Skip to Main Content

Oral History of American Music Collections Guide: Major Figures in American Music

OHV: Major Figures in American Music

Major Figures in American Music is the core unit of Oral History of American Music. It consists of about 1,500 interviews with composers, performers, and other significant musicians. The first subjects were those most fragile in terms of age and health, such as Eubie Blake, Nadia Boulanger, Aaron Copland, Harry Partch, Charles Seeger, Claire Reis, and Virgil Thomson. Among other senior composers interviewed during the OHAM's first decade were John Cage, Lou Harrison, Ernst Krenek, Leo Ornstein, and William Schuman. As OHAM proceeded, composers actively involved in their careers were included and have been updated periodically. To name a few: John Adams, Anthony Braxton, David Del Tredici, Lukas Foss, David Lang, Steve Reich, and Julia Wolfe. OHAM's program also includes oral histories with emerging young talents, with the plan to track their careers as they unfold in the future. In addition to interviews with primary subjects, the core unit includes testimonies from secondary sources about George Gershwin, Henry Cowell, Harry Lawrence Freeman, Percy Grainger, and Arnold Schoenberg.

CLICK HERE TO BROWSE AND LISTEN

Collection Listing: Audio Interviews

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

INTERVIEWEES:

A


Abravanel, Maurice
Adamo, Mark
Adams, John
Adams, John Luther
Adams, Samuel
Adler, Samuel
Adolphe, Bruce
Akiho, Andy
Akiyoshi, Toshiko
Albert, Stephen
Alexander, Kathryn
Alexander, Monty
Alles, Hal
Amirkhanian, Charles
Amram, David
Anderson, Beth
Anderson, Laurie
Andres, Timo
Andriessen, Louis
Antoniou, Theodore
Appleton, Jon
Argento, Dominick*
Ashley, Robert
Asia, Daniel
Auric, Georges*
Austin, Larry
Avakian, George
Avshalomov, Jacob

 

B


Babbitt, Milton
Balch, Katherine
Barber, Samuel
Barlow, Howard*
Barron, Kenny
Basie, Count*
Bayolo, Armando
Beaser, Robert
Becker, Dan
Beeson, Jack
Behrman, David
Beltrami, Marco
Berger, Arthur
Berio, Luciano
Bermel, Derek
Bernstein, Elmer*
Bernstein, Leonard
Berroa, Ignacio
Bielawa, Lisa
Biscardi, Chester
Blackwood, Easley
Blake, Eubie
Blake, Ran
Blank, Allan
Bley, Carla
Bloch, Suzanne
Bloom, Jane Ira
Boatwright, Helen
Bohanan, Vincent
Bolcom, William
Bond, Victoria*
Botti, Susan
Boulanger, Nadia
Boulez, Pierre*
Bowles, Paul*
Brackeen, Joanne
Bradford, Bobby
Branca, Glenn
Brant, Henry
Braxton, Anthony
Brecker, Randy
Bresnick, Martin
Brooks, Jeff
Brouwer, Leo
Brown, Earle
Brown, Elizabeth
Brubeck, Dave
Bruce, Neely
Buchla, Don
Budd, Harold
Buide del Real, Fernando
Burton, Gary
Bynum, Taylor Ho

 

C


Cacioppo, George
Cage, John
Cage, John:
      Laurie Anderson
      Merce Cunningham
      Yoko Ono
      Robert Rauschenberg
      David Tudor

Caltabiano, Ronald
Carl, Robert
Carr, Kurt
Carrington, Terri Lyne
Carter, Elliott
Celli, Joseph
Cerrone, Christopher
Chacon, Raven
Chadabe, Joel
Chapin, Schuyler*
Charlap, Bill
Chase, Gilbert
Chatham, Rhys
Chatterjee, Samir
Chávez, Carlos
Chen Yi
Childs, Barney
Chou, Wen-Chung
Chowning, John
Clark Sisters
Clark-Chisholm, Jacky     
Clark-Cole, Dorinda
Clark-Sheard, Karen   
Clark-Terrell, Twinkie
Clarke, Rebecca
Cogan, Robert
Colaiuta, Vinnie
Coleman, Ornette
Coleman, Steve
Coleman, Valerie
Colgrass, Michael
Cone, Edward T.*
Cooper, Jacob
Copland, Aaron
Corigliano, John
Corner, Philip
Cory, Eleanor
Coryell, Larry
Cowell, Henry*:
      Cage, John
      Cowell, Olive
      Cowell, Sidney
      Gann, Kyle
      Golan, Jeanne
      Harrison, Lou
      Hart, Mary Ann
      Higgins, Dick
      Hitchcock, H. Wiley
      Nichols, David
      Oja, Carol
      Osborne, Robert
      Sachs, Joel
      Seeger, Peggy
      Shirley, Wayne
      Teitelbaum, Richard
      Uppman, Theodore and Jean
Creston, Paul
Crumb, George
Cuong, Viet
Curran, Alvin
Currier, Sebastian
Cyrille, Andrew

 

D


Danielpour, Richard
Daugherty, Michael
Davidovsky, Mario*
Davidson, Randall
Davies, Dennis Russell
Davis, Anthony
De Paur, Leonard*
DeJohnette, Jack
Del Tredici, David
Dello Joio, Norman
Dempster, Stuart
Dennehy, Donnacha
Dessner, Bryce
Deutsch, Herbert
Diamond, David
Dick, Robert
Didkovsky, Nick
Dodge, Charles
Donaldson, Lou
Downey, John*
Dresher, Paul
Du, Yun
Druckman, Jacob
Duffy, Thomas
Duke, John

 

E


Eakin, Charles
Elliott, Don*
Ellis, Anita
Erb, Donald
Erickson, Robert
Escoferry, Wayne
Escot, Pozzi
Esmail, Reena

 

F


Farrin, Suzanne

Felciano, Richard
Feldman, Morton*
Fine, Vivian
Finney, Ross Lee
Flanagan, William
Floyd, Carlisle
Ford, Andrew
Foss, Lukas
Francaix, Jean*
Frank, Gabriela Lena
Freeman, Harry Lawrence:
      Freeman, Valdo
Friar, Sean
Fure, Ash

 

G


Galper, Hal
Gann, Kyle
Gershwin, George:
      Braggiotti, Mario*
      Brown, Anne*
      Caesar, Irving*
      Duncan, Todd*
      Gershwin, Arthur*
      Gershwin-Godowsky, Frances
      Lane, Burton*
      Lee-Levine, Rose
      Simon, Alfred
      Swift, Kay
      Van Norman, Horace*
      Wolpin, Kate
Ghent, Emmanuel
Gibbs, Terry
Gibson, Jon
Giddens, Rhiannon
Gideon, Miriam
Gilbert, Henry:
      Gilbert-Horton, Isolde
Giteck, Janice
Glass, Philip
Gleeson, Patrick
Godowsky, Jr., Leopold
Goldmark, Peter
Goldovsky, Boris
Goldstein, Malcolm
Golia, Vinny
Golson, Benny
Goodman, Benny*
Gordon, Michael
Gosfield, Annie
Gould, Morton*
Grainger, Percy:
      Cross, Burnett
      Grainger, Ella
      Nygaard, Kaare*
Graves, Milford

 

H


Haas, Georg Friedrich
Hagen, Daron
Hammerstein II, Oscar*
Hammond, John
Hampton, Lionel
Hanson, Howard*
Harbison, John
Harnick, Sheldon
Harnoncourt, Nikolaus and Quincy Jones*
Harrington, David
Harris, Roy*
Harrison, Donald
Harrison, Lou and Dennis Russell Davies
Hart, Billy
Hartke, Stephen
Hayes, Louis
Haynes, Roy
Hearne, Ted
Heindorf, Ray
Heinsheimer, Hans
Helps, Robert
Henze, Hans Werner*
Hickey, Sean
Higdon, Jennifer
Hiller, Lejaren
Hines, Earl*
Hinton, Milt*
Hitchcock, H. Wiley
Ho, Fred
Hoggard, Jay
Hoiby, Lee*
Hoover, Katherine*
Horne, David
Hovhaness, Alan*
Husa, Karel

 

I


Imbrie, Andrew
Ivey, Jean Eichelberger
Iyer, Vijay

 

J


Jaffe, Stephen
Jarvinen, Arthur
Jeffreys, Garland
Johnson, Scott
Johnson, Tom
Johnston, Ben
Jolas, Betsy
Jones, Charles*
Jones, Quincy
Jones, Quincy and Nikolaus Harnoncourt*
Jordan, Sheila

 

K


Kalish, Gilbert
Kaman, Charles
Kaczmarek, Konrad
Kernis, Aaron Jay
Kilstofte, Mark
Kim, Earl
Kim, Jin Hi
Kiley, Shannon
Kipnis, Alexander
Kirchner, Leon
Kirkpatrick, John
Kirsten, Amy Beth
Klingbiel, Michael
Klucevsek, Guy
Knowles, Alison*
Knussen, Oliver
Kolb, Barbara*
Koussevitzky, Olga
Kraft, William
Kramer, Jonathan
Krasner, Louis
Krenek, Ernst
Kroyt, Boris*
Kuhn, Steve
Kuivila, Ron
Kupferman, Meyer
Kyr, Robert

L


La Barbara, Joan
Laderman, Ezra
Lang, David
Langinger, Herman
Lanier, Jaron
Lansky, Paul*
Larsen, Libby
Lash, Hannah
Lawrence, Donald
Layton, Billy Jim
Leach, Mary Jane
LeBaron, Anne
Leclair, Jacqueline
Lederman, Minna (Daniel)
Lees, Benjamin
Lennon, John Anthony
Lentz, Daniel
León, Tania
Lerdahl, Fred
Levine, Jeffrey
Levine, Jesse
Lewin, Frank
Lewis, George
Lieberson, Peter
Liebman, Dave
Lindroth, Scott
Little, David T.
Lockwood, Annea
Loeffler, Charles Martin:
      Clark, Mr. and Mrs. Charles
Lovano, Joe
Lucier, Alvin
Luening, Otto
Luther, Molly
    Lindholm, Meg Luther
Lyons, Gilda

 

M


Machover, Tod
Mackey, Steve
McLoskey, Lansing
Mamlok, Ursula
Maricle, Sherrie
Marshall, Ingram
Martino, Donald
Martino, Pat
Mathews, Max
Mauceri, John
Maupin, Bennie
Mazzoli, Missy
McKinley, William
McLoskey, Lansing
McPartland, Jimmy
McPartland, Marian
McPhee, Joe
Melford, Myra
Mellits, Marc
Mennin, Peter
Menotti, Gian Carlo
Metheny, Pat
Milhaud, Darius
Miller, Paul
Miller, Philip
Mingus, Charles*
Mingus, Sue
Mitchell, Nicole
Mobberly, James
Monk, Meredith
Moog, Robert
Moondog (Louis T. Hardin)*
Moore, Carman
Moore, Douglas*
Moore, F. Richard
Moore, Robert
Moore, Ted
Moran, Jason
Moran, Robert
Moravec, Paul
Moross, Jerome
Morton, Lawrence*
Mosko, Stephen L.
Muhly, Nico
Mumma, Gordon
Murail, Tristan
Musgrave, Thea

 

N


Nancarrow, Conlon
       Stephens, Luis
Nee, Thomas
Negrón, Angélica
Newman, Thomas
Niblock, Phill
Norman, Andrew
North, Alex
Nurock, Kirk

 

O


O'Meara, Eva J.
Oliveros, Pauline
Oppens, Ursula
Ornstein, Leo
Osby, Greg

Oteri, Frank J.
Owens, Jimmy

 

P


Palestine, Charlemagne
Panetti, Joan
Parisot, Aldo
Parisot, Elizabeth
Partch, Harry
Paul, Les*
Paulus, Stephen
Pavone, Mario
Peacock, Gary
Perez, Danilo
Perle, George
Perlis, Vivian
Persichetti, Vincent
Peters, Troy
Picker, Tobias
Pinkham, Daniel
Pintscher, Matthias
Piston, Walter
Pollard, Mark
Porter, Quincy:
      Porter, Mrs. Quincy
      Simonds, Bruce
      Wilson, Keith
Potter, Chris
Powell, Mel
Preston, Don
Previn, André
Price, Florence
      Brown, Rae Linda
      Dillard, Tom

      
Nutt, Tim
      Heard, Richard
      Jackson, Barbara Garvey
      Johnson, Calvert
      Phibbs, Morris
Puts, Kevin

 

R


Radzynski, Jan
Rakowski, David
Raksin, David
Rands, Bernard
Read, Gardner
Reich, Steve
Reis, Claire
Reynolds, Roger
Richter, Marga
Rieti, Vittorio
Riley, Terry
Roach, Max
Robb, J. Donald
Rochberg, George
Rodriguez, Robert
Rogers, John Fitz
Roseman, Ronald
Rothenberg, David
Rhode, Kurt
Rollins, Sonny
Rorem, Ned
Rosen, Judith
Rosenboom, David
Rouse, Christopher
Rozsa, Miklos*
Rudd, Roswell
Rudhyar, Dane
Ruff, Willie
Rush, Loren
Russell, Catherine
Russell, George
Russell, William
Rzewski, Frederic

 

S


Sachs, Joel
Sanchez-Gutierrez, Carlos
Sanford, David
Schafer, R. Murray*
Scheide, William
Schickele, Peter
Schoenberg, Arnold:
      Greisle, Felix*
      Kolisch, Rudolf
      Pisk, Paul
      Rosen, Judith
      Schoenberg, Lawrence
      Schoenberg-Nono, Nuria
      Schoenberg, Ronald
      Stein, Leonard
      Strang, Gerald
Schuller, Gunther
Schuman, William
Schwantner, Joseph
Schwartz, Elliott
Schwendinger, Laura
Scofield, John
Seeger, Charles
Seeger, Pete
Sellars, Peter
Sessions, Roger*
Shaffer, Paul
Shapero, Harold
Shapey, Ralph
Shaw, Caroline
Sheng, Bright
Shore, Howard
Shorter, Wayne
Siegmeister, Elie*
Sierra, Arlene
Sierra, Roberto
Silverman, Stanley
Simeone, Harry
Simon, Alfred
Simonds, Bruce
Sims, Ezra
Singleton, Alvin
Slatkin, Leonard
Slonimsky, Nicolas
Smith, Gabriella
Smith, Wadada Leo
Smith, Warren
Snider, Sarah Kirkland
Sondheim, Stephen*
Soper, Kate
Sorey, Tyshawn
Southern, Eileen*
Sprague Smith, Carleton
Stalvey, Dorrance
Starer, Robert
Steiger, Rand
Stevens, Halsey*
Still, William Grant*
Stinson, Bill
Stock, David
Stokes, Eric
Stokowski, Leopold
Stoloff, Morris
Strange, Allen
Stravinsky, Igor
Strunk, Oliver
Stucky, Steven
Subotnick, Morton
Sudler, Louis
Sullivan, Maxine*
Sur, Donald
Swallow, Steve
Swift, Kay
Sydeman, William

 

T


Talma, Louise
Tate, Jerod Impichcha̲achaaha̕
Taylor, Billy
Teitelbaum, Richard
Temianka, Henri
Tenney, James
Tenzer, Michael
Testa, Carl
Theodorakis, Mikis*
Theofanidis, Chris
Thomas, Augusta Read
Thome, Joel
Thompson, Randall*
Thomson, Virgil
Thorne, Francis
Threadgill, Henry
Tilson Thomas, Michael
Torke, Michael
Tower, Joan
Trueman, Dan
Tudor, David
Turrisi, Francesco

 

U


Ueno, Ken
Ung, Chinary
Ussachevsky, Vladimir

 

V


Varèse, Edgard*
Vees, Jack
Vercoe, Barry
Vercoe, Elizabeth
Verdery, Benjamin
Vierk, Lois V.

 

W


Wadley, Jay
Wagner, Melinda
Ward, Robert
Wein, George
Weisgall, Hugo
Wernick, Richard
Wheeler, Scott
White, Lenny
Williams, Amy
Williams, Jan
Williams, John
Williams, Mary Lou
Wilson, Gerald
Wilson, Keith
Wilson, Olly
Wilson, Richard
Winsor, Phil
Wolfe, Julia
Wolff, Christian
Wolff, Jonathan
Wolpe, Stefan:
      Marx, Josef
Woods, Phil
Woolf, Randall
Wuorinen, Charles
Wyner, Yehudi

 

X


Xenakis, Iannis

 

Y


Yates, Peter*
Young, La Monte
Young, Nina C.

 

Z


Z, Pamela
Zappa, Frank*
Ziporyn, Evan
Zorn, John
Zwilich, Ellen Taaffe

  Last updated January 10, 2024

*Denotes an acquired interview