What do Sage Chapel’s massive pipeorgan, a fortepiano from 1799, and a 1960s-era synthesizer have in common? In addition to their ability to produce music, they share the same interface: a keyboard.
These, and more than two dozen other keyboard-based instruments, form a selective-but-notable collection: the Cornell Center for Historical Keyboards, one of the world’s most significant resources of performance-ready historical pianos, harpsichords, clavichords, and organs.
The center’s collection includes both original instruments and historically accurate replicas that run the gamut of keyboard history. Among its core holdings are fortepianos that emeritus professor Malcolm Bilson, a giant in the field of the period instruments, gifted to the University from his own collection.
It also houses some much more contemporary items: it recently acquiredfour synthesizers, including two original instruments designed by Robert Moog, PhD ’65, a pioneer in electronic music.
Founded in 2019, the center has a physical home on the ground floor of 726 University Avenue.
Takumi Matsuzawa/Provided
Membraneless organelles known as “condensates” form and disappear every day to help organize the biochemistry in our cells. This image captures in vitro condensates dissolving after a specific chemical is injected from the right. The color represents the concentration of the protein that makes up the condensates.
