National Music Museum in Vermilion is a Landmark of American Music

The National Music Museum: America's Shrine to Music & Center for Study of the History of Musical Instruments is a musical instrument museum in Vermilion, South Dakota, USA. It was founded in 1973 on the campus of the University of South Dakota. The National Music Museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums and is recognized as "A Landmark of American Music" by the National Music Council. You will be surprised and engrossed by the amazing amount and variety of instruments from around the world.

The National Music Museum's renowned collections, which include more than 15,000 American, European, and non-Western instruments from all cultures and historical periods, are among the world's most inclusive. They include many of the earliest, best preserved, and historically most important musical instruments known to survive. The quality and scope of the National Music Museum has earned it international recognition.

Collections at the National Music Museum

The National Music Museum in South Dakota is the only place in the world where one can find two 18th-century grand pianos with the specific type of action conceived by the piano's inventor, Bartolomeo Cristofori. One of these built in 1767 by Manuel Antunes of Lisbon, is the earliest signed and dated piano by a maker native to Portugal; the other, built by Louis Bas in Villeneuve-les-Avignon in 1781, is the earliest extant French grand piano. A group of 500 instruments made in the late-19th-, early-20th centuries by the C.G. Conn Company of Elkhart, Indiana, is a resource unparalleled anywhere for historical research about a major American industry and the American band movement. Additionally, the National Music Museum preserves one of four Stradivari guitars to be seen in a museum setting, and one of only two Stradivari mandolins known to survive.

Frequently used by Scholars from around the World

Scholars from around the world make frequent use of the National Music Museum's collections and facilities, providing an important opportunity for students to meet and work with individuals on the latest scholarship on musical research.

Fun Facts about National Music Museum

Anyone interested in music or history should visit this museum. This Landmark of American Music contains a remarkable collection of musical instruments of all types. Rooms upon rooms full of guitars, pianos, harpsichords, winds, horns, organs and instruments you've never seen before. The world's oldest cello in remarkable shape with delicate artwork all over. Seeing musical instruments that are 400-500 years old is incredible. Johnny Cash's home guitar that was his favorite, along with those of Bob Dylan and many famous stars. It's hard to believe such an incredible collection of musical instruments is tucked away in South Dakota. We recommend you get the audio tour to learn more about several of the exhibits. To read more about this terrific music museum, we recommend you visit their website: nmmusd.org.