The Robert Ward Papers have been divided into eight series: Biographical Materials, Correspondence, Operas, Instrumental Works, Vocal Works, Music Sketchbooks and Student Works, Music by Others, and Untitled Recordings. Biographical Materials consists of documents pertaining to Ward's work as a composer, including newspaper clippings, profiles, the composer's published writings and interviews, documents from the organizations with which he affiliated, events held in his honor, and certificates and awards he received. The Correspondence series primarily consists of professional communications between Robert Ward and several organizations. Ward's music has been divided into three series based on genre and arranged alphabetically by title of piece within each series: Operas, Instrumental Works, and Vocal Works. Materials for each composition may include scores, recordings, and publicity materials such as newspaper clippings, programs, and reviews. Music Sketchbooks and Student Works contains assorted untitled music sketches and sketchbooks by Ward, as well as manuscripts for some of his student works. Music by Others includes a variety of scores and recordings by other composers included in Ward's papers, the majority of which are recordings. Untitled Recordings comprises assorted media that contain no composition titles, although some recordings are labeled and dated as specific performances.
Robert Ward was a composer primarily of operas, instrumental works, and symphonic choral works. Born in 1917, Ward began composing as a student. He attended the Eastman School of Music and The Juilliard School in the 1930s and early 1940s before joining the United States Army during World War II. During the war he served as a band director, and was stationed in the Pacific. Following the war, Ward taught at Juilliard and Columbia, and continued composing and conducting. His second opera, The Crucible, based on Arthur Miller's play, premiered in 1961 and became his best-known work. He won the Pulitzer Prize in Music for the opera in 1962. Ward eventually left New York and served as Chancellor of the North Carolina School of the Arts from 1967-1975. He joined Duke University as the Mary Duke Biddle Professor of Music in 1979, retiring as Professor Emeritus in 1987. He continued to live and compose in Durham, North Carolina until his death in 2013.
Initially processed by Don Sechler, Arístides Llaneza, Eric Hanson, and other Rubenstein Library staff.
Processed in full by Paul Sommerfeld, May 2017.
Addition 2018-0046 processed by Laurin Penland, May 2018.
Accessions included in this finding aid: 1998-0196, 1998-0564, 2001-0105, 2003-0139, 2010-0123, 2010-0177, 2013-0014, 2018-0046.
