Bands

This collection comprises 146 boxes, containing records of the Northwestern band program from 1917 to 2007. The records are broken into three major groups- Organizations, Directors, and Bands- each with their own set of subgroups. The first major group, Organizations, has two subgroups: American Bandmasters Association (ABA) and College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA). The ABA group contains subject files (dating 1947-1978) about this organization of band directors from all over the United States. Both Glenn Cliffe Bainum and John Paynter served as president of this organization. The subject files in this group are arranged alphabetically by folder title and contain administrative documents and correspondence related to the running of the organization and the planning of its conventions. The CBDNA group contains subject files (dating 1983-1987) arranged alphabetically. The files contain administrative reports and correspondence involved in the running of the CBDNA and the planning of its conventions.

The second major group, Directors, has two subgroups: Glenn Cliffe Bainum (GCB) and John P. Paynter (JPP). The GCB files have three categories: Clinics, Guest Conducting, and Subject Files. In GCB’s Clinics section are organized alphabetically based on the name of the city the clinic was held in. After finishing his time as Director of Bands at Northwestern, Bainum held clinics across the country. These files include correspondence about the planning of the clinics and the transportation, as well as thank-you notes from the people running the clinics. They also contain Bainum’s clinic plans. In GCB’s Guest Conducting section are arranged alphabetically by name of city where he guest conducted. The files contain both plans for guest conducting and correspondence regarding plans to guest conduct, as well as thank-you notes from the planners of the concerts he conducted. GCB’s Subject Files section are arranged alphabetically by subject. They contain correspondence from his time as Director of Bands at NU, interviews with him, and papers about his retirement and death.The John P. Paynter (JPP) files have three categories: Clinics & Guest Conducting, Correspondence, and Subject Files. JPP’s Clinics & Guest Conducting section is arranged in chronological order but some files are organized based on the name of the city or institution the clinic was held in. JPP’s Correspondence section contains Paynter’s correspondence about the Northwestern Band Program and the administrative duties he had as the director of it. All Correspondence files are arranged alphabetically by recipient. JPP’s Subject Files are arranged alphabetically. These files contain information about people associated with Paynter, organizations Paynter was involved with (such as the summer Northshore Concert Band program), clinics and festivals Northwestern and Paynter took part in, and organizations that associated with the band during Paynter’s tenure.

The third major group, Bands, is broken into three subgroups: General Band, Northwestern University Marching Band (NUMB), and Symphonic Wind Ensemble (SWE). The General Band files are broken up into 4 sections: Clippings, Commencement, Correspondence, and Subject Files. The General Band group contains files that pertain to multiple different band organizations, or files that pertain to organizations that don’t have their own group (such as Basketball Band, Jazz Ensemble, etc.). These files include advertisements, rosters, finance, music library, music school, band programs, and any of the other specific sections. There are photographs, information about various Northwestern music classes, information and correspondence regarding music faculty, and files about musicals, festivals, and other music performance as well. The Northwestern University Marching Band (NUMB) files are broken into thirteen sections; Band Camp, Band Day, Clipping, Formation Files, Office Files, Photos, Proofs, Scrapbooks, Season Programs, Slides and Negatives, Subject Files, Bulletins and Flyers and oversize items, and Uniforms. This group contains files that are relevant to the Northwestern Marching Band program, including uniforms that are housed in oversized boxes. The Symphonic Wind Ensemble (SWE) have one sub-group, Subject Files. It contains files about wind ensemble’s trips such as East Coast Tour and England Tour, performances, correspondence, travel plans, and recognition of the group.