Performing arts | National Library of Australia (NLA)

Performing arts

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Paolo Giorza's 1879 Exhibition album for piano.

Paolo Giorza's 1879 Exhibition album for piano, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-165951572

Music collection

The music collection contains over 300,000 musical scores and the largest collection of music research resources in Australia.

Information article
Collection guide
Meredith Collection

Recordings of Australian folk songs, dance music, recitations and oral history, collected by folklorist John Meredith (1920–2001). The collection also includes photographs and manuscripts documenting folk traditions and the bush music revival.

Collection guide
Print of two women in dresses holding hands. One has a trumpet in her other hands and is leaning over a sign reading 'Free Masons Hall Readings & Music'. Photoshopped on top is a teal circle with text reading 'Friends Event'

John Thornthwaite and Mather Brown, Ticket for an Evening of ‘Readings & Music’ Held at Free Masons Hall, c. 1790, from the Papers of Jamie and Michael Kassler, 1790-2021, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn5977647

Coffee with the Curator: The Excellencies of Musick

Join Dr Susannah Helman as she provides her insights into the Jamie and Michael Kassler Collection followed by morning tea.

Event
Book open to title page with text reading 'M. S. Armstrong', 'Plays in on act', 'Thomas', 'Penny Dreadful', 'Drought' and 'Published by Edwards & Shaw Sydney'

Millicent Armstrong, Plays in One Act, 1958, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2333051

Discovering and reviving the plays of Millicent Armstrong

Hear from Dianna Nixon about how she's bring the plays of Milicent Armstrong back to life.

Blog
Collection guide
Fahey Collection

Personal papers of Warren Fahey’s activities as an entrepreneur, musician and writer from 1967-1998 and a collection of folkloric recordings.

Collection guide
Collection guide
Symphony Australia Collection

Discover the Symphony Australia Collection, featuring unpublished music by Australian composers from 1910 to 1970, including Alfred Hill, Peter Sculthorpe, and Margaret Sutherland. With chamber, choral, orchestral, and vocal pieces, as well as works from the colonial era and Eugene Goossens, this collection, donated in 2001, is a key resource in Australian music history.

Collection guide
Cover of the program with Dame Nellie Melba's portrait wearing a tiara

Rachel & Verlaine Pitt-Rivers, Chanson d'automne, W.H. Paling & Co, 1922, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-168708778

Melba Collection

Discover the legacy of Dame Nellie Melba, one of opera’s greatest voices, through her unique collection. Featuring sheet music, personal letters, and rare items from her iconic career, this collection offers an intimate glimpse into her rise from Australian talent to international soprano. Explore her artistry, personal connections, and lasting impact on the world of opera.

Collection guide
Collection guide
Don Banks Collection

Discover the legacy of Don Banks, one of Australia’s most innovative composers, in the Don Banks Collection. Featuring music manuscripts, sound recordings, and personal papers, this collection celebrates Banks' pioneering work across jazz, classical, and film music. A true trailblazer, his fusion of genres continues to inspire and shape Australia's cultural landscape.

Collection guide
Collection guide
Begg Collection

Mostly Australian and New Zealand sheet music, the majority from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries collected by Charles Begg.

Collection guide
Title page of a landscape oriented printed book: ornate engraving featuring musical performers. Scene is framed by theatre curtains.

James Hook, Guida di Musica: Being a Complete Book of Instructions for Beginners on the Harpsichord or Piano Forte, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn8650184

The Excellencies of Musick: Highlights from the Jamie and Michael Kassler Collection

Enter the musical world of seventeenth and early nineteenth century Britain with rare prints, books and manuscripts.

Exhibition
Collection guide
Williamson Collection

The J.C. Williamson Ltd archives include a wide range of materials, such as business records, playscripts, libretti, music, programs, magazines, books, costume designs, and photographs. It also contains personal papers from Williamson's business partners, the Tait family and George Tallis.

Collection guide
Celia Craig, a woman with very short brown hair, smiling and holding large book of sheet music with the title 'Symphonic Overture'
Exploring the letters of legendary musician Miriam Hyde with Celia Craig

Read about Creative Arts Fellow Celia Craig's experience of exploring the papers of musician Miriam Hyde.

Blog

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