The Stearns Collection is a collection of musical instruments from around the world. The University of Michigan owns more than 2500 instruments; about 200 are on display at any time. The collection is located in the Moore Music Building on North Campus.

In 1899, Frederick Stearns (1831-1907), a Detroit businessman who collected and studied many things to satisfy his own intellectual interests, donated a collection of 940 musical instruments to the University of Michigan. The collection was housed at Hill Auditorium until the 1970s, when it moved to North Campus.

More information

• http://annarbor.com/news/silenced-25m-musical-collection-languishes-in-university-of-michigan-vault/
• University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, and Dance: Stearns Collection
• http://www.ur.umich.edu/0304/Apr19_04/16.shtml

The exhibit cases in Hill's lower-level Kennedy Lobby feature rotating displays of Stearns Collection objects. Ann Arbor designer Ted Lottman constructed colorful displays encompassing three different aspects of the 2,500 instruments in the Stearns Collection.