Stearns Collection of Musical Instruments

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{{Infobox research institute

| name = Stearns Collection of Musical Instruments

| image = Display of the Stearns Collection of Musical Instruments University of Michigan.JPG

| caption = {{longitem|Stearns Collection display in the
UMich School of Music, Dance & Theatre's
Earl V. Moore Building.}}

| motto =

| established = 1898 by Frederick Stearns

| type = | budget = | debt =

| research_field =

| director = Joseph Gascho

| head_label = | head = | faculty =

| staff = Katie Sucha, program manager

Carol Stepanchuk, outreach and lecture series director

|students = | alumni =

| address =

| city = Ann Arbor

| state = Michigan

| country = United States

| coor = {{coord|42|17|25.1|N|83|43|15.6|W|region:US-MI_type:edu|display=inline,title}}

| zipcode = | campus =

| free_label = | free =

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| website = {{URL|https://smtd.umich.edu/research-collections/stearns-collection-of-musical-instruments/|smtd.umich.edu}}

| logo = }}

The Stearns Collection of Musical Instruments, held by the University of Michigan's School of Music, Theatre, and Dance in Ann Arbor, Michigan, consists of nearly 3000 historical and contemporary musical instruments from around the world.{{cite web |url=http://www.music.umich.edu/research/stearns_collection/AbouttheCollection.htm |title=UM School of Music, Theatre & Dance - About the Stearns Collection |website=Music.umich.edu |date= |access-date=2016-04-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090627104748/http://www.music.umich.edu/research/stearns_collection/AbouttheCollection.htm |archive-date=2009-06-27 |df= }} The basis of the Collection is a gift made to the university by pharmaceutical businessman Frederick Stearns in 1898."[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1898/11/29/102570261.pdf Gift to Michigan University - Collection of Musical Instruments Presented by Frederick Stearns]", The New York Times, November 29, 1898 Known internationally as a unique research collection,Coover, James. Musical Instrument Collection Catalogues and Cognate Literature, Information Coordinators, 1981 its holdings include the trumpet collection of Armando Ghitalla, former principal trumpet player of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and University of Michigan faculty member; a collection of violin bows from Jerry Tetewsky; as well as Robert Moog's first commercially produced Moog synthesizer from 1964{{cite book|last=Glinsky |first=Albert |title=Switched On: Bob Moog and the Synthesizer Revolution |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York City, New York, US |date=2022 |isbn=9780197642078 |page=337}} and the RCA theremin used during the WXYZ broadcasts of the Green Hornet from 1936 to 1952. A catalog documenting the Collection's holdings was published in 1918 Stanley, Albert A., "Catalogue of the Stearns Collection of Musical Instruments", 1918. by Albert A. Stanley, with a second edition published in 1921.Stanley, Albert A., "Catalogue of the Stearns Collection of Musical Instruments", 1921. In 1988, Professor James M. Borders published a catalog featuring the Collection's European and American wind and percussion instruments.Borders, James M., "European and American Wind and Percussion Instruments: Catalogue of the Stearns Collection of Musical Instruments, University of Michigan, 1988

File:FrederickStearns.png

The museum's collections include a number of forged or altered items, purchased by the founder from the notorious Italian instrument dealer Leopoldo Franciolini. The museum's web site and signage are unusual among musical instrument museums for the scrupulous care with which these items are identified.

The collection is housed at the North Campus Research Complex and maintains exhibits in the lower lobby of the university's Hill Auditorium on the Central Campus and at the Earl V. Moore Building on the North Campus.