NATIONAL MUSIC MUSEUM NEWSLETTER Volume 37, Number 1 www.nmmusd.org March 2010

DID YOU KNOW?

The NMM serves the people of South Dakota and the world as an in- ternational center for collecting and conserv- ing musical instruments of all cultures and bringing people together to study, enjoy, and un- derstand our diverse musical heritage.

The NMM is open 362 days a year

The NMM’s website pro- vides 24/7 access to the Photo by Chad Coppess, SD Office of Tourism NMM and its extraordi- nary treasures

GOVERNOR DONATES COMMEMORATIVE GUITAR People from 133 coun- tries have visited the South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds presented a commemorative electric guitar to the NMM on Friday, March 19, at a short ceremony attended by representatives of NMM’s website USD, the NMM Board of Trustees, and the NMM staff. Brad Randall, M.D., Chairman of the Board, accepted the instrument on behalf of the NMM. National Music Museum The Ibanez electric guitar was autographed by performers at the South Dakota Vi- 414 East Clark Street etnam War Memorial dedication concerts held in the state capitol in September Vermillion SD 57069 2006. Celebrated rock stars who signed the instrument include Steve Miller; Mike 605-677-5306 phone Love and Bruce Johnston of the Beach Boys; and Stu Cook and Doug Clifford of Cre- 605-677-6995 fax dence Clearwater Revisited (both original CCR members). The guitar has been on dis- [email protected] play in the Governor's private office for the past three years. www.nmmusd.org Gov. Rounds also donated a collection of ephemeral materials related to the Vietnam War Memorial dedication, including a documentary DVD, a program, back-stage The Newsletter is published by the passes, original concert tickets, a Vietnam Veterans’ commemorative cap, posters, and NMM and is available in both print- color photographs. Visit the NMM website (www.nmmusd.org) for additional infor- ed and electronic formats. ©National Music Museum, 2010. mation and images of the presentation. GAMELAN NOTES: TUK – PUL – TUK—GONG! Sally Fantle Archival by Deborah Check Reeves Research Center Curator of Education Guestbook & patiently worked with the group. A special “beginner” session was held one afternoon for members of the USD Honors class, “Javanese Gamelan: Introducing Javanese Culture Through Its Music.” Six- teen of USD's brightest students have been learning about Javanese history and culture by immersing The halls of the NMM have been ring- themselves in the music of the gam- ing with the sounds of the Kyai Rengga elan for an entire semester. The Craig Anderson, General Manager Manis Everist gamelan in recent months. class—the first ever offered at the NMM for the USD Honors Pro- of Allied Supply, Elkhorn, Wis- The gamelan, commissioned from a mas- consin, and Larry Gerhardt, Ger- gram—meets twice weekly and is ter maker in Surakarta, Java, was ac- hardt Music LLC, St. Joseph, quired in 2000 through a generous gift taught by Dr. Deborah Check Missouri, examined brass instru- from Margaret Ann Everist (Sioux City, Reeves, Curator of Education. ments from the Holton Factory Iowa). Today, it is one of the largest, Another gamelan ensemble, the Reference Collection under the most complete, and highest quality gam- “Happy Home School Gong Chim- watchful eye of Curatorial Assis- elans outside of Indonesia. ers,” was organized in October by tant, Ken Drobnak. Anderson Every Thursday, the USD ensemble one of Tatag's members with and Gerhardt were in the area to “Tatag” rehearses on the gamelan, school age children. This group, present a Regional Clinic for the National Association of Profes- which is on display in the NMM’s Beede consisting of nearly twenty young people, rehearses at the NMM every sional Band Instrument Repair Gallery. Members of the ensemble in- Technicians at Western Iowa Wednesday afternoon. The ensem- clude USD faculty, staff, and students, Tech Community College in as well as musicians from Vermillion and ble, which presented its first game- Sioux City. several other communities in the sur- lan concert in December for par- rounding area. ents, families, and friends, is look- Jeffrey Cunningham, a doctoral “Tatag,” the name given to the USD ing forward to a similar experience student in saxophone at the Uni- ensemble by Joko Sutrisno (St. Paul, in the spring. versity of Missouri-Kansas City, Minnesota), means “strong will, strong The public is cordially invited to examined the parabolic curves in determination and showing compas- attend the NMM’s Brown Bag several of the NMM’s saxophones sion.” Sutrisno, a master gamelan teach- Lunch program on April 30, when made by Adolphe Sax.

er, is the artistic director of “Sumunar,” Tatag and the USD Honors class will combine forces to present the Guy Harrison, maker from the gamelan ensemble of IPAAM Ottawa, Ontario, studied the (Indonesian Performing Arts Associa- NMM’s annual gamelan concert in NMM’s “Harrison” violin by tion of Minnesota.) the Arne B. Larson Concert Hall. Stradivari (1693) prior to making For the past several years, Sutrisno a copy of the late 17th century has led a weekend-long workshop at the instrument. beginning of USD’s spring semester, dur- BROWN BAG LUNCH PROGRAMS ing which the NMM has resounded al- Michael Judge, violin maker from most non-stop with the ringing of gongs March 19. Music for Sweet and Cross Portland, Oregon, examined and and metallophones as Sutrisno skillfully Flutes, with Susanne Skyrm (USD), photographed the NMM’s Jacob keyboards, and Judy Walker (Sioux Stainer viola and other bowed City), flute and recorder. 12:05 p.m. strings for the ’s Library. As you do your estate planning, please April 9. Percussive Pyrotechnics, with don’t forget to include the National Tatsuya Nakatani, Easton, Pennsylva- Laurence Libin, Editor-in-Chief, Music Museum. The care and preser- nia. 12:05 p.m. Grove Dictionary of Musical In- vation of the NMM’s great collections April 16. An English Treat, featuring struments (Oxford University is an awesome responsibility. Your Susan Alexander-Max, London, playing Press), spent several days con- help is needed, if we are to meet the the NMM’s Thym piano. 12:05 p.m. sulting with the NMM curatorial challenges of the future. Become a April 30. The Kyai Rengga Manis Ever- staff about proposed contents for ist Gamelan, with USD’s Tatag Game- the next edition of this standard member of The Society! lan Ensemble. 12:05 p.m. reference. Graduate student, Virginia Rolfo, pre- BEHIND THE SCENES sented a paper about her master’s thesis Curatorial Visit the NMM Website (www.nmmusd.org) research concerning Vincenzio Sodi, an Commentary for additional details. 18th-century Florentine keyboard maker, at the combined international meetings of CIMCIM, AMIS, the Historic Brass Socie- Click on Links to Read ty, and the Galpin Society, held in Flor- Articles Posted on the ence and Rome in September. Also in at- NMM Website tendance were Sarah Richardson, Curator of Musical Instruments, and Jonathan “Evette’s Story” Bouquet, Advanced Conservation Intern, By Deborah Check Reeves both of whom were recipients of CIMCIM travel grants for young scholars. “A Father and Son Drum- Eight staff members, graduate students, Making Tradition” and interns attended the annual meeting By Sarah Richardson of the American Soci- ety in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in May. Pa- “Historic Images Find a Home pers were presented by Margaret Downie at the NMM” Banks, Patricia Bastos, John Koster, Deb- By Sarah Richardson Photo by Lynn Wheelwright orah Check Reeves, Sarah Richardson, and Clint Spell. On their way to the 3-day Arian Sheets, Curator of Stringed Instru- event, the NMM entourage stopped in “Holton’s Regulation and ments, holds a 1948 electric guitar by Paul Mason City, Iowa, to inventory and in- Legionnaire Bugles” Bigsby, owned by R. C. Allen, a well- spect the NMM’s 180 instruments on dis- By Ken Drobnak known southern California guitar builder. play at the Meredith Willson Museum

Bigbsy's work inspired Leo Fender to pro- and Music Man Square Streetscape. duce solid-body electric Spanish guitars. “Joseph C. Green’s Cornet” Sheets attended the California World Gui- Jonathan Bouquet, By Margaret Downie Banks tar Show in Costa Mesa, in mid-January. Advanced Conserva- While in California, she also attended the tion intern from Mex- “The Mysterious Baritone Oboe” National Association of Music Merchants ico City, recently By Deborah Check Reeves trade show in Anaheim. completed a technical drawing of the NMM’s Stainer violin “The Sound of Digitization” Ken Drobnak, Curatorial Assistant, pre- made in Absam-bei- By Ryan Murfield sented a seminar, “Experimental Tubas by in 1668. Frank Holton & Company from the Holton Factory Reference Collection,” at Wayne Maria Kurmanowytsch, a student at the “Unraveling the Secrets of a State College (Wayne, Nebraska) in Octo- Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, arrived Keyed Bugle by E. G. Wright” ber. The seminar was part of “Octubafest,” in Vermillion in February to begin a six- By Sabine K. Klaus an annual event held at many colleges month Advanced Conservation Intern- throughout the country. United ship at the NMM.

IN MEMORIAM: GARY M. STEWART (1953-2009)

Gary Michael Stewart, the NMM’s first Conservator, died from a heart attack at his home in Statesville, North Carolina, in September 2009. Stewart held a Bachelor of Music degree (1975) from Appalachian State University (Boone, NC), where he also took elective courses in technical drafting, advanced woodworking, metal machining and casting. He was the se- cond student to earn the Master of Music degree in the History of Musical Instruments of- fered by the NMM (1978), with a thesis focusing on the “Restoration and Cataloging of Four Serpents in the Arne B. Larson Collection of Musical Instruments.” Following a Research Fellowship at the Smithsonian Institution (1977), Stewart was hired as the NMM’s Conser- vator and Associate Professor, positions he held for thirteen years. During a sabbatical in 1988, Stewart served as a Conservation Consultant for the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, where he was later employed (1990-1993). Following several years as Conservator at the Wolfsonian Museum, Miami Beach (1993-2000), he returned to the NMM (2001-2002) to pre- pare objects for exhibit at the Meredith Willson Museum & Music Man Square in Mason City, Iowa. Stewart’s many contributions to the NMM are posted in a special tribute on the NMM website. SPOTLIGHT ON DONORS: THE ARNOLD RUSKIN NMM BY THE COLLECTION NUMBERS What Makes the NMM The Arnold Ruskin Collection, consisting of 153 out- Unique? standing trumpets, cornets, and flugelhorns assembled to document the models produced by F. E. Olds of Los Angeles and Fullerton, California, was donated to the 14,800+ NMM in the fall of 2008 by the collector's widow, Nan- Number of cy, of La Cañada, California. musical instruments Arnold ("Arnie") M. Ruskin (1937-2006), who earned at the NMM his Ph.D. in engineering from the University of Michi- gan, was a registered professional engineer and Profes- sor of Engineering at Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, 5-1/2 4 California (1963-1973), prior to co-founding the influen- Instruments Instruments tial Claremont Consulting Group. The author of two by Antonio by Andrea books concerning project management, Ruskin also Stradivari Amati published more than 35 papers in the fields of engineer- ing and management. 1 As an amateur trumpet player and collector, Ruskin The earliest surviving systematically assembled a collection of 122 cornets, (after 1538) - trumpets, and flugelhorns representing virtually every decorated about 1560 for model made by F. E. Olds in Los Angeles and Fuller- King Charles IX of France ton. According to Olds researcher and noted brass in- strument restorer/maker, Robb Stewart (Arcadia, Cali- 23 20,000+ fornia), Ruskins’ collection “was probably the most Instruments Items in MIMA complete collection of Olds brasses in private hands.” Photos by Bill Willroth, Sr. by Adolphe (Musical An inventory of the collection, along with additional NMM 14243. Cornet by F. Instrument E. Olds & Son, Los Ange- Sax, including Manufacturers’ details, can be seen on the NMM’s website les, 1932. Hand-hammered 10 saxophones (www.nmmusd.org). bell. Archive)

JACOB STAINER’S TENOR VIOLA 1 of only 2 FEATURED IN THE STRAD Maga- made by Jacob Stainer that survive in their The March 2010 issue of the British magazine, The original condition Strad, features the NMM’s tenor viola by Jacob Stainer, Absam bei Innsbruck, ca. 1650 (NMM 3371), on the 1 front cover. An article by Darren Freeman is accompa- One of the oldest surviving nied by a full-size, pull-out poster of the only Stainer Neapolitan harpsichords tenor viola known to survive. (ca. 1530)

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