Musical Instrument Museum nears completion.(FOREFRONT)

CONSTRUCTION ON THE Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona, is moving ahead on schedule, with a grand opening set for the spring of 2010. Funded at a cost of close to $200 million, the 195,000-square-foot museum will house a collection of some 10,000 instruments from 20 countries. In addition, the building will contain permanent and special exhibit galleries, a 299-seat music theater, a recording studio, conservation lab, restaurant, family center, and gift shop.

President and Director Billie (Bill) DeWalt says, '%hrough our international collection of unique and historical instruments, MIM will celebrate the contributions that each and every country has made to the world's musical heritage." Major funding for the museum is being provided by MIM founder Robert Ulrich, former chairman and CEO of Target Corporation, who serves as MIM's board chairman. Additional corporate partners to date include Target Corporation, Fender Musical Instruments, C.F. Martin & Co., Conn-Selmer, Sony, NAMM, and Steinway & Sons. MIM has also established partnerships with the Egyptian Center for Culture and Art, New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Musee de la musique in Paris, Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, the National Music Museum, Oberlin Conservatory of music, the Royal Museum of Central Africa, and the Smithsonian Institution.

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