Comic Opera

Dear Friends

Date of Birth: 
1982
Date of Death: 
2000

Dear Friends was the ensemble-in-residence at the Stephen Foster Memorial at the University of Pittsburgh from 1982 through 2000. The ensemble was originally devoted to performing 19th century American Music, much of which was drawn from the University's Center for American Music's Foster Hall Collection, but expanded their repertory to reflect the diverse musical life of 19th and 20th century America, as well as traditional European and Latin Music.

Eric Moe Collection, 1976–Present

Composer Eric Moe joined the music faculty at the University of Pittsburgh in 1989 as an Associate Professor and was promoted to Full Professor in 1999. The Eric Moe Collection includes sketches, fair-copies, and computer-generated scores of the composer's works from 1976 to the present. Materials are listed and arranged chronologically by the year of composition. Because items were acquired at different times, some box numbers may appear out of sequence in the Contents List. Unless otherwise noted, there is one copy of each item listed.

Mildred Miller Posvar Papers, 1939-2008

Mildred Miller Posvar was a star performer at the Metropolitan Opera from 1951 to 1974 and the wife of Wesley Posvar, the fifteenth Chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh. The Mildred Miller Posvar Papers are a mixed media collection primarily documenting her performing career at the Met. The materials also cover her training at the New England Conservatory of Music, her position as the First Lady of the University of Pittsburgh, and her involvement in the Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh.

Moe, Eric

Date of Birth: 
October 24, 1954

Eric Moe (b. 1954) is professor of Composition and Music Theory at the University of Pittsburgh, director of the University of Pittsburgh Electroacoustic Music Studio, and co-director of the Music on the Edge new music concert series.

Posvar, Mildred Miller

Date of Birth: 
December 16, 1924
Date of Death: 
November 29, 2023

Mildred Miller Posvar, known professionally as Mildred Miller, is a classical mezzo-soprano who had a career performing in operas, concerts, and recitals beginning in the 1940's. She made her opera debut in 1946 at the Tanglewood Music Festival. She was a principal artist at the Metropolitan Opera in New York from 1951 through 1974. In 1978 she founded the Opera Theater of Pittsburgh and served as its Artistic Director until 1999. She taught music and voice first at the University of Pittsburgh and presently teaches at Carnegie Mellon University.

Ruth and Thomas Martin Archive

This collection documents the careers of Ruth Kelley Martin (b. Ruth Berenice Kelley, Jersey City, NJ, April 14, 1914; d. New York, December 11, 2000) and Thomas Philipp Martin (b. Thomas Philipp Fleischer, Vienna, May 28, 1909; d. New York May 14, 1984), who are known for their translations of opera libretti. Together they translated over 40 Italian, German, and French operas into English, and Thomas translated four American operas into German.