YCGL - Minnesota - Day 24 - Tuesday , May 10

Misquoting Stanley Kowalski, "Arghhhh, and again I say Arghhhh!!!!"

I planned the end of my trip to go to the National Music Instrument Museum. It was formerly known as the Shrine to Music. The museum was founded in 1977 by Arne B. Larson. A band director in Brookings, SD, he was a huge musical instrument collector, who had 2,500 instruments to his name, paid for by himself over 50 years of collecting. He chose to give his collection to the University of South Dakota.

His son, Andre Larson, earned a degree in musicology and became a collector as well. He founded the museum and collected over 10,000 instruments on his own. In 1984, a couple purchased a collection of string instruments, including three instruments by Andrea Amati, a violin, a viola and a cello. A fourth Amati violin was later purchased to make one of the worlds unique quartets, by Amati. The cello is thought to be the oldest bass instrument of the violin family in the world. Amati's student, Stradivarius is here also, with a violin and several guitars.

There is room after room of instruments from around the world, some ancient and some contemporary. They have the largest collection of Hardanger fiddles outside of Norway. And on...

Here is a partial catalog of the collection.

And its closed.

The collection has been housed in an old Carnegie library building, too small even when the collection started. They are finishing an expansion to the building. It looks sizeable, like maybe doubling the size of the old building. They do have have on display one collection of Balinese instruments, including a gamelan, but it is only open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning.

Thank goodness I got back to the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix two months ago with Bob and Loraine. (See the blog from March 18th, in Phoenix) It helped quench the thirst, especially the special exhibit of "Treasures: Legendary Musical Instruments". Next time.

Drat!