Frances R. Conole Archive of Recorded Sound

The Conole Archive is an extensive collection devoted primarily to the preservation of vocal performances recorded over the last ninety years. The archive contains over 50,000 disks and tapes, with emphasis on opera singers between 1900-1960. More than 3,000 singers are represented in 4,000 complete performances of over 400 operas. Although the collection stresses vocal music, there are also holdings of performances by major symphonic conductors and numerous recordings of the spoken word, with emphasis on the history and politics of our time.

Cataloging of the Conole recordings is in progress, but over half the collection is still uncataloged and only rough-sorted. The recordings do not circulate. Future plans for the Archive include providing staff and equipment to allow patrons to listen to recordings on site. In the meantime, limited access is available to cataloged recordings, either by arranging to listen to the desired recording in the Libraries' Listening Room or by requesting the loan of a cassette copy. Because of staff limitations, patrons must contact Special Collections well in advance to arrange access to the Conole Archive recordings.

The Conole Archive is located in the Library Annex@Conklin and must be paged.