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Eric Matusewitch collection of Leonard Bernstein memorabilia
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Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us]3420 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6206
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Eric Matusewitch was born on November 22, 1951 to musicians Boris Matusewitch (1918-1978) and Norma Pollen Matusewitch (1925-2006) in New York City. Matusewitch obtained a B.A. and M.A. from the City College of New York. He went on to receive a M.L.S. from Columbia University and a certificate in paralegal studies from George Washington University. He has served as an EEO Specialist for the New York City Commission on Human Rights; Assistant Director of Equal Employment Opportunity at New York City Health and Hospital Corporation; and as Deputy Director of the New York City Equal Employment Practices Commission. Matusewitch taught at Long Island University in their paralegal studies program and New York University School of Continuing and Professional Studies as an adjunct instructor. He has also written numerous articles on employment discrimination law and his musical family.
An "amateur" concertinist, Matusewitch was taught to play the concertina by his father Boris, a leading concertinist and teacher of the instrument. Matusewitch and his brother Marc often joined their father and Uncle Sergei, who played the accordion, on stage for recitals.
Leonard Bernstein was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author and humanitarian. He was born on August 25, 1918, in Lawrence, Massachusetts and died on October 14, 1990, in New York City.
Bernstein was the first American conductor to receive international acclaim and is considered one of the most important conductors of his time. He was also the first American-born conductor to lead a major American symphony orchestra, the New York Philharmonic (1958-1969), and to give a series of television lectures on classical music (1954-1990). He conducted the world's major orchestras, including the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Wiener Philharmoniker/Staatsoper, and Orchestre National de France.
Bernstein was a prolific composer, writing in many genres, including symphonic and orchestral music, ballet, film and theatre music, choral works, opera, chamber music, and pieces for the piano. His best known work is the Broadway musical, West Side Story, which was first performed in 1957 and later adapted into films. His work continues to be performed throughout the world.
Bernstein married actress Felicia Cohn Montealegre (1922-1978) in 1952. They had three children, Jamie, Alexander and Nina.
Sources: Matusewitch, Eric. "The Matusewitch Family: Concertina and Accordion Virtuosi-- Russia, Europe and the United States." The Classical Free-Reed, Inc.: Essay by Eric Matusewitch, www.ksanti.net/free-reed/essays/matusewitch.html. Accessed 22 Dec. 2023.
"Leonard Bernstein." Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Dec. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Bernstein.
This collection of memorabilia relating to Leonard Bernstein contains articles, clippings, photographs, flyers, brochures, pamphlets, playbills, programs, calendar of events, posters, newspapers, invitations, sheet music, magazines, menus, advertisements, tickets, books, drawings, and scrapbooks of performances by Bernstein or of his work by other people or organizations. Matusewitch obtained the ephemera through various means with the possible intention of creating scrapbooks. However, only some of the items were scrapbooked, while other items remained loose. It is unclear if this was intentional or just an issue of time management. Although Matusewitch's order in the scrapbooks is not always clear, there is evidence of deliberate organization. Therefore, the original order was maintained. Matusewitch included further information on some of the items, such as a brief history.
The material is divided into either Bernstein-centric or West Side Story-related items, with the bulk of the material relating to Bernstein's musical legacy. There is very little material relating to Bernstein's personal life or items actually produced by Bernstein (those few items are primarily located in the Bernstein memorabilia scrapbooks). This collection is an example of one man's effort to pay homage to Leonard Bernstein's work and its continued relevevance throughout the world.
Researchers should note that Matusewitch also collected commercially produced vinyl/long-playing records that have been physically removed from the collection.
I. Leonard Bernstein memorabilia a. Loose Leonard Bernstein memorabilia b. Leonard Bernstein memorabilia scrapbooks II. West Side Story memorabilia a. Loose West Side Story memorabilia b. West Side Story memorabilia scrapbooks III. Collected books
Gift of Eric Matusewitch, 2019.
- Publisher
- University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts
- Finding Aid Author
- Kristine McGee
- Finding Aid Date
- 2023 December 6
- Access Restrictions
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This collection is open for research use.
- Use Restrictions
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Copyright restrictions may exist. For most library holdings, the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania do not hold copyright. It is the responsibility of the requester to seek permission from the holder of the copyright to reproduce material from the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts.