National Orchestral Institute and Festival (NOI+F) records
Collection
0423-SCPA-NOI
Since its 1988 inaugural season, the National Orchestral Institute + Festival (NOI+F) has brought together aspiring orchestral musicians, faculty from orchestras and conservatories, and guest conductors for a month of music and learning each summer at the University of Maryland. Through ensemble rehearsals, sectionals, masterclasses, and a variety of performance opportunities, participating musicians perform while exploring the contemporary professional orchestral ecosystem.
The NOI+F records consist of photographs and photography ephemera ranging from 1966 to 2009; concert programs ranging from 1988 to 2019; flyers, posters, and other publicity materials ranging from 1988 to 2019; administrative files ranging from 1988 to 2012; and a large volume of primarily compact disc recordings of concerts and recitals ranging from 1996 to 2013.
The collection is open for research use. Materials from this collection must be used in the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library's Irving and Margery Morgan Lowens Special Collections Room during SCPA’s operating hours. Please contact the curator for an appointment or if you have questions related to digital access of the materials.
Copyright was not transferred to the University of Maryland with the gift of any copyrighted materials. All rights remain with the creators and rights holders. The University of Maryland Libraries is granted permission for the use in scholarly research by the Libraries’ patrons under fair use in Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act.
To inquire about duplication of materials for research or for publication, please contact SCPA’s curator.
14.0 Linear Feet
The NOI+F records contains materials that span the period of 1966-2019; the bulk of the material dates from 1988-2014. Series I contains photographs and photography ephemera, including slides, negatives, order forms, and contact sheets; these range from 1966 to 2009. Series II includes programs from the major NOI concerts as well as chamber and faculty recitals; these range from 1988 to 2019. Series III features NOI+F publicity materials including mailers, audition announcements, concert flyers, newsletters, posters, and promotional booklets; these range from 1988 to 2019. Series IV includes files related to the administrative workings of the Institute, contracts and correspondence related to booking guest artists, bills, invoices, and internal communications of NOI+F coordinators and directors; these range from 1988 to 2012. Series V contains primarily CD but a few DVD-ROM and cassette recordings of NOI+F concerts, the entirety of which were recorded on campus at the University of Maryland, College Park; these range from 1996 to 2013.
Since its inaugural season in 1988, the National Orchestra Institute + Festival (NOI+F) has occurred annually for one month each summer at the University of Maryland. Through both soliciting pre-recorded videos and by holding auditions at universities and conservatories across the United States, NOI+F seeks out young musicians on the threshold of a professional career. Upon their arrival, these performers engage with faculty drawn from notable orchestras and conservatories as well as guest conductors who typically rotate each week. Student musicians are typically housed on-campus at the University of Maryland, and NOI+F offers scholarships for tuition to all participants.
In 2015, NOI+F began a partnership with Naxos Records, recording albums for worldwide release to supplement those made by UMD-affiliated recording engineers for commemorative or preservation purposes. One of these, the 2018 album Ruggles, Stucky & Harbison: Orchestral Works, featuring conductor David Alan Miller, was nominated for a “Best Orchestral Performance” Grammy award.
The program began as the National Orchestral Institute in 1988 but, by 2009, had shifted its branding to the current NOI+F, contemporaneous with a diversification of its offerings. Besides ensemble rehearsals, sectionals, and masterclasses for the musicians, NOI+F has variously offered (in addition to the capstone concerts each week): open rehearsals early in the festival process, student chamber music recitals, pre-concert talks, additional performances around the College Park area, and informal jam sessions in a lounge-type environment following the capstone concerts. Beginning with the 2022 season, NOI+F has welcomed regular guest conductor Marin Alsop as its first-ever Music Director.
This collection is organized into five series:
Transferred in July 2015 by Richard Scerbo, Artistic Planning Program Director for Music at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center and Director of National Orchestral Institute + Festival. Accruals to the records occur periodically.
Additional processing was provided by past NOI+F fellows Olivia Ren, Megan Fisher, Kaylene Cypret, and Anna Thompson.
Part of the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library