Musical Instrument Museum, Phoenix
The result of a dinner challenge five years ago opened to the public April 2010 in northern Phoenix: the $150-million, 190,000-square-foot Musical Instrument Museum. Its mission is little short of astonishing: to represent the musical culture of every country on the planet, both with displays of the instruments on which that music is played and with regular live performances by those who play them.
To realize that, founder Robert Ulrich, former long time CEO of Target Stores, and his staff of five curators and more than 100 consultants put together one of the largest instrument collections in the world in barely three years. The 4 1/2 -acre building now houses more than 13,000 music-making contraptions, including ancient German krumhorns and sackbuts (an early trombone), Kenyan mbiras (thumb pianos), Chinese pipas and some of the coolest electric guitars Leo Fender ever made.
As guests of our friend, Bob Montgomery, we visited this fabulous museum in January 2011. We stayed about two and a half hours and didn't see it all.
We recommend a visit to anyone who likes music, likes museums, or just plain hasn't seen it yet.
Read MoreTo realize that, founder Robert Ulrich, former long time CEO of Target Stores, and his staff of five curators and more than 100 consultants put together one of the largest instrument collections in the world in barely three years. The 4 1/2 -acre building now houses more than 13,000 music-making contraptions, including ancient German krumhorns and sackbuts (an early trombone), Kenyan mbiras (thumb pianos), Chinese pipas and some of the coolest electric guitars Leo Fender ever made.
As guests of our friend, Bob Montgomery, we visited this fabulous museum in January 2011. We stayed about two and a half hours and didn't see it all.
We recommend a visit to anyone who likes music, likes museums, or just plain hasn't seen it yet.
