Special Collections in the Performing Arts - Music, Dance, Theatre

Rare sheet music and programs, manuscripts, photographs, posters, prints and engravings and stage designs may be requested in the Toronto Reference Library.

Visit the Performing Arts Centre on the 5th floor first to consult with staff and examine specialized finding aids. Then, head down to the Baldwin Room on the 4th floor to view the materials you have selected.

Most materials are available on demand whenever the library is open. Bring a library card or other identification to the Baldwin Room for registration.

Canadian Sheet Music

One of the best Canadian sheet music collections.

• 3,000+ parlour songs and piano pieces, most from the late 19th and early 20th centuries
• Index to Canadian Sheet Music is available in the Performing Arts Centre on the 5th floor.

More on Canadian sheet music

Manuscript Material

Theatrical and musical manuscripts, including:

• The Crest Theatre Collection tracing its history in Toronto from 1953 to 1966
  The Boris Volkoff Collection documenting his 45 year career in Canada and his important contribution to the development of Canadian ballet
  Records for the Taverner Company which played in eastern Canada and the United States in the 1880s and 1890s
• Performing Arts Centre archival collections

Photographs

• Canadian theatre, ballet, opera and dance productions
• Photographs and slides of performing arts personalities (mainly Canadian, American and British), film stills, and
• Indexes to photography holdings may be seen in the Performing Arts Centre on the 5th floor

Posters and Playbills

• 10,000+ items publicizing Canadian performing arts productions and events and visual arts exhibitions
• Works by Canadian graphic artists Theo Dimson, Heather Cooper, Scott McKowen, Jack Shadbolt and Montreal poster artist Vittorio
• A selection of non-Canadian posters, including work by the French artist Cassandre.

Prints and Engravings

• 17th, 18th and 19th century engravings of actors including Edmund Kean being made a Chief and Prince of the Huron tribe at Quebec in 1826
• A portfolio by Alessandro Sanquirico of engraved set designs for various Italian operas and ballets between 1826 and 1832
• Collection of 120 Japanese woodblock prints illustrating Kabuki and No theatre productions.
• Photographic indexes are available in the Performing Arts Centre on the 5th floor.

Stage Designs

• This collection is the largest of its kind in any Canadian public library and includes:
• 4,500+ stage designs for theatre, dance and opera companies in festival and regional theatres across Canada
• Works by award-winning designers including Michael Levine, Mary Kerr, Ken Macdonald, Astrid Janson, Susan Benson
• Photographic Index to Stage Designs is available in the Performing Arts Centre on the 5th floor.

More on stage designs

Photographic and Digital Reproduction Services are available. Some restrictions may apply.