A University of Missouri–St. Louis music educator has donated a collection of musical instruments worth more than $2 million to the Sheldon Art Galleries.

UMSL instructor Aurelia Hartenberger poses with one of her many world music instruments. Items from her collection will be on display at The Sheldon Art Gallery through Aug. 18. (Photo by Myra Lopez)

UMSL instructor Aurelia Hartenberger poses with one of her many world music instruments. (Photo by Myra Lopez)

Aurelia Hartenberger, an adjunct associate professor of music at UMSL, started collecting instruments from a variety of countries and historical eras in the 1970s. Today, the Hartenberger World Music Collection contains more than 2,500 instruments, some of which are more than 3,000 years old. The collection includes offerings ranging from an ancient whistling vessel from Peru to a saxophone owned and played by jazz great Artie Shaw.

The pieces will become part of the Grand Center arts organization’s permanent collection. The Sheldon will display portions of Hartenberger’s collection from Africa, Asia and Latin America in an exhibit beginning Feb. 6.

“A World of Music: Africa, Asia and Latin America” will be on display at the Sheldon Art Galleries, 3648 Washington Blvd. in St. Louis.

Media Coverage:
KTVI (Channel 2)
St. Louis Public Radio
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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Rachel Webb

Rachel Webb