Papers of Jon Phetteplace, composer and performer of contemporary music. Phetteplace collaborated in the improvisational group, Musica Elettronica Viva (MEV), and in The Contraband, which featured some of the same members. From 1966 to 1969, he was active as a performer of new music in Europe, particularly in Rome and Florence, and this activity continued for several years after returning to the United States, where he eventually shifted his repertoire to traditional classical music. The papers include drafts, transparencies, and ozalid prints of his own scores, as well as materials for the performance of works by others; correspondence with composers and friends; programs from Phetteplace's activity with orchestras and small ensembles; miscellaneous appointment books, calendars, and journals; photographs; subject files; notebooks; and audiorecordings of his work and the work of others. One of the strengths of the collection is the extensive documentation of his time in Italy, both in terms of his own work and that of others. The latter includes tapes and scores of works by Pietro Grossi and Giuseppe Chiari, two Italian composers that were very important to Phetteplace. The papers are arranged in eight series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE, 2) MUSICAL WORKS BY PHETTEPLACE, 3) MUSICAL WORKS BY OTHERS, 4) PROGRAMS, 5) PHOTOGRAPHS, 6) WRITINGS, 7) MISCELLANEOUS, and 8) AUDIORECORDINGS.

Jon Dale Phetteplace was born February 4, 1940, in Fullerton, California. He studied cello with Frieda Balmfante before graduating from Fullerton High School in 1958, and after a year in Vienna, Austria (1959-1960), he moved to Siena, Italy, where he took masterclasses at the Accademia Chigiana. He then studied with Mario Bianchi and Pietro Grossi at the Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini in Florence, where, with Grossi, he began to study electronic music and composition. After returning briefly to the United States, Phetteplace moved back to Italy, where in 1965 he again studied cello and electronic music in Florence and worked in the Studio Fiorentino di Fonologica Musicale (S2FM). He also worked with Sylvano Bussotti, creating photographic projections for Bussotti's opera PASSION SELON SADE. By 1966, he was active as a performer in Italy, and moved to Rome in 1967, where, until 1968, he was associated with Musica Elettronica Viva (MEV), a group known for performing live electronic music. MEV is also known for not having any fixed set of members, although, according to Phetteplace, the original ensemble was constituted by Allan Bryant, Alvin Curran, Carol Plantamura, Frederic Rzewski, Ivan Vandor, and himself. Phetteplace participated in many of the concerts that MEV gave throughout Europe, and these concerts sometimes featured his music. He also participated in The Contraband, an offshoot of MEV, which also featured a rotating set of members, including Steve Lacy and Richard Teitelbaum, both of whom also collaborated with MEV.

13.80 linear feet (6 archives boxes, 6 records cartons, 2 card file boxes and 39 oversize folders)

Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.