Please note: We are happy to provide scholarly information, where it exists, to researchers, but cannot make valuations of our collection.
Mission
The Harvard University Collection of Musical Instruments is available to students, musical colleagues and scholars to help promote the appreciation of musical instruments from all cultures and time periods. As a resource for the music department, the Collection serves as a laboratory for courses in period performance, world music, and organology.
History of the Collection
The Harvard musical instrument collection began with the donation of the Isham viols in 1949. The collection has since grown to over one hundred instruments ranging from rare seventeenth century lutes to japanese kotos. Many of the instruments were originally intended to promote the performance of early music at Harvard. However, the increasing rarity and value of the old instruments in the collection has required that a large portion of the collection be cared for as museum pieces and not often performed upon. As a result, the collection has been divided into two parts: a museum collection and a circulating collection. In recent years, primarily through the efforts of Professor Thomas Kelly and Robert Mealy, the lending collection of modern copies of baroque instruments has substantially increased, and early music performance is now flourishing at Harvard more than ever before. The Harvard Baroque Chamber Orchestra uses a complete set of baroque orchestral instruments, and the Mather House Viol Consort uses a consort of five viols. The museum component of the collection is unfortunately not open to the public at this time, but we hope to make this important resource available for viewing and study in the near future. In the meantime, please view our virtual gallery, and if you have any questions concerning individual instruments, please do not hesitate to contact us.
The Harvard University Collection of Musical Instruments is available to students, musical colleagues and scholars to help promote the appreciation of musical instruments from all cultures and time periods. As a resource for the music department, the Collection serves as a laboratory for courses in period performance, world music, and organology.
Gifts & Donations
In-kind 
Inquiries concerning donations of musical instruments and related objects will be considered according to the University's accession policies and current program of acquisition. Such inquiries may be forwarded to the address, telephone number or e-mail address above.
