Skagit Early Keyboard Museum

An Introduction to the Skagit Early Keyboard Museum
By Angeline Case-Stott, WEKA Board of Directors and Professor Emeritus of Piano and Harpsichord, Scheidt School of Music, University of Memphis

My husband John and I recently visited the Skagit Early Keyboard Museum (SEKM) in La Conner, Washington. John took photos while I played many of the early pianos and other instruments. The owners/curators are George Bozarth (Professor Emeritus of Music History, University of Washington) and Tamara Friedman, a professional pianist.

Professor Bozarth provided pertinent, historical commentary, and Ms. Friedman beautifully demonstrated the keyboards with literature appropriate to each instrument and era. I was particularly taken with the late Haydn selections she played on the 1820 Broadwood square piano. In fact, although Haydn sounds wonderful on the harpsichord and modern piano, I have never heard this music sound as genre realistic on any type of keyboard as it did on that early square piano.

The museum houses original pianos by Broadwood, Clementi, Kirkman, Chickering, Erard, and Ehrbar. Also displayed are replica fortepianos by the following builders:

– Christopher Clarke (of an 1814 Johann Fritz fortepiano)
– Rodney Regier (of a 1795 Anton Walter with a knee pedal, and a cross between an 1830 Conrad Graf and an Ignaz Bösendorfer)
– Thomas and Barbara Wolf (of an 1820 Nannette Streicher)

There are also clavichords, a virginal, and a Steven Sørli Lautenwerck (another favorite of mine). I love the sound of the plucked gut strings. This instrument has a bridge with strings behind the keyboard but visible in front of the case.

Complete List of the Thirty Instruments Held

This collection was previously housed at the Seattle Early Keyboard Museum. The current location is easy to find and in several rooms in a large house overlooking the scenic Skagit Bay. Fifty chairs are set up for future recitals and workshops.

Two videos of performances at the museum held in 2022 are available on the WEKA YouTube Channel:

John and I feel so fortunate to have had an interactive afternoon with these early keyboard instruments, Tamara, and George. The Skagit Early Keyboard Museum is an educational treasure for the performing arts in the Pacific Northwest.

Instruments from the collection can be heard in concert on the Anacortes Early Music Series and the Musique du Jour Presents series in Seattle. Visitors wishing to see the collection by appointment should write to gcbozarth@gmail.com.

Broadwood grand piano

Broadwood.grand