Finding Aid for Paul Martin Zonn Music and Papers, 1950-2000 | The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

Title: Paul Martin Zonn Music and Papers, 1950-2000

ID: 12/5/35

Primary Creator: Zonn, Paul Martin, 1938- (1938-2000)

Extent: 28.45 cubic feet

Arrangement: The collection is organized into six series. The material is arranged alphabetically or chronologically by date, where applicable.

Date Acquired: 11/17/2004. More info below under Accruals.

Subjects: Faculty Papers, Music, School of, Music - United States, Music Composition

Formats/Genres: Papers

Languages: English

See also record series number 35/3/68.

Consists of sheet music, publicity, programs, correspondence, education materials, photographs and sound recordings that document Paul Martin Zonn's career as a composer, conductor, clarinetist, and educator.

Series 1: Sheet Music, ca. 1955 - 1998 (Boxes 1 - 26 and 41)

Contains Paul Zonn's original compositions, his jazz arrangements, and his Mandolin Ensemble arrangements, compositions written for him and his various performing ensembles, and method books. The music is arranged alphabetically by size and then by styles. Cross referencing between locations is indicated with the use of brackets, [ : ]. The first number identifies the box and the second identifies the folder. Of special note is his "Ultimate Nimbus" written for Clarinet Trio.

Series 2: Publicity, ca. 1950s - 2004 (Boxes 26 - 32, and 38 - 41)

Contains concert programs divided into important performances or performance venues, program notes, concert flyers, press releases, newpaper and magazine publicity, photographs, and sound recordings. The material is arranged by type and each type is then arranged chronologically. Legal sized material is in box 38 and oversized materials in boxes 39 and 41.

Series 3: Correspondence, ca. 1957 - 1999 (Boxes 33 - 34, and 38)

Contains correspondence between Paul Zonn and contemporary composers and educators, various performing ensembles, Universities, publishing companies and radio stations. The material is arranged alphabetically by the writer. Of note are commissions for compositions made by several professional orchestras and chamber ensembles.

Series 4: Education, ca. 1955 - 1998 (Boxes 35 - 37, 38, and 40)

Contains Paul Zonn's classroom materials, published articles, and grant and fellowship proposals. Also contained here is the work of his students. The material is arranged chronologically. Of note is a paper by Daniel Perantoni, former Professor of Tuba at the Unversity of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign.

Series 5: Ephemera, ca. 1930s - 2004 (Boxes 37 - 39)

Contains material from Paul Zonn's high school years, college transcripts and commencement programs, memorial service programs, family photographs and history, and autographs from two famous composers.

Series 6: Sound Recordings, 1957 - 1990 (Boxes 41 - 53)

Organized in two sub-series: Sub-Series 1: Zonn Recordings and Sub-Series 2: Other Recordings.  Sub-series 1 includes recordings of Paul Zonn's compositions, performances, and conducting and of Wilma Zonn's performances. Organized in chronological order where dates are provided and then arranged alphabetical order by composer, title, ensemble or event where dates are not provided. Sub-series 1 includes recordings of compositions, performances and conducting by others. It too is organized in chronological order where dates are provided and then in alphabetical order by composer, title, ensemble or event where dates are not provided.

Paul Martin Zonn (1938-2000), modern clarinetist, composer, conductor, educator, gourmet chef, and cutup, graduated from the University of Miami with a Bachelor's degree in Music in1958, the University of Iowa with a Master of Arts degree in 1965, and a Master of Fine Arts in Composition in 1966. He then started his music career as a Fellow of the Center for Creative and Performing Arts at the State University of New York at Buffalo (1966-67), following with the post of Composer-in-Residence and Conductor of the Grinnell Symphony at Grinnell College (1967-70). He was then appointed Professor of Composition at the School of Music at the University of Illinois, where he retired in 1995 after serving as chairman for the Composition-Theory Division for several years.

Zonn began composing in his early teens and by the end of his life he had produced over 120 musical works for orchestra, chamber ensemble, jazz and mandolin bands, and a variety of instrumental solos. As an innovator in music, he performed, conducted and composed classical, jazz, country, bluegrass, and avant-garde music with equal enthusiasm. In describing his own music Zonn wrote, "My compositions have always been concerned with the very new and the old and the integration of diverse elements? I use the many languages of world music and try to bind them together." He received numerous awards during his lifetime from the Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, and the University of Illinois' Center for Advanced Studies. He also performed on the stages of Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Ravinia, and the Library of Congress.

Faculty Papers
Music, School of
Music - United States
Music Composition

Repository: The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

Accruals: November 17, 2004 and February 4, 2005. The sound recordings were transferred to the Sousa Archives on April 6, 2021. Three different editions of Chroma for Oboe and Piano, program notes, and a program featuring the piece were transferred to the Sousa Archives on May 24, 2023.

Access Restrictions: None.

Acquisition Method: The music and papers were donated to the Sousa Archives and Center for American Music at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign by Wilma Zonn on November 17, 2004.