Voicing the Woods An exhibition of Jeremy Adams’s organs and harpsichords On View at the Cape Ann Museum October 22, 2016 through February 26, 2017 A public opening reception will be held at the Museum on Saturday, October 22 from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. (left) Jeremy Adams Organ, 1986. Annisquam Village Church, Gloucester, MA; (center) Adams doing restoration work on a Pleyel harpsichord; (right) Adams at work in his shop. Photographs by Paul Cary Goldberg ©2016. GLOUCESTER, MASS. –– Voicing the Woods: Jeremy Adams, Instrument Maker showcases the prodigious skills and artistry of Jeremy Adams, one of the most gifted musical instrument makers in New England. The exhibition, which will be held in the Cape Ann Museum’s 1,500 square foot special exhibitions gallery, will include a one-stop chamber organ, a demonstration organ chest, a 1995 clavichord and a selection of harpsichords, each built in its entirety by Adams in his Danvers, Massachusetts workshop. In addition to the instruments that will be shown in the gallery, a selection of Adams’s furniture will be displayed in the Museum’s 1804 Captain Elias Davis House, offering an interesting contrast to the period furniture in the House. A keyboard player from early childhood, Jeremy Adams took his formal training with Roland Sturgis, Gregory Tucker and Melville Smith at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge. In the 1960s, an auspicious time for early music enthusiasts, Adams entered into a six-year apprenticeship at William Dowd’s Cambridge harpsichord shop, where he gained recognition for his skills as a musician and quickly developed his hand as a fine woodworker. (Dowd had established his workshop in the 1950s with harpsichord maker Frank Hubbard, engaging with the international movement to revive historic practices of performance and instrument building.) In the two years following his harpsichord apprenticeship, Adams honed his skills in reed voicing and tonal finishing in an organ building apprenticeship at the Gloucester workshop of Charles Fisk, working on signature instruments at Old West Methodist in Boston and Harvard University, among others. In 1969 Adams opened his own workshop on the North Shore. Adams’s harpsichords, clavichords and pipe organs can be found in public and private collections around the world, including the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston; the Sapporo Episcopal Cathedral and the Kyoto Fukkatu Kyokai (Kyoto Episcopal Church) in Japan; Roxbury Latin School in West Roxbury, MA; the Waring School in Beverly, MA; Maple Street Congregational Church in Danvers, MA; and the Annisquam Village Church in Gloucester, MA. Restorations and expansions of existing instruments include work on Martha’s Vineyard and in Barbados. The design and construction of Adams’s furniture and objets d’art evolved, in part, from the refined casework required by the musical instruments, and in part from a lifelong interest in painting and sculpture. The intersection of these elements has led to commissions from clients far and near, and to exhibitions with the Jane Deering, Found and Oasis galleries, as well as representation in a competition at the Wharton Esherick Museum in Pennsylvania. Photographs by Paul Cary Goldberg complement the instrument exhibit and document Adams’s studio and work process, highlighting some of the exquisite detail and workmanship on individual pieces and underscoring the breadth and volume of his work. Related Programs Saturday, October 22 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. Voicing the Woods Opening Reception Friday, November 4 7:00 p.m. Concert on the Adams Organ and Clavichord at the Annisquam Village Church: Performance by Kevin Birch Saturday, November 5 11:00 a.m. Midday Mini-Concert & Instrument Demonstration with Kevin Birch Saturday, November 12 2:00 p.m. Voicing the Woods Gallery Talk: Photographer Paul Cary Goldberg Saturday, December 3 11:00 a.m. Midday Mini-Concert & Instrument Demonstration with Kathleen and Jeremy Adams Saturday, January 7 11:00 a.m. Midday Mini-Concert & Instrument Demonstration with Harpsichordist and Organist Frances Conover Fitch Saturday, January 14 2:00 p.m. Conversations with Contemporary Artists series: Photographer Paul Cary Goldberg Saturday, February 4 11:00 a.m. Midday Mini-Concert & Instrument Demonstration: Harpsichordist Carolyn Day Skelton and Organist John Skelton 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Middle Street to Annisquam Organ Crawl: Voices of Four Cape Ann Pipe Organs Friday, January 27 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. CAMafterhours: “Dancing the Woods” Please check our website or signup to receive CAM’s weekly e-blast at capeannmuseum.org/eblast for detailed updates to these and other Cape Ann Museum programs. Exhibition Sponsors With special thanks to our exhibition sponsors: Jerry and Margaretta Hausman Hinda Simon | Bettie Cartwright Gregory and Stevie Neal | Robert M. Russell | Jane Deering Gallery The Cape Ann Museum has been in existence since the 1870s, working to preserve and celebrate the history and culture of the area and to keep it relevant to today’s audiences. Spanning 44,000 square feet, the Museum is one of the major cultural institutions on Boston’s North Shore welcoming more than 25,000 local, national and international visitors each year to its exhibitions and programs. In addition to fine art, the Museum’s collections include decorative art, textiles, artifacts from the maritime and granite industries, two historic homes and a sculpture park in the heart of downtown Gloucester. Visit capeannmuseum.org for details. ### MEDIA CONTACT: Meredith Anderson, [email protected] (978)283-0455 x15 Print quality images are available on request. .