Friends of the Library Focuses on Music

On the evening of October 28, the Friends of the Library hosted its biannual program for members and the Meredith community. The program, The Voice of the Cello, featured the Meredith Cello Quartet composed of three Meredith music majors, Alaire Donofrio, ’24, Sarah Page, ’23, and Julia Sullivan, ’23, along with their professor, Jim Waddelow. The audience was treated to a recorded performance by the quartet interspersed with commentary from the foursome on the music they selected, as well as their choice of this particular instrument, its unique properties and sound, and its contribution to a symphony orchestra. This fabulous program highlighted the wonderful connection between the library and the music programs here at Meredith College. 

The Carlyle Campbell Library has a long history of supporting the Meredith College music program and as a result, the library has an extensive collection of music. This includes nearly 10,000 scores, thousands of CDs, more than 30,000 books, and a subscription to the Naxos streaming music service. The collection of scores, while heavily classical, includes a generous selection of popular and religious music as well, with Broadway productions represented too. The library also has a good collection of piano lesson books to support Meredith’s College’s piano pedagogy students. 

In addition, there are many books in the library’s collection that cover a range of music writing from scholarly research to methodology to historical and biographical. Drawing a connection to our fall program, the library has a copy of The Lost Cellos of Lev Aronson by Frances Brent. Aronson was a world-renowned cellist and Holocaust survivor whose Amati cello was confiscated in Riga, Latvia in 1941. One reviewer calls it “a graceful book about a dark history.” Another interesting book found in the library’s collection is Beethoven’s Cello; Five revolutionary sonatas and their world by Marc Moskovitz and Larry Todd. They say that the five sonatas fundamentally redefined the relationship between the piano and the cello, promoting their parity. The book provides a deep analysis of each sonata with extras, like a discussion of Beethoven’s cellos and copies of contemporary reviews of the sonatas. These books are just a small example of the depth of the musical resources the library offers to our students. You can see more of the music resources we offer on our music subject guide.

Join the Friends of the Library
We invite you to come, explore these books and the rest of the library’s expansive collection of music and music research. As an alumna of Meredith College, you have borrowing privileges at the library, but we encourage you to take this opportunity to go one step further and support the library by joining the Friends of the Library. By becoming a member of the Friends of the Carlyle Campbell Library, you ensure that the library can provide the best services to both current and future Meredith students. With a membership, you will receive invitations to Friends’ events twice a year and reduced fees for Friends’ events. Some of our recent speakers have included professor and novelist Philip Gerard and Debbie Moose, the food editor for The News & Observer. Through our partnership with Quail Ridge Books, we have co-sponsored events with authors Erik Larsen, Ann Patchett, Jodi Picoult, and many, many more!  In addition to our The Voice of the Cello program, we have virtually hosted programs that highlight the talents of our Meredith students, including a viewing and panel discussion on The Activists, an original devised theater work created by Meredith College students, and a marvelous poetry reading by four esteemed poets. We are actively planning for more exciting programs in the spring, and continuously share other resources and programming with our members through our newsletter. Please consider joining today!

For more information and to start your membership, please visit infotogo.meredith.edu/friends  There, you will also find recordings of our past programs, including The Voice of the Cello!