With special collections ranging from colonial era tunebooks and pirate radio to silent film scores and big band works, the American Music Research Center (AMRC) creates an experience far beyond serving as a research center jointly held by the College of Music and the University Libraries. 鈥淚 think that we are a tremendous resource across campus, beyond the College of Music, that the campus is not yet fully aware of,鈥� Professor of Musicology and Director of the AMRC Susan Thomas says.
Under the guidance of Thomas for just one year, the AMRC has made great strides in all areas of its work. 鈥淭he center has three main pillars. One is providing a research archive for scholars and musicians. The second is to do outreach and build curriculum on American music and history. The third side is to support other scholars,鈥� Thomas explains.
鈥淲e promote research on American musics, broadly speaking,鈥� she continues. 鈥淭hat could be music from within the United States, but it is also, increasingly, research throughout the Americas. We are really trying to pay particular attention to cross-border and transnational expressions of American musics.鈥�
Many of the fall semester鈥檚 programs reflected this mission. In honor of the 75th anniversary of the (a decision upholding the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II after being challenged by Fred Korematsu), Thomas wanted to commemorate the landmark moment by bringing the to the university this fall semester. Other events included a collaboration with Otis Taylor and his Trance Blues Festival, hosting a round table with the Smithsonian, National Museum of African American History and Culture curator Dwandalyn Reece, a performance featuring Cuban singer-songwriter Luis Barber铆a, a conversation with the panelists of 鈥溾�� and more.
鈥淭hey were really interested in thinking about the banjo as an instrument that has a history that ties together the African diaspora and a lot of often white-identified genres. It鈥檚 an instrument that really shows the complexity of American music history,鈥� Thomas says.
Alongside presenting events, the AMRC provides resources to support students with their academic research, especially through accessibility to the center鈥檚 vast collections. Recent additions to the AMRC archive include a massive collection of silent film scores donated by CU Boulder alum and director of the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra Rodney Sauer.
鈥淩odney actually credits his interest in silent film to the AMRC鈥檚 silent film holding, which is where he first became aware of that music,鈥� Thomas explains.
Inspired by the AMRC鈥檚 collection, Sauer began a collection of his own. 鈥淪everal years ago, he was able to purchase a collection of silent film music from the Grauman鈥檚 Theater chain in Los Angeles from the 鈥�20s. As far as we know, the theaters had decided they weren鈥檛 going to use this film music anymore. They were throwing it out.鈥�
鈥淏ecause of the geographic specificity of the collection, it鈥檚 an interesting glimpse into what movies sounded like in California in the 1910s and 1920s.鈥�
Additionally, the AMRC directly supports students鈥� day-to-day education by crafting curricula for classes and giving grants to scholars. 鈥淲e supported four proposals this summer and fall of artists who are working on music from the archive related to former faculty member and composer George Lynn.鈥�
Thomas is excited to launch into her goals of expanding outreach this academic year. 鈥淲e are uniquely situated to be a bridge between the community and the academic community here on campus.鈥�
With the goal of finding a public-facing space for the AMRC, Thomas further hopes to serve the university and regional community in supporting scholarship and pedagogy.
鈥淭here鈥檚 still a lot of work to be done,鈥� Thomas says. 鈥淭he thing that has most energized me is the number of partners that have stepped forward since I got here and the collaborations that we鈥檙e building, especially with cinema and media studies, libraries, ethnic studies, women's studies, and Native American and indigenous studies. I feel like we can help as much as be helped.鈥�
