Stary Rynek 45, Poznań 61772, Poland

+48 61 85 68 177

The Museum of Musical Instruments was established in 1945 as a section of the National Museum of Poznan and was re-opened in a splendidly restored arrangement in 2019. Not a teaching institution, the Museum is the only one of its kind in Poland, and one of the few in Europe. It runs courses in organology for musicology students at the Adam Mickiewicz University of Poznan and fosters performances of early music on original instruments. The museum holds some 2,500 classical and folk instruments from a variety of time periods and all continents, and is one of the largest collections of instruments in Europe. There is also a large collection of music-related artefacts, including manuscripts, old prints, memorabilia connected with famous musicians, concert programs and gramophone records. The Museum holds workshops on instrument building and has a conservation studio where the objects are restored to their original shape and tune. The studio also makes copies and reconstructions of archaeological or historical instruments. There are some objects related to the life and work of Fryderyk Chopin, including some from his stay in Wielkopolska in 1827-1829. The Museum has prepared the first Polish publication devoted to Antonio Stradivari. It organises the Henryk Wieniawski International Violin Makers' Competition, held every five years in conjunction with the Henryk Wieniawski Internation performance competitions. It collaborates with the local government to organise such projects as Wielkopolska Encounters of Bagpipe Builders, Encounters of Christmas Waits in Polajewo, the Competition of Folk Music in Kopanica and a Congress of European Bagpipers.

April 2022