At performances of Bernarda Alba, a musical set in 1930s Spain, audiences will hear instruments they may never have heard before, weaving together to create an atmosphere distinct to the musical’s time and place. Presented by University Productions and the Department of Musical Theatre, Bernarda Alba features traditional flamenco music reflecting the show’s themes of…

It’s not every day that an opportunity arises to attend concerts that take the audience on a sonic journey through time and space, featuring not only music from another era or a distant locale, but instruments that span centuries and continents. On Wednesday, February 23, and Thursday, February 24, the School of Music, Theatre &…

In September 2014, two University of Michigan professors received a phone call that would set them on a race to save more than a half-century of African music. Heather Maxwell, a U-M alumna and current host of the Voice of America’s “Music Time in Africa” program, had phoned to tell them that the tapes, scripts…

Deep in the heart of U-M’s North Campus Research Complex (NCRC), the students of Musicology 406/506, “Musical Instruments of the World,” are hard at work. After weeks of classroom lectures, they are excited to gain hands-on experience with SMTD’s Stearns Collection of Musical Instruments. The workroom is a flurry of activity as students pick pieces…