April 2019

Dear Friends,

It is a privilege for me, as Mary Lou and Pat O’Brien’s daughter, to tell you about an exciting new project.

Since my father’s death in 2014, a group of musicians have worked diligently to collect books and music housed at his Manhattan studio and Brooklyn apartment. It is with great joy that I announce that the entire collection is safely housed in a shared space with the New York Continuo Collective under the guidance and oversight of Charlie Weaver with help from Tony Elitcher and the NYCC faculty, all students and colleagues of Pat.

The Pat O’Brien Library and its corporation has been established for the charitable purpose of maintaining the books, music, and papers relating to the study of lute music formerly belonging to the musician Pat O’Brien, and making them available to visiting scholars and musicians, and the local community of lute students. The Library will also provide a space for the study of the lute and research into its music.

Thanks to the generous donation of time and effort gathering and moving everything, the only significant cost to date has been renting the space, currently being covered by Charlie and Tony and other members of the New York Continuo Collective.

I invite you to join me in helping them by making a tax-deductible donation. If you are able, please consider sending a contribution. Any amount will be helpful.

$12,000 will cover one year of the three remaining on the current lease.
Two donations of $6000 will cover another year.
Four donations of $3000 will cover the third.
$1000 will cover a month’s rent,
$100 from 10 people will cover another.

Additional costs at this time are nominal; this current website will soon provide digital access to music resources and these costs will begin to add up with scanning, digital management and cataloging, in the hopes that this resource will be accessible into the future.

Checks should be made payable to Pat O’Brien Library, Inc. and sent to:

Pat O’Brien Library, Inc.
c/o Charles Weaver
189 Plymouth St. Stratford, CT 06614-4126

I encourage you to contribute now to preserving this Library for the benefit of the teaching and performance of early music for many years to come.

Sincerely,

Elanor O’Brien