at an unknown date.
• Printers Making Serigraph Posters
  This black-and-white photograph was taken by an unknown person named Rose. The image captures 3 printers making serigraph posters for the WPA Federal Art Project in New York City as part of New Deal efforts to support artists. The digital image of the photograph is part of the National Archives Exhibit, A New Deal for the Arts.
• Free Band Concerts at the Bronx County Building
  This WPA poster for the Federal Music Project concert advertises free band concerts at the Bronx County Building, Grand Concourse and 161st Street in New York. The poster itself displays an illustration of a blue conductor from the waist up in front of a music stand.
• Following Courses for Adults at the Chelsea Community Music Center
  This WPA poster for the Federal Music Project advertises piano, voice, violin, cello, ear training, theory, ensemble, and appreciation at the Chelsea Community Music Center at 435 9th Avenue in New York City. The poster itself includes images of musical notation in front of an orange background.
• Russian Symphony Series
  This WPA poster for the Federal Music Project poster advertises a concert with Eugene Plotnikoff conducting Russian symphonic music by Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Rachmaninoff & others at the Federal Music Theater at 254 W. 54th Street in New York City. The poster itself includes a design of blue and white instruments in front of a red background.
• Victory Concerts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
  This WPA poster for the Federal Music Project advertises free concerts on Sunday afternoons at the Metropolitan Museum of Art at 5th Avenue and 82nd street in New York City. The concerts are sponsored by the New York Public Library, the Juilliard School of Music and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The poster itself includes an image of the Greek statue, Winged Victory of Samothrace, and musical notation on a green background.
• Two Chamber Operas: "The Romance of Robert" and "la Serva Padrona"
  This WPA poster for the Federal Music Project advertises two chamber operas, "The Romance of Robert," a romantic satire by Frederich Hart and Tillman Breiseth and "La Serva Padrona," a comic interlude by Pergolesi. Both performances take place at the WPA Theater of Music, 254 W. 54th Street in New York City. They feature Felix Brentano as director, Paul Velucci as musical director and Felicia Sorel as choreographer. The poster itself displays a blue, yellow and black graphic of a music note.
• Second Series of the Composer's Forum Laboratory
  This WPA poster for the Federal Music Project advertises the second series of the Composer's Forum Laboratory, a project that featured music from new American composers with audience-involved question-and-answer discussions throughout the program. The forums were free to the public and occurred every Wednesday at the Federal Music Project headquarters at 110 W. 48th St. in New York City. The poster itself includes an illustration of musical notation behind text.
• "Colored" Concert Band Performance with Conductor, Norman L. Black
  This WPA poster for the Federal Music Project advertises a performance of a Black concert band, conducted by Norman L. Black in Illinois. The poster itself features an image of blue and orange silhouetted musicians in front of a yellow background.