The Concert Programmes Project: History, progress and future directions

Abstract

• The Concert Programmes Project (CPP) was formally established in 2003, following discussions concerning the need for an inventory of programmes initiated by a IAML symposium in Cambridge in 1981.The preliminary work of the Project was to create a collection-level approach towards improving programme access with the final goal of creating a full union catalogue of programs. A three-year project was begun in the UK to develop a database finding-aid for collections in the UK and Ireland. By December 2007, the CPP database, www.concertprogrammes.org.uk, offered descriptions of over 5,500 collections in 53 holding institutions in 12 locations. Preliminary indications show that the database clearly facilitates research in a variety of subject areas connected to the history of musical performance from the eighteenth century to the present day. Expansion of the existing collection-level dataset to include item-level records, with details of composers and works performed, would undoubtedly bring major benefits in terms of access and collection development.