Music inspires creativity, evoking emotion and communicating, on a level that words cannot. Musical instruments are expressions of human design, engineering, and innovation driven by the desires of musical expression. Visitors to Making Music: The Science of Musical Instruments can explore how musical instruments are created and how they are played, investigating the relationship between key design variations, the sounds produced, and stories of the people who make and play musical instruments. 

The exhibits in this exhibition include sections on string instruments, percussion, air instruments, and electronic instruments. Each section includes stories of the people who make and play these instruments, as well as opportunities for visitors to experiment with the ideas and science behind the instruments themselves. Real examples of instruments from each family are on display, with video of musicians playing each.

In addition, a separate exhibit area allows visitors to play in a band together, where they can choose to play either a guitar, a drum set, or a keyboard, to experience how these instruments allow a group of musicians to create music together.

Throughout this new 2,500 square foot exhibition, visitors become a part of the process of both making instruments and playing them.  They discover that all instruments, from a simple flute to a synthesizer, are tools that use science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to make the music that affects us deeply.

Trick or Treat

Join us for a special Meet-the-Artists Reception at Northern Stage this First Friday from 5pm to 7pm. Come meet the artists currently exhibiting work throughout Northern Stage’s lobby and enjoy snacks and hot drinks.

The artists featured now through the end of our 2016-17 season are: Linda Roesch (watercolors and ink), Heidi Reynolds (photographs), John Kantack (paintings), and Brian Walsh (hand-inked prints). The themes of this exhibition - Ambition and Redemption - are tied into Northern Stage’s 2016-17 season, which features plays that explore these concept from a myriad of perspectives - from the redemption of Scrooge in A Christmas Carol to the ambition of a young drone pilot in Grounded. You will see these themes through the creative and distinct lenses of each of the four exhibiting artists; ideally the work on stage informs the work you see on the walls of Northern Stage’s lobby spaces, and vice versa. Proceeds from the sale of most works on display will benefit Northern Stage, and all checks may be made payable to Northern Stage.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Neil Simon’s charming comedy follows long-married Barney Cashman, a forty-seven-year-old seafood restaurant owner, as he tries to have one passionate tryst before opportunity passes him by. His attempts to become God’s gift to women offer a hilarious look at a fine fellow who just can’t seem to succeed in sinning.

Running time:  2 hours 15 minutes with one 15 minute intermission.
Advisory:  Ages 12 and up for subject matter.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Neil Simon’s charming comedy follows long-married Barney Cashman, a forty-seven-year-old seafood restaurant owner, as he tries to have one passionate tryst before opportunity passes him by. His attempts to become God’s gift to women offer a hilarious look at a fine fellow who just can’t seem to succeed in sinning.

Running time:  2 hours 15 minutes with one 15 minute intermission.
Advisory:  Ages 12 and up for subject matter.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Neil Simon’s charming comedy follows long-married Barney Cashman, a forty-seven-year-old seafood restaurant owner, as he tries to have one passionate tryst before opportunity passes him by. His attempts to become God’s gift to women offer a hilarious look at a fine fellow who just can’t seem to succeed in sinning.

Running time:  2 hours 15 minutes with one 15 minute intermission.
Advisory:  Ages 12 and up for subject matter.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Neil Simon’s charming comedy follows long-married Barney Cashman, a forty-seven-year-old seafood restaurant owner, as he tries to have one passionate tryst before opportunity passes him by. His attempts to become God’s gift to women offer a hilarious look at a fine fellow who just can’t seem to succeed in sinning.

Running time:  2 hours 15 minutes with one 15 minute intermission.
Advisory:  Ages 12 and up for subject matter.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Neil Simon’s charming comedy follows long-married Barney Cashman, a forty-seven-year-old seafood restaurant owner, as he tries to have one passionate tryst before opportunity passes him by. His attempts to become God’s gift to women offer a hilarious look at a fine fellow who just can’t seem to succeed in sinning.

Running time:  2 hours 15 minutes with one 15 minute intermission.
Advisory:  Ages 12 and up for subject matter.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Neil Simon’s charming comedy follows long-married Barney Cashman, a forty-seven-year-old seafood restaurant owner, as he tries to have one passionate tryst before opportunity passes him by. His attempts to become God’s gift to women offer a hilarious look at a fine fellow who just can’t seem to succeed in sinning.

Running time:  2 hours 15 minutes with one 15 minute intermission.
Advisory:  Ages 12 and up for subject matter.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Neil Simon’s charming comedy follows long-married Barney Cashman, a forty-seven-year-old seafood restaurant owner, as he tries to have one passionate tryst before opportunity passes him by. His attempts to become God’s gift to women offer a hilarious look at a fine fellow who just can’t seem to succeed in sinning.

Running time:  2 hours 15 minutes with one 15 minute intermission.
Advisory:  Ages 12 and up for subject matter.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Neil Simon’s charming comedy follows long-married Barney Cashman, a forty-seven-year-old seafood restaurant owner, as he tries to have one passionate tryst before opportunity passes him by. His attempts to become God’s gift to women offer a hilarious look at a fine fellow who just can’t seem to succeed in sinning.

Running time:  2 hours 15 minutes with one 15 minute intermission.
Advisory:  Ages 12 and up for subject matter.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Neil Simon’s charming comedy follows long-married Barney Cashman, a forty-seven-year-old seafood restaurant owner, as he tries to have one passionate tryst before opportunity passes him by. His attempts to become God’s gift to women offer a hilarious look at a fine fellow who just can’t seem to succeed in sinning.

Running time:  2 hours 15 minutes with one 15 minute intermission.
Advisory:  Ages 12 and up for subject matter.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Neil Simon’s charming comedy follows long-married Barney Cashman, a forty-seven-year-old seafood restaurant owner, as he tries to have one passionate tryst before opportunity passes him by. His attempts to become God’s gift to women offer a hilarious look at a fine fellow who just can’t seem to succeed in sinning.

Running time:  2 hours 15 minutes with one 15 minute intermission.
Advisory:  Ages 12 and up for subject matter.