How the Library Saves and Preserves Film and Sound
The National Audiovisual Conservation Center (NAVCC) of the Library of Congress is the world's largest comprehensive collection of audio-visual materials. The conservatory and expert staff are dedicated to safeguarding the national film and audio heritage through skillful acquisition, cataloging, storage and preservation of millions of moving images and sound recordings. The NAVCC's mission values the importance of preserving and providing access to the Library's...
Connecting Communities Digital Initiative: 2024 Summer Fuse I
At its annual Summer Fuse event, the Library's Connecting Communities Digital Initiative brings together awardees and junior fellows to share their projects, while advisory board members offer insight to support Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden's mission to make the Library a place for all. Part 1 of 2.
Date:2024-06-24
Film, Video
Connecting Communities Digital Initiative: 2024 Summer Fuse II
At its annual Summer Fuse event, the Library's Connecting Communities Digital Initiative brings together awardees and junior fellows to share their projects, while advisory board members offer insight to support Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden's mission to make the Library a place for all. Part 2 of 2.
Date:2024-06-24
Film, Video
Cuéntame! Let's Talk Books with Torrey Maldonado
National Ambassador for Young People's Literature Meg Medina is joined by author/teacher Torrey Maldonado ("Hands," "Tight") who talks about the importance of catching the heart and ear of young readers. Torrey is known for his quick, roller-coaster novels. How does he do it? Check out this installment of Let's Talk Books!
Contributor:
Medina, Meg - Maldonado, Torrey
Date:2024-06-18
Film, Video
Cuéntame! Let's Talk Books with Eliot Schrefer
In this Let's Talk Books! episode, Eliot Schrefer ("Queer Ducks (and Other Animals)", "The Darkness Outside Us," "Endangered") shares his love of dynamic plot twists and moody graphic novels. He also lets us in on a little secret about real and lasting connection for young readers.
Contributor:
Schrefer, Eliot - Medina, Meg
Date:2024-06-18
Film, Video
Conversation with Zéphyros Winds and Audrey Andrist
Jennifer Grim, flutist with the Zéphyros Winds, pianist Audrey Andrist and composer Jeff Scott speak with the Library's David Plylar about an evening of wind and piano chamber music. The concert included music by Arthur Berger, Margaret Bonds and several composers whose collections are held at the Library: Leonard Bernstein, Ruth Crawford Seeger and Irving Fine. A new transcription by Jeff Scott for wind...
Contributor:
Scott, Jeff - Grim, Jennifer - Andrist, Audrey - Zéphyros Winds
Date:2024-06-15
Film, Video
Family Sing-Along with Natalie Merchant
Natalie Merchant performed a special concert as part of the David M. Rubenstein Treasures Gallery Opening Week festivities, specifically designed for families. The concert included music, items from the Library's collections and sing-alongs.
Contributor:
Merchant, Natalie
Date:2024-06-15
Film, Video
Maratón de Poesía del Teatro de la Luna
Enjoy an afternoon of poetry readings as a part of the Teatro de la Luna's annual poetry marathon, which gathers poets together from Latin America, Spain and Portugal. This year's lineup of featured poets was moderated by poet and literary critic Rei Berroa.
Contributor:
Berroa, Rei - Lara, Elizabeth - Duval, Elizabeth - Estévez, Sofía - Roblest, Alberto - Delmonte, José Enrique - Gutiérrez Y Muhs, Gabriella - Gelinas, Dana - Xiquín, Calixta Gabriel - Mejía, Luz Stella
Date:2024-06-14
Film, Video
'You Are Here' with Ada Limón: Introduction
24th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry Ada Limón details her signature laureate project, "You Are Here," which is comprised of two major initiatives -- a new anthology of nature poems and a series of visits to national parks -- as well as a call for the public to participate.
Contributor:
Limón, Ada
Date:2024-06-14
Film, Video
'Collecting Memories' in the David M. Rubenstein Treasures Gallery
Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden and key Library staff welcome the public to 'Collecting Memories,' the inaugural exposition in the new David M. Rubenstein Treasures Gallery in the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress.
Natalie Merchant Celebrates the Treasures of a Nation
This celebratory concert featuring Natalie Merchant marks the opening of the David M. Rubenstein Treasures Gallery at the Library of Congress. Enjoy a selection of the artist's favorite works as well as a snapshot of some of the Library's greatest treasures.
Contributor:
Merchant, Natalie
Date:2024-06-13
Film, Video
Conversation with Maya Lin at the Opening of the Treasures Gallery
As part of the opening of the new David M. Rubenstein Treasures Gallery at the Library, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden talked with American architect, designer and sculptor Maya Lin, who started her remarkable career when, as an architecture student at Yale University in 1981, she proposed a radical yet simple concept for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. That design is now part of the...
Contributor:
Lin, Maya - Hayden, Carla D.
Date:2024-06-13
Film, Video
We Are the Archive: Go-Go, Art and Respect
Washington, D.C.-based writer, curator and activist Natalie Hopkinson discusses her work amplifying the voices of Black and Indigenous cultures that face erasure throughout the world. Drawing on her oral history and archival projects that span Washington's go-go music, Guyanese painting and poetry, and African photography, she describes how teams of artists, schools, libraries, civil society organizations, governments and museums are building a world where...
Contributor:
Hopkinson, Natalie
Date:2024-06-12
Film, Video
From Lima to Canton: New Digital Tools for Painting Analysis
The international project From Lima to Canton used scientific analysis to study works of art from numerous institutions in the U.K. and United States. What started as a project aimed at differentiating between similar paintings generated in Canton, China and Lima, Peru, resulted in a major effort to map the global distribution of artists materials and methods in these and similar works. The large...
Celebrating 75 Years of Indonesia-U.S. Relations
A collaboration between the Embassy of Indonesia and the Library's Asian division, this event commemorated 75 years of Indonesia and U.S. diplomatic relations (1949-2024). The event featured a display of Library collection items showing the deep and ongoing cultural, academic and diplomatic exchanges between the two countries including rare texts from Indonesia collected by the Wilkes Expedition (1838-42), 19th-century letters from Indonesian rulers, titles...
Contributor:
Bimantara, Ida Bagus Made - Matthews, Sara - Santi Budaya Group
Date:2024-06-06
Film, Video
An Evening with Kevin Kwan
Internationally bestselling author Kevin Kwan talks about his forthcoming book "Lies and Weddings," a novel about a forbidden affair that erupts amid a decadent tropical wedding. Kwan is the iconic author of the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy, which has sold more than 4 million copies in the US and has been translated into more than 30 languages. The 2018 film adaptation of the first...
Contributor:
Kwan, Kevin
Date:2024-06-06
Film, Video
Conversation with Istiwanāt Live Arabic Music Ensemble
John Fenn sits down with Anne K. Rasmussen, Jared Holton, Albert Agha and Anne Elise Thomas of Istiwanāt Live! Arabic Music Ensemble. The group reinterprets music that was originally performed 100 years ago for a transnational industry of Arab, Arab American and international record labels, and which has recently been released into the public domain. The concert is inspired by the "Archive Challenge," an...
Contributor:
Rasmussen, Anne K. - Istiwanāt Live - Fenn, John - Holton, Jared - Agha, Albert - Thomas, Anne Elise
Date:2024-06-05
Film, Video
Library of Congress Chorale: Reel Music
The Library of Congress Chorale performs choral music from films, from "Amadeus" to "Amistad" to "Hunt for Red October" to "Star Wars."
Contributor:
Library of Congress Chorale
Date:2024-06-05
Film, Video
Istiwanāt Live Arabic Music Ensemble
Istiwanāt Live! Arabic Music Ensemble reinterprets music that was originally performed 100 years ago for a transnational industry of Arab, Arab American and international record labels, and which has recently been released into the public domain. The concert is inspired by the "Archive Challenge," an initiative of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, and draws on archived recordings in Loeb Library...
Contributor:
Rasmussen, Anne K. - Istiwanāt Live - Holton, Jared - Agha, Albert - Thomas, Anne Elise
Date:2024-06-05
Film, Video
Librarian of Congress Kicks Off 2nd NLS Summer Reading Program
Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden kicks off the second NLS Summer Reading Program with a reading of "The Adventures of Marshmallow and Peter" written by Peter James Heath, an eight-year-old boy who recently visited Hayden at the Library of Congress. This book is also available in braille and as an audiobook through the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS).
Contributor:
Hayden, Carla D.
Date:2024-06-01
Film, Video
Society for History in the Federal Government Awards Ceremony
The annual awards ceremony for the Society for History in the Federal Government (SHFG) featured a lecture on Library of Congress history from retired historian John Y. Cole, who received the Roger Trask Award in recognition of his innumerable contributions to federal history over the course of his 55-year career. Additional awards were presented for special service to the profession, historic preservation and exhibitions,...
Contributor:
Regan, Matt - Grant, Jordan - Poster, Leslie - Chalou, Mandy - Cole, John Y. - Sweeney, Mark - Prieto, Julie - Wivchar, Felicia - Hulver, Richard
Date:2024-05-30
Film, Video
NBC TV, Leontyne Price and Opera Casting in the Civil Rights Era
The year 2020 saw the confluence of two important trends in opera: the rise of broadcasting through livestreams and digital productions, and the demand for greater casting of singers of color. Both of these movements were born of necessity as opera companies adapted in the wake of the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests. These developments have often been treated as new and...
Contributor:
Ward-Griffin, Danielle
Date:2024-05-29
Film, Video
Somapa Thai Dance Company
The Somapa Thai Dance Company will present traditional Thai music and selected Thai dance numbers. The group will showcase newly and innovatively arranged music numbers that are performed on different occasions and for functions in Thai society, including ceremonial music at Buddhist temples, music originating in the old Siamese royal court, and traditional music derived from regional folk tunes and other cultures in the...
Contributor:
Somapa Thai Dance Company
Date:2024-05-23
Film, Video
Conversation with Somapa Thai Dance Company
Douglas Peach sits down with Suteera Nagavajara, Vorayot Suksaichon and Anant Narkkong to discuss Somapa Thai Dance Company's musical origins. The group is a distinguished Thai dance and music company based in the Washington DC area, featuring an accomplished Thai orchestra. Many of its artists have been trained with highly recognized dance and music masters, including National Artists and others from Chulalongkorn University and...
Contributor:
Narkkong, Anant - Peach, Douglas - Suksaichon, Vorayot - Somapa Thai Dance Company - Nagavajara, Suteera
Date:2024-05-23
Film, Video
Conversation with Graeme Steele Johnson, David Shifrin and Bridget Kibbey
Graeme Steele Johnson, David Shifrin and Bridget Kibbey speak with the Library's David Plylar about their performance of octets by Debussy, Loeffler and Schubert. Topics include Johnson's octet arrangement of Debussy's "Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune," Schubert's monumental octet, and Johnson's new edition of Charles Loeffler's "Octet"--last known to have been performed in 1897 before it was resurrected in performance in 2024. The Library...
Contributor:
Shifrin, David - Kibbey, Bridget - Johnson, Graeme Steele
Film, VideoHow the Library Saves and Preserves Film and Sound The National Audiovisual Conservation Center (NAVCC) of the Library of Congress is the world's largest comprehensive collection of audio-visual materials. The conservatory and expert staff are dedicated to safeguarding the national film and audio heritage through skillful acquisition, cataloging, storage and preservation of millions of moving images and sound recordings. The NAVCC's mission values the importance of preserving and providing access to the Library's...
Film, VideoConnecting Communities Digital Initiative: 2024 Summer Fuse I At its annual Summer Fuse event, the Library's Connecting Communities Digital Initiative brings together awardees and junior fellows to share their projects, while advisory board members offer insight to support Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden's mission to make the Library a place for all. Part 1 of 2.
Film, VideoConnecting Communities Digital Initiative: 2024 Summer Fuse II At its annual Summer Fuse event, the Library's Connecting Communities Digital Initiative brings together awardees and junior fellows to share their projects, while advisory board members offer insight to support Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden's mission to make the Library a place for all. Part 2 of 2.
Film, VideoCuéntame! Let's Talk Books with Torrey Maldonado National Ambassador for Young People's Literature Meg Medina is joined by author/teacher Torrey Maldonado ("Hands," "Tight") who talks about the importance of catching the heart and ear of young readers. Torrey is known for his quick, roller-coaster novels. How does he do it? Check out this installment of Let's Talk Books!
Film, VideoCuéntame! Let's Talk Books with Eliot Schrefer In this Let's Talk Books! episode, Eliot Schrefer ("Queer Ducks (and Other Animals)", "The Darkness Outside Us," "Endangered") shares his love of dynamic plot twists and moody graphic novels. He also lets us in on a little secret about real and lasting connection for young readers.
Film, VideoConversation with Zéphyros Winds and Audrey Andrist Jennifer Grim, flutist with the Zéphyros Winds, pianist Audrey Andrist and composer Jeff Scott speak with the Library's David Plylar about an evening of wind and piano chamber music. The concert included music by Arthur Berger, Margaret Bonds and several composers whose collections are held at the Library: Leonard Bernstein, Ruth Crawford Seeger and Irving Fine. A new transcription by Jeff Scott for wind...
Film, VideoFamily Sing-Along with Natalie Merchant Natalie Merchant performed a special concert as part of the David M. Rubenstein Treasures Gallery Opening Week festivities, specifically designed for families. The concert included music, items from the Library's collections and sing-alongs.
Film, VideoMaratón de Poesía del Teatro de la Luna Enjoy an afternoon of poetry readings as a part of the Teatro de la Luna's annual poetry marathon, which gathers poets together from Latin America, Spain and Portugal. This year's lineup of featured poets was moderated by poet and literary critic Rei Berroa.
Film, Video'You Are Here' with Ada Limón: Introduction 24th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry Ada Limón details her signature laureate project, "You Are Here," which is comprised of two major initiatives -- a new anthology of nature poems and a series of visits to national parks -- as well as a call for the public to participate.
Film, Video'Collecting Memories' in the David M. Rubenstein Treasures Gallery Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden and key Library staff welcome the public to 'Collecting Memories,' the inaugural exposition in the new David M. Rubenstein Treasures Gallery in the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress.
Film, VideoNatalie Merchant Celebrates the Treasures of a Nation This celebratory concert featuring Natalie Merchant marks the opening of the David M. Rubenstein Treasures Gallery at the Library of Congress. Enjoy a selection of the artist's favorite works as well as a snapshot of some of the Library's greatest treasures.
Film, VideoConversation with Maya Lin at the Opening of the Treasures Gallery As part of the opening of the new David M. Rubenstein Treasures Gallery at the Library, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden talked with American architect, designer and sculptor Maya Lin, who started her remarkable career when, as an architecture student at Yale University in 1981, she proposed a radical yet simple concept for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. That design is now part of the...
Film, VideoWe Are the Archive: Go-Go, Art and Respect Washington, D.C.-based writer, curator and activist Natalie Hopkinson discusses her work amplifying the voices of Black and Indigenous cultures that face erasure throughout the world. Drawing on her oral history and archival projects that span Washington's go-go music, Guyanese painting and poetry, and African photography, she describes how teams of artists, schools, libraries, civil society organizations, governments and museums are building a world where...
Film, VideoFrom Lima to Canton: New Digital Tools for Painting Analysis The international project From Lima to Canton used scientific analysis to study works of art from numerous institutions in the U.K. and United States. What started as a project aimed at differentiating between similar paintings generated in Canton, China and Lima, Peru, resulted in a major effort to map the global distribution of artists materials and methods in these and similar works. The large...
Film, VideoCelebrating 75 Years of Indonesia-U.S. Relations A collaboration between the Embassy of Indonesia and the Library's Asian division, this event commemorated 75 years of Indonesia and U.S. diplomatic relations (1949-2024). The event featured a display of Library collection items showing the deep and ongoing cultural, academic and diplomatic exchanges between the two countries including rare texts from Indonesia collected by the Wilkes Expedition (1838-42), 19th-century letters from Indonesian rulers, titles...
Film, VideoAn Evening with Kevin Kwan Internationally bestselling author Kevin Kwan talks about his forthcoming book "Lies and Weddings," a novel about a forbidden affair that erupts amid a decadent tropical wedding. Kwan is the iconic author of the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy, which has sold more than 4 million copies in the US and has been translated into more than 30 languages. The 2018 film adaptation of the first...
Film, VideoConversation with Istiwanāt Live Arabic Music Ensemble John Fenn sits down with Anne K. Rasmussen, Jared Holton, Albert Agha and Anne Elise Thomas of Istiwanāt Live! Arabic Music Ensemble. The group reinterprets music that was originally performed 100 years ago for a transnational industry of Arab, Arab American and international record labels, and which has recently been released into the public domain. The concert is inspired by the "Archive Challenge," an...
Film, VideoLibrary of Congress Chorale: Reel Music The Library of Congress Chorale performs choral music from films, from "Amadeus" to "Amistad" to "Hunt for Red October" to "Star Wars."
Film, VideoIstiwanāt Live Arabic Music Ensemble Istiwanāt Live! Arabic Music Ensemble reinterprets music that was originally performed 100 years ago for a transnational industry of Arab, Arab American and international record labels, and which has recently been released into the public domain. The concert is inspired by the "Archive Challenge," an initiative of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, and draws on archived recordings in Loeb Library...
Film, VideoLibrarian of Congress Kicks Off 2nd NLS Summer Reading Program Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden kicks off the second NLS Summer Reading Program with a reading of "The Adventures of Marshmallow and Peter" written by Peter James Heath, an eight-year-old boy who recently visited Hayden at the Library of Congress. This book is also available in braille and as an audiobook through the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS).
Film, VideoSociety for History in the Federal Government Awards Ceremony The annual awards ceremony for the Society for History in the Federal Government (SHFG) featured a lecture on Library of Congress history from retired historian John Y. Cole, who received the Roger Trask Award in recognition of his innumerable contributions to federal history over the course of his 55-year career. Additional awards were presented for special service to the profession, historic preservation and exhibitions,...
Film, VideoNBC TV, Leontyne Price and Opera Casting in the Civil Rights Era The year 2020 saw the confluence of two important trends in opera: the rise of broadcasting through livestreams and digital productions, and the demand for greater casting of singers of color. Both of these movements were born of necessity as opera companies adapted in the wake of the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests. These developments have often been treated as new and...
Film, VideoSomapa Thai Dance Company The Somapa Thai Dance Company will present traditional Thai music and selected Thai dance numbers. The group will showcase newly and innovatively arranged music numbers that are performed on different occasions and for functions in Thai society, including ceremonial music at Buddhist temples, music originating in the old Siamese royal court, and traditional music derived from regional folk tunes and other cultures in the...
Film, VideoConversation with Somapa Thai Dance Company Douglas Peach sits down with Suteera Nagavajara, Vorayot Suksaichon and Anant Narkkong to discuss Somapa Thai Dance Company's musical origins. The group is a distinguished Thai dance and music company based in the Washington DC area, featuring an accomplished Thai orchestra. Many of its artists have been trained with highly recognized dance and music masters, including National Artists and others from Chulalongkorn University and...
Film, VideoConversation with Graeme Steele Johnson, David Shifrin and Bridget Kibbey Graeme Steele Johnson, David Shifrin and Bridget Kibbey speak with the Library's David Plylar about their performance of octets by Debussy, Loeffler and Schubert. Topics include Johnson's octet arrangement of Debussy's "Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune," Schubert's monumental octet, and Johnson's new edition of Charles Loeffler's "Octet"--last known to have been performed in 1897 before it was resurrected in performance in 2024. The Library...