Musical Instrument Collection

The Uni­ver­sity of Wash­ing­ton Eth­no­mu­si­col­ogy program houses over 400 musi­cal instru­ments from around the world. Each year since the found­ing of the Eth­no­mu­si­col­ogy pro­gram in 1962, one or more inter­na­tional artists have been invited to the cam­pus to share their musi­cal tra­di­tions through teach­ing and per­for­mance. The musi­cal instru­ment col­lec­tion has grown over the years as the result of these res­i­den­cies, and its make-up reflects the instru­men­tal tra­di­tions of the artists who have been our guests. Addi­tional dona­tions have expanded the col­lec­tion to its present size.

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