Bronisław Kaper (1902-1983) was an Oscar-winning film composer who left Poland in the early 1920s for Berlin and then Paris. Kaper emigrated to the US in 1935 and lived in Beverly Hills until his death in 1983. During that time he wrote over 200 film and TV scores for Hollywood, and became the first Polish-born composer to win an Academy Award for scoring in 1954. Kaper also served for many years on the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association's Board of Directors, which later named an award for young musicians after him.

The Polish Music Center’s Bronisław Kaper Collection was initiated in October 2006 by Kaper’s agent, Steve Goldring, who donated 5 original film scores:

The Stranger (1946)

The Glass Slipper (1955)

Green Mansions (1959)

Tobruk (1967)

The Way West (1967)

In addition to Kaper’s own music and notations, the Kaper Collection includes a signed manuscript by Brazilian composer Heitor Villa Lobos, who notated an indigenous chant for the score of Green Mansions. Between 2007 and 2010, Kaper’s friend Irene Kearney donated several volumes of sheet music featuring some of Kaper’s most famous songs, such as Lili, On Green Dolphin Street, Blue Love Bird, and Invitation, among many others.

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This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through IMLS Grant RE‐85‐18‐0110‐18. All digital items are a part of The Dianne and Tad Taube Polish Music Center Digital Archives at the USC Thornton School of Music.