NY Philharmonic archivist is moving to Oxford
mainBarbara Haws, who has looked after the New York Philharmonic archives for almost 34 years is to retire in August.
But only from the Philharmonic. She 2018 and pursue a doctorate in musicology at New College, University of Oxford.
NY Phil president Deborah Borda said: ‘Barbara has been an indispensable colleague in the more than 25 years we’ve known each other. Her pioneering work in the Archives has produced an invaluable resource for the world, one that allows us to clearly see how the New York Philharmonic’s history is the history of our city, our country, and classical music in America. Barbara’s creativity in crafting events and stories around this material, and her innovation and foresight in establishing the Digital Archives, has positioned the
Philharmonic as a leader in this area. Though her departure from the Philharmonic will be felt deeply, we are proud that Barbara will be representing this Orchestra at Oxford.’
At Oxford University, Ms. Haws will be researching and writing about Ureli Corelli Hill, the Philharmonic’s founder and the first American musician to study and perform abroad (1835–37).
A standing ovation for Barbara Haws, and her pioneering work as the guardian of the orchestra’s history. As I understand it, she basically created the role – all the items and papers and such were there, but she took it over and created a proper archive. She’s a fount of knowledge, and was proud of the work she did. Incredible that she’s going to create this next and excellent chapter to her career. Go Barbara!
She described for me, during a meeting in Verbier, the pleasure of holding and scanning into the archives the orchestra score for the Mahler First Symphony. She was able to identify, for the internet reader, the different conductor’s markings: those of Mahler, Bruno Walter and Bernstein.This is all now available on the NYP website and is a monumental gift to history.
The Gold Standard of arts archivists.
Thank you Barbara Haws for the wonderful job with the New York Philharmonic archives. They are a model of how online archives should look. And thank you for the long but fast hours that I spent reading them
I am researching for a book and I am very very grateful for the wonderful New York Philharmonic Archives!
Barbara!
You may be leaving the Philharmonic physically, but your Oxford project is just a continuation of your love for and devotion to the Philharmonic.
As one who remembers your very first day on the job, kudos for an heroic success!
Marty Bookspan
shanasima1414@gmail.com
Barbara Haws is a national treasure. All the best!
Basically, she’s turning her own employment of the last 24 years at the Philharmonic into her personal PhD. She’s already done 99% of the research and probably wrote up 50% of the material for her employer. Is there even a scholar on Ureli Corelli Hill to assess the quality of her PhD?
Sure, why not a PhD on Deborah Borda (100 years from now, there will be one!), it’s all good.