In addition to our permanent exhibitions of instruments, artefacts and archives, you can see these displays:

Orchestral Magicians
Ground floor gallery
From autumn 2009 to autumn 2010, this temporary exhibition draws on the Academy's own collections to showcase the technical wizardry of four of the greatest orchestral composers: Weber, Mendelssohn, Wagner and Richard Strauss. It explores the connections between composers, conductors and entrepreneurs that unleashed a new kind of theatre of the imagination for audiences of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

'The Posterman' by John Orlando Parry
A detailed painting by the musician and artist, on loan from the Alfred Dunhill Collection, giving a snapshot of music in London in 1835. A book exploring this painting is now available from the Academy Chimes and other stockists. Please follow this link for more information.

Long-term exhibitions:

On the ground floor of the museum, the 'Treasures of the Academy', exhibition includes scores, manuscripts and artefacts from our collections relating to some of the most significant figures associated with the Academy's history, including Paganini, Jenny Lind, John Barbirolli and Robert Spencer.

On the first floor, the stringed instruments from the Academy's working collection narrate the lineage of 'Revolutionary Violinism'. This exhibition includes the craftsmanship of Cremonese makers usually including the 'Viotti ex-Bruce', which was famously saved for the nation in 2005.

On the second floor, the 'Experimental Pianism' exhibition displays pianos from the early 19th century depicting the design ideals and dreams of keyboard-makers during the industrial revolution, resulting in the modern piano we know today.

Follow this link to view Academy's keyboard instruments on long-term loan to the Cobbe Collection, Hatchlands

Images on this page (fom left to right):
- Strings Gallery 

- A fragment of 'The Posterman' by John Orlando Parry.