The resources available at Columbia University and in New York City are incomparably rich. The Columbia University Library system is one of the largest in the country. In addition, through its membership in the Research Libraries Group, the University's users have access to collections of other major research libraries in the country.
The main facility, Butler Library, contains a vast humanities collection, a comprehensive reference department, and a superb rare book and manuscript library, among its many resources. Most printed sources, reference works, and periodicals that a graduate student will want can be found in Butler. The library system consists of 26 divisions, many of which contain items of interest to a researcher in music. Notable outside of the Music & Arts Library are the Avery Library, which houses one of the most celebrated architectural collections in the world, as well as an impressive fine arts collection; and the Rare Book and Manuscript Library, which contains several collections of music autograph material and also rare printed items, including material on deposit from the Music & Arts Library.
The Gabe Wiener Music & Arts Library is located adjacent to the Department of Music, on the 7th floor of Dodge Hall, ensuring close integration of its resources with the teaching program and needs of the Music Dept. The library offers strong collections, a welcoming working environment, and facilities including the Digital Music Lab, playback stations for multiple audio/video formats, and regular workshops. The collection contains extensive holdings of books, journals, scores, and sound and video recordings, in multiple languages, and both physical and electronic formats. Access copies of selected archival materials, principally audio recordings, are available for on-site consultation. Due to space constraints affecting all libraries on campus, a considerable portion of the collection is housed in the Libraries’ Offsite storage facility, but items are easily requestable for delivery to campus within 1-3 business days. Questions or concerns regarding any library matters can be directed to Nick Patterson, at patterson [at] columbia.edu
or 212-854-8523.
Located in 701C Dodge, the Center for Ethnomusicology provides materials and facilities that include an archive of music recordings and a laboratory. These resources are available to students enrolled in ethnomusicology courses. The Center also sponsors extracurricular lectures and performance sessions.
Columbia University Information Technology (CUIT) offers access to the University's mainframe computers for research purposes and access to the electronic mail system. CUIT also provides tutorials and short courses in computer use. Together, the Library and CUIT offer a wide range of on-line search facilities for the library user and researcher. In addition, the Computer Music Center, housed at 318 Prentis Hall, 125th Street, and 803 Dodge Hall, is open to students in music.
Columbia has its own concert hall; the Kathryn Bache Miller Theater, located on the first floor of Dodge Hall. This handsome venue, acoustically adapted, and equipped with a range of electronic facilities, offers a season of outstanding recitals and concerts. Concerts are also frequently given at other venues on campus, including the Roone Arledge Auditorium in Lerner Hall, the Casa Italiana, and St. Paul's Chapel.
Superb additional resources are available elsewhere in Manhattan. The New York Public Library's main research division at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street houses a world-renowned collection. The Library and Museum of the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center contains the New York Public Library's music and dance collection, including the Toscanini Archives and the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound. The Public Library's Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture also contains significant materials. The Pierpont Morgan Library contains outstanding collections of autograph material, particularly of 19th-century composers; an important collection of early printed music books; and illuminated medieval manuscripts of musical interest. Students interested in the visual arts have at their disposal the varied holdings of the Metropolitan Museum, the Frick Collection, the Museum of Modern Art, and numerous other museums and galleries. The Metropolitan Museum has a splendid historical collection of musical instruments.
New York City has, of course, countless venues in which music of all ages and traditions can be heard: concert halls such as Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Concert Hall; three opera houses, the Metropolitan Opera House, the New York State Theater, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music; jazz clubs, in Greenwich Village the famous Village Vanguard and more locally in the Columbia neighborhood, SMOKE; and "alternative" venues such as the Knitting Factory and the Kitchen. Important concert series are given at the Metropolitan Museum, the Frick Collection, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and many churches, notably the nearby Corpus Christi Church. With its resident orchestras, choruses, ensembles, opera companies, conservatories, and visiting artists from all over the world, New York has no equal in music.