Sounds of Music

Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge generously funded the Coolidge Auditorium and endowed the concert program. Gertrude Clarke Whittall presented the Library with five Strads and the funds to care for them. Dayton C. Miller donated the world’s largest flute collection, each instrument with its own story.

Year after year, we are astounded by the generous support of the Library’s friends.

Another of them is Elinor D. Sosne. She was an excellent flutist in high school and college but pursued careers in anthropology and then in law. For two decades, she served as an attorney at the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Throughout her life, music brought Sosne joy. She was a devotee of the Library’s concerts and musical endeavors for over 30 years, attending performances in the Coolidge Auditorium, usually accompanied by professor James Henretta.

In 2021, the Elinore D. Sosne Fund for Music in the Library of Congress was established in her memory with a generous gift to support chamber music concerts. To celebrate her love for the flute, the fund also supports programming for and care of the Miller flute collection.

On Nov. 14, 2022, the Library was honored to hold the inaugural Elinor D. Sosne concert in the Coolidge. Henretta attended along with Sosne’s sister, Diane Sosne, and friends for a world-class performance by eminent flutist Emmanuel Pahud and pianist Alessio Bax. The performance delighted a full house of flute students, musicians and music lovers.

That concert was only the beginning for the Sosne endowment. For years to come, the endowment will enliven the musical community through performances and promote the Library’s musical instrument collections as a source of inspiration, all in memory of Sosne.

Whether you love the flute, the viola or the harpsichord or, like Sosne, find joy in music, you can make a donation to ensure that the Library’s halls are filled with music for generations.