
The Edward
Collins Fund for American Music (ECFAM) is beginning
work on its mission by restoring the music legacy of American
composer Edward
Joseph Collins (1886-1951).
Collins had an impressive career
as music composer, pianist, conductor and teacher. His various
journals and letters also provide unique insights into American
culture, as well as that of Europe and its classical music
scene during the first half of the 20th century.
Collins's music had languished
since the 1950s, likely because of a lack of reference recordings.
Toward returning Collins’s
music to the “living” repertoire, ECFAM plans
to:
- select an archive where original scores,
manuscripts, correspondence, journals, and memorabilia
can be deposited, for eventual access by scholars and
the public (completed: archives
located at Chicago’s Newberry Library)
- coordinate digital engraving of all extant
works , to
be made available for performance through publication
(approximately 85% of extant works
have been edited, proofed, and professionally engraved;
completion of engraving is projected in 2006)
- undertake new
recordings of all works, toward publication of complete
recorded anthology that includes previously
recorded music (seven CDs recorded
to date, with two more projected for completion in 2005;
anthology release planned for 2006, the composer’s
120th birth anniversary year)
- seek publication of all music by an established
international company (two major
publishers have indicated interest and are reviewing materials)
- coordinate publication of a revised composer
catalogue (working edition completed)
- organize anniversary concerts and events
(50th death anniversary, 2001, completed;
120th birth anniversary, 2006, as funds permit)
- commission and publish a new
biography (completed)
- provide information to editors or authors
of key music reference works, such as the New Grove
Dictionary of Music and Musicians and the Orchestral
Handbook (ongoing)
- promote Collins performances, especially
those with related broadcasts (ongoing)
- identify and recover
lost works, as well as any existing audio or video
recordings of the composer or his music, through research
in key biographical cities and regions (e.g., Chicago,
northeast Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Berlin, New York, etc.)
(ongoing)
- create a multimedia website,
possibly with the capacity for downloading or purchase
of music publications, recordings, and other content
(first stage, early 2005; ongoing)
- support scholarly work, possibly to include
a book-length study, that places Collins’s music
in a historical context (ongoing)
- promote media coverage (ongoing)
- support production of audio/video documentaries
for public radio or television (tbd,
as funds become available)
Using the experience gained from this research-based
pilot project, ECFAM plans to restore the music legacies
of other 20th century American composers.
EDWARD COLLINS
FUND FOR AMERICAN MUSIC ©2005 |