Abstract
The Tony Costa Sheet Music and Music Scores (1936-1995) consists of printed sheet music and hand-written scores composed by entertainer, songwriter, and Las Vegas, Nevada orchestra conductor Tony Costa.
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Scope and Contents Note
The Tony Costa Sheet Music and Music Scores (1936-1995) consists of printed sheet music and hand-written musical scores composed by entertainer, songwriter, and Las Vegas, Nevada orchestra conductor Tony Costa.
Access Note
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyrights and other rights. See Reproductions and Use on the UNLV Special Collections website for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish.
Arrangement
Music manuscripts are arranged in alphabetical order.
Biographical / Historical Note
Entertainer and song writer Anthony (Tony) Costa was born March 25, 1920 in Manhattan, New York. He started taking piano lessons at age eight and attended the famed Julliard School of Music. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees in music at the Manhattan School of Music. By the time World War II began, Costa was a concert pianist. He joined the Air Force and served in the medical corps in Africa.
Costa first came to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1955 to perform with a trio at the Dunes Hotel. He returned to California in 1956 and in 1963, while playing piano in a Covina restaurant, he teamed up with singer Jeanne Shelden. They toured together as Costa and Shelden, eventually playing the Skyroom at the Desert Inn Hotel. They were married in 1965 and moved to Las Vegas that year. He later led the orchestra at the original MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, which became Bally's Hotel and Casino. There he was conductor for
Costa founded the Symphonic Association of Las Vegas and became the first conductor of the Las Vegas Philharmonic Orchestra. The 72-piece symphony performed several concerts at University of Nevada, Las Vegas's Artemus Ham Hall from 1977 to 1979. Costa was involved with other projects at UNLV, conducting for such shows as
Costa was a member of the Las Vegas Musicians Union Local 369 and the National Association of Teachers of Singing. He also served on the advisory board of the Spring Mountain Summer Theatre. Costa retired in 1989.
Anthony "Tony" Costa passed away in April, 1998.
Source: Las Vegas Sun, April 7, 1998 http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/1998/apr/07/tony-costa-las-Vegas-music-conductor-dies/
Preferred Citation
Tony Costa Sheet Music and Music Scores, 1936-1995. MS-00545. Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Acquisition Note
Gift of Jeanne Costa in 2008; accession number 2008-022. Materials were collected by the director of the Arnold Shaw Popular Music Research Center and transferred to Special Collections.
Processing Note
Material was processed by Joyce Moore in 2010. In 2014, as part of a legacy finding aid conversion project, Dallas Reiber and Joyce Moore revised and enhanced the collection description to bring it into compliance with current professional standards and Dallas Reiber entered the data into ArchivesSpace.