SPRING 2012

Special Exhibit presents woodwinds by local makers

A new exhibit entitled "Whirring Lathes, Dulcet Tones: Woodwind Making in Early 19th-Century Connecticut and New York" will open on at the Collection on Wednesday, January 25, 2012.

Twenty-six woodwind instruments are on display, including flageolets, fifes, a piccolo, flutes, clarinets, and a bassoon.

The most unusual instrument featured in the exhibit is a bass clarion (a bass clarinet in the shape of a bassoon) made by Uzal Miner after a design that his mentor George Catlin patented in the early 1800s.

The instruments come from the workshops of Edward Riley (New York City), George Catlin (Hartford), Uzal Miner (Hartford), John Meacham, Jr. (Hartford and Albany), Asa Hopkins (Litchfield), Benjamin & Munger (New Haven), and Firth, Hall, and Pond (New York City and Litchfield).

Supplementing the displays of instruments are period portraiture, genre scenes, newspaper advertisements, instrument tutors, and instruction books. Facsimiles of engravings demonstrate the lathes were used in the turning of woodwinds at this time. Actual wood samples acquaint viewers with the different species of woods that were favored by makers of the day: boxwood, satinwood, rosewood, cocuswood, ebony, and maple.

The exhibit was organized by Susan E. Thompson, a curator of the Collection. Thompson was assisted by three museum interns, two of whom are recent graduates of the School of Music, and one who will graduate this spring: Bethany Wiese ’10 MM, Scott Holben ’10 MM, and Ian Petruzzi ’12 MM.

"Whirring Lathes, Dulcet Tones" will remain on view until June 29, 2012.

For further information, call 203 432-0822

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Special Concerts

Tuesday April 18, at 8:00 pm

YALE BAROQUE ENSEMBLE

Robert Mealy, Director

From Galant to Classical: chamber music of Handel,

Boccherini, and Mozart. 

Tickets are free but reservations suggested.

Wednesday, April 19, at 8:00 pm

MUSIC OF MENDELSSOHN

Clive Greensmith, cello

Wei-Yi Yang, piano

Cello Sonata No. 1 in B flat major, Op. 45
Variations concertantes, Op. 17

Cello Sonata No. 2 in D major, Op. 58
Song Without Words in D major, Op. 109

Featuring the grand piano in the Collection

made by Erard Cie., Paris, 1884

Tickets $20 each; $15 Yale Staff & Seniors;

$10 Students.

The performances take place in the museum's Second Floor Gallery. For ticket purchase information, click on the button below.

                                      TICKET INFORMATION

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