Biggs (John) papers, 1967-2012

Printable guide [HTML]
Request items

Summary

Title:
John Biggs papers
Dates:
1967-2012
Creators:
Biggs, John and Biggs, John
Abstract:
Compositions by John Biggs, including printed and manuscript scores and commercial recordings.
Extent:
4.4 linear feet (7 boxes), 7 born-digital carriers (7 optical discs), and 1.75 linear feet (1 unprocessed flat box)
Language:
Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], John Biggs papers (PASC-M 194). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Background

Scope and content:

Musical compositions by John Biggs, including orchestral music, chamber music, choral music, and the operas Hobson's Choice and Ernest Worthing. Primarily full printed scores, many with parts, as well as several manuscript scores. Also included are sound recordings of Biggs's music.

Biographical / historical:

John Biggs was born in Los Angeles on October 18, 1932. He received his master's degree in composition from the University of California, Los Angeles, and also studied at the University of Southern California and the Royal Flemish Conservatory in Antwerp, Belgium. His teachers included Roy Harris, Lukas Foss, Ingolf Dahl, Flor Peeters, Halsey Stevens, and Leonard Stein. Biggs taught at Los Angeles City College, UCLA, UC Berkeley, and served as composer-in-residence to six colleges in Kansas. He founded the John Biggs Consort, which toured internationally under Columbia Artists Management, specializing in medieval, renaissance, and 20th century music. Awards for his compositions include a Rockefeller Grant, Fulbright Grant, Atwater-Kent Award, ASCAP Serious Music Awards, and Meet the Composer grants. Biggs's works have been performed by the Ventura County Master Chorale, the Ventura County Symphony, and the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, among other groups.

Acquisition information:
Gift of John Biggs, 2001. Additions to the collection, gift of John Biggs, 2003 and 2004.
Processing information:

Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.

Processed by UCLA Performing Arts Special Collections staff. Reprocessed by Kelly Kress, 2016.

We are committed to providing ethical, inclusive, and anti-racist description of the materials we steward, and to remediating existing description of our materials that contains language that may be offensive or cause harm. We invite you to submit feedback about how our collections are described, and how they could be described more accurately, by filling out the form located on our website: Report Potentially Offensive Description in Library Special Collections.

Arrangement:

The collection is organized into the following series:

  • Series 1. Compositions
  • Series 2. Commercial Recordings

Physical / technical requirements:

CONTAINS UNPROCESSED DIGITAL MATERIALS: Digital materials are not currently available for access and will require further processing and assessment. If you have questions about this material please email AskLSC@library.ucla.edu.

Physical location:
Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid prepared by UCLA Performing Arts Special Collections staff, updated by Kelly Kress, 2016; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé.
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2026-03-30 14:59:59 -0700 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

Portions of collection unprocessed. Material in the Accession LSC-2001-002 backlog material series is unavailable for access. Please see LSC's Access to Unprocessed Collections Policy for more information about levels of discovery and access of special collections materials and registering interest in unprocessed collections.

Terms of access:

Property rights to the physical objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], John Biggs papers (PASC-M 194). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Location of this collection:
A1713 Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575, US
Contact:
(310) 825-4988
AskLSC@library.ucla.edu
Website