"The MIM was founded by Robert J.
Ulrich, former CEO and chairman of Target Corporation. An avid collector of
African art and museum enthusiast, Ulrich ... originated the idea after a visit to the Instrument Museum in Brussels,
Belgium.
The Museum is approximately 200,000-square-foot with two floors of light-filled galleries and a collection of nearly 15,000 instruments and associated objects. Built at a cost of over $250 million, it creates an exciting musical experience for guests, featuring advanced wireless technology and high-resolution video, and the experience offers musical instruments that guests can touch and play. The building that houses the Musical Instrument Museum also contains a 300-seat theater for live performances."
We arrived about 12:00 pm and had an excellent lunch at the museum cafeteria. After meeting our friends Rich and Sylvia and Chuck and Carol at 1:00 pm we began touring the museum in the “Travelling Exhibition Gallery” presently exhibiting a marvelous collection of photographs by William Gottlieb of legendary jazz artists. The photographs were taken in the 1940s into the 1960s and are accompanied by comments by him regarding each photograph and the musician.
Each museum visitor is given a headset with a wireless receiver upon entry. At each exhibit there is a HD flat screen monitor that shows musicians and/or instruments featured in the display. As you approach each exhibit you automatically hear the music of the current selection being displayed on the screen. The selections are excerpts, each anywhere from 15 seconds to a minute in length. A card in the display indicates what the selection is and who is performing it. There are generally 1- 4 selections at each exhibit. In the exhibits featuring particular artists, the actual instrument the musician is playing in the video is usually on display in the exhibit – pretty cool. In other exhibits, musicians play the same kind of instruments that are on display.
The museum also has a public Steinway Grand Piano in the lobby that visitors are encouraged to play if they desire to do so. We heard a young Japanese teenager playing for his father and grandparents. He was truly outstanding. An adult we heard later was playing Ragtime and was also very good.
After the jazz exhibit, we visited the Artists Gallery which has a varied collection of musicians and music styles. Some of the selected artists included Taylor Swift, Joshua Bell and Eric Clapton. Musical genres included Country/Western, Classical, Rock Guitar, etc.
Next, came
the Mechanical Instrument Display with an excellent collection of mechanical
musical instruments, mostly European.
We then started on the geographical exhibits on the second floor but ran out of time halfway through the first one we went to - the European exhibit.
The museum is so interesting, we decided to come back next Thursday and see what we missed. We are going to combine the visit with an evening jazz concert (SFJAZZ Collective) in the MIM Music Theater at the museum.
After leaving the museum, we all went to a Southern- style chicken- and- waffles restaurant in Scottsdale Sylvia and Rich recommended. Everyone had a great meal and a good time. (The chicken was good but not as good as Susan’s.)
Tomorrow, we are going to do the first two of the four tours we have scheduled at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Western home and architectural laboratory, Taliesin West. The second tour is in the evening, so it could be another late night.
Day 10 Pictures
The Museum is approximately 200,000-square-foot with two floors of light-filled galleries and a collection of nearly 15,000 instruments and associated objects. Built at a cost of over $250 million, it creates an exciting musical experience for guests, featuring advanced wireless technology and high-resolution video, and the experience offers musical instruments that guests can touch and play. The building that houses the Musical Instrument Museum also contains a 300-seat theater for live performances."
We arrived about 12:00 pm and had an excellent lunch at the museum cafeteria. After meeting our friends Rich and Sylvia and Chuck and Carol at 1:00 pm we began touring the museum in the “Travelling Exhibition Gallery” presently exhibiting a marvelous collection of photographs by William Gottlieb of legendary jazz artists. The photographs were taken in the 1940s into the 1960s and are accompanied by comments by him regarding each photograph and the musician.
Each museum visitor is given a headset with a wireless receiver upon entry. At each exhibit there is a HD flat screen monitor that shows musicians and/or instruments featured in the display. As you approach each exhibit you automatically hear the music of the current selection being displayed on the screen. The selections are excerpts, each anywhere from 15 seconds to a minute in length. A card in the display indicates what the selection is and who is performing it. There are generally 1- 4 selections at each exhibit. In the exhibits featuring particular artists, the actual instrument the musician is playing in the video is usually on display in the exhibit – pretty cool. In other exhibits, musicians play the same kind of instruments that are on display.
The museum also has a public Steinway Grand Piano in the lobby that visitors are encouraged to play if they desire to do so. We heard a young Japanese teenager playing for his father and grandparents. He was truly outstanding. An adult we heard later was playing Ragtime and was also very good.
After the jazz exhibit, we visited the Artists Gallery which has a varied collection of musicians and music styles. Some of the selected artists included Taylor Swift, Joshua Bell and Eric Clapton. Musical genres included Country/Western, Classical, Rock Guitar, etc.
We then started on the geographical exhibits on the second floor but ran out of time halfway through the first one we went to - the European exhibit.
The museum is so interesting, we decided to come back next Thursday and see what we missed. We are going to combine the visit with an evening jazz concert (SFJAZZ Collective) in the MIM Music Theater at the museum.
After leaving the museum, we all went to a Southern- style chicken- and- waffles restaurant in Scottsdale Sylvia and Rich recommended. Everyone had a great meal and a good time. (The chicken was good but not as good as Susan’s.)
Tomorrow, we are going to do the first two of the four tours we have scheduled at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Western home and architectural laboratory, Taliesin West. The second tour is in the evening, so it could be another late night.
Day 10 Pictures
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