Australian Performing Arts Collection

This large and historically significant collection accumulated by sound archivist Peter Burgis between 1950 and 2000 was acquired by The University of Western Australia in 2002 through the generosity of Japanese philanthropist Dr Haruhisa Handa.

The collection features the work of Australian and international musicians and composers in all musical fields during the past 100 years, encompassing classical and popular music as well as musical theatre and opera. It includes the earliest forms of sound recordings from piano rolls and phonograph cylinders through to vinyl records and CDs, as well as biographical information on artists, record company catalogues, sheet music, magazines, posters and programs. In addition, there are recordings of Australian radio shows, dramas and advertisements, as well as spoken word and sounds, recordings of historic events and oral histories. A feature of this collection is the number of formed collections included that were acquired by Peter Burgis, for example the George Johnston Opera Collection.

Collection summary: Preserving work of Australian musicians and composers in all musical fields during the past 100 years.

Extent: The collection contains more than 150,000 individual items with more than 90,000 sound carriers and around 70,000 print documents. The sound recordings (1890s to the present) include over 3,000 phonograph cylinders, as well as piano rolls, 78s, LPs, reel-to-reels, cassette tapes and CDs, whilst the print material includes photographs, concert programs, posters, sheet music, journals and record company catalogues, as well as an extensive ephemera collection of personal, organisational and genre-based information.

Partially catalogued and processed.