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Songbook Foundation offers looks behind the scenes

9/3/2025 12AM

Emily Rapoza, director of the Great American Songbook Foundation’s Songbook Library & Archives, displays Academy Award statuettes and other artifacts to a touring student group.


Songbook Library & Archives to open
for virtual visit and public tours

 

CARMEL, Ind. – The Great American Songbook Foundation is inviting the public to go behind the scenes in its Songbook Library & Archives through a virtual visit on Sept. 16 and a series of free in-person tours this fall and spring.

 

Recently featured on a CBS Sunday Morning segment about Songbook Foundation Founder Michael Feinstein, the Songbook Library & Archives preserves more than 500,000 historical items from the foundational era of American popular music. The collection includes recordings, arrangements, images, memorabilia, personal papers and other artifacts from the lives and careers of legendary performers, composers, lyricists and other influential figures. Located near Carmel’s City Center, the facility also features a reference library and study space for researchers who travel from around the world to access these materials.

 

From now through April, the public will have six free opportunities to experience the Songbook Library & Archives, which is typically closed to the public.

 

Opportunities include:

  • Virtual Visit – 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 16 – Online event guided by the Director of Library & Archives, featuring rare and fascinating artifacts.
  • Fall In-Person Archives Tours – 5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 15, and 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 25 – Free behind-the-scenes group tours of the Songbook Library & Archives. Space is limited to 20 visitors per tour.
  • Spring In-Person Archives Tours – 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 24; 11 a.m. Saturday, April 11; and 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 15 – Free behind-the-scenes group tours of the Songbook Library & Archives. Space is limited to 20 visitors per tour.

 

Tour highlights may include artifacts such as:

  • A near-EGOT collection, including a GRAMMY, Emmy, and multiple Oscars
  • Stage costumes worn by Ella Fitzgerald and Eydie Gormé
  • Original scripts for classic Broadway shows such as The Music Man
  • Musical arrangements written for iconic artists including Sammy Davis Jr., Andy Williams, Rosemary Clooney, Natalie Cole and Frank Sinatra
  • Historical materials representing prominent figures such as Leonard Bernstein, Mamie Eisenhower, Ginger Rogers, Walt Disney and Doris Day

 

To take part in these rare opportunities to explore pieces of history from the Great American Songbook, register for the virtual visit at TheSongbook.org/VirtualArchivesVisit and for in-person tours at TheSongbook.org/ArchivesTours.

 

Support for the Songbook Library & Archives comes from our Preservation Partners, whose generosity sustains the Songbook Foundation’s work to preserve, share and celebrate the Great American Songbook: Diane and John Abrams, Maureen Charles, Michael Charles and Dr. Larry Weeda Jr.

 

About the Great American Songbook Foundation
The mission of the Great American Songbook Foundation, founded in 2007 by five-time Grammy® Award nominee Michael Feinstein, is to inspire and educate by celebrating the foundational era of American popular music. Headquartered at Allied Solutions Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel, Indiana, the Foundation advances this rich legacy by curating physical artifacts of its creators, performers and publishers in the Songbook Library & Archives; operating a multimedia exhibit gallery; overseeing the Songbook Hall of Fame; offering programs for the public and research opportunities for scholars and artists; and providing educational opportunities for student musicians, including the annual Songbook Academy® summer intensive. The Foundation is a Cultural Affiliate of the Los Angeles-based Grammy Museum®. More information is available at TheSongbook.org.