The Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection is a gem among our Special Collections holdings. This carefully curated collection of 30,000 pieces of popular sheet music is the perfect lens through which to explore US reform movements, including suffrage, emancipation, anti-war, prohibition/temperance, and labor.

Each section will provide a brief overview of the reform movement, and dive more deeply into it through the lens of 3-4 historic songs, examining the history revealed by each song and the specific techniques used by composers to achieve the emotional affect needed to further their movement.

A native of Phoenix, Arizona, Sam Bessen is Assistant Curator of the Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection at Johns Hopkins University’s Sheridan Libraries. With a background in music performance, Sam completed his Master’s degree at the Peabody Conservatory in 2017. Sam is also the Founder and Artistic Director of the In the Stacks series at the George Peabody Library, named by Baltimore Magazine as one of eleven local institutions making classical music relevant in the 21st century. His programs have included explorations of ancient sculpture, neoclassical architecture, immersive theater, queer silent film, immersive theater, and research into university archives to uncover previously unheard works by women and African American composers. Sam’s work in performance, education, and public programming focuses on engaging with historic collections to uncover underrepresented stories.

Event page: https://events.jhu.edu/form/HAHSBessen