National Music Museum brings artists to Vermillion

There isn’t a lot of space in the National Music Museum, as each square inch is filled with fascinations of all sizes.

If you look hard enough, you can find lutes that date back to well before the Revolutionary War, Johnny Cash’s personal guitar and a huge assortment of weird instruments nobody plays anymore. The musical magic happens downstairs, and at any given moment the performance hall is empty, quiet.

However, if you arrive on the right kind of Friday and at the right time, you’re in for quite a show.

The museum puts on its Brown Bag Lunch Program, where musicians come to perform for an audience on their lunch break. Visitors are encouraged to bring their own food or coffee with them. The program runs every Friday, with the exception of holidays.

On April 5, Amy Shaw, a wooden flutist, and her friends John McCormick and Brian Miller will be performing “Winds of Change,” a program of traditional Irish music.

Shaw actually studied the museum’s collection of 19th century flutes for her master’s thesis back in 1993.

But, it’s not only Irish fluteists who perform at the museum. A wide array of artists come to perform a range of musical styles.

“Right now we’re drawing on a huge variety of people,” said Deborah Reeves, the museum’s public programing coordinator. “We try to feature some local artists; we feature some USD faculty. Plus, we get people from all over the United States, and we get people internationally.”

A renowned Belgian harpsichordist named Frederick Haas arrived last year to perform Bach’s “Goldberg Variations.” Every seat was filled and there was little sitting room outside the hall’s two entrances. People had to be stepped over to walk through the space.

The museum tends not to search for artists because the performers have a way of finding out about the Brown Bag Lunch Program themselves. Reeves said the museum gets inquiries practically every day from someone looking to play.

The artists don’t do it for the money either — the museum doesn’t have much to offer in terms of cash.

“We have a small budget which we are extremely grateful to have,” Reeves said. “It might cover transportation cost and a hotel stay.”

These artists play in Vermillion because of the huge collection the museum has on display. According to Reeves, there is a special quality when they get to play on these historical instruments, especially ones that are so well cared for. It not only enhances the player’s perspective, but that of the audience as well.

Reeves said attendance at these events is usually very high. There are many people who regularly travel from Sioux City, Yankton and even Sioux Falls to come and watch the musicians perform. Also, some Vermillionaires stop by, too.

“We get community people, people who work at the bank or at a doctor’s office who get the noon-time off,” said Reeves. “We get staff and faculty from USD.”

Students also attend the shows.

“Every time I’ve been there have been a lot of people,” said sophomore Kelly Kaufman, who regularly attends the events. “All the seats are usually full.”

According to Reeves, the median age of the audience is around 50 years old. Student attendance is historically low, and the Museum staff is working to change that.

Still, Kaufman said he can rarely convince his friends to attend with him.

“Only a few students, mostly just older people,” said Kaufman.

“I don’t see the flyers enough to know when they’re going on,” senior Joe Welch said. “I’m just not that interested.”

Reeves has plans for the future of the Brown Bag Lunch Program. Next year, the museum will be experimenting with different times for programming. They may offer coffee and tea in a sort of “Night at the Museum” atmosphere.

“We really want to get more USD students to come to the programs,” said Reeves. “I’d like to remind students that these programs are for them.”