The Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art
presents
The Dailey Collection of Himalayan Organology
The Largest Display of Himalayan Musical Instruments in the United States
New York, NY – The Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art is currently exhibiting the The Dailey Collection of Himalyan Organology. The collection will be on display through December 2024.
Dr. Jeff S. Dailey has been studying and collecting musical instruments of the Himalayas for over 40 years, beginning as an undergaduate at Wagner College and continuing during his graduate studies at New York University. To further understand Tibetan culture, he learned throat singing, and also studied Classical Tibetan at the Tibetan Language Institute for several years.
He has amased one of the largest collections in the West of musical instruments from Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, and surrounding areas in the West. Part of his collection will be exhibited at the museum.
This is the largest display of Himalayan musical instuments in this country. The collection is known as the Dailey Collection of Himalayan Organology ( DaCHO). Organology is the official term for the study of musical instruments.
The traditional musical instruments of the Himalayas fall into two categories–ritual instruments used in religious ceremonies and folk instruments.
Among the former are horns and drums used in Buddhist rituals, and among the later are guitar – like instruments played either as solo instruments or to accompany singing. Included with the instruments used in Buddhist rituals are those made out of human bone. From a Buddhist perspective, this creates a blessing for the person whose bones are used. The rarest instruments are those made out of deer antlers. There is one on display at the museum–it is the only one on display in the United States.
Dr. Dailey is the Artistic Director of Collectio Musicorum, an ensemble dedicated to the performance of the best music from the earliest of times. His most recent concert of music from English court masques was given in April at the Jacques Marchais Museum.
He is currently working on the Panizza Project–a joint project with the municipality of Castellazzo Bormida in Italy to make the music of the forgotten composer Giacomo Panizza (1803-1860) available online. Dr. Dailey gave a talk on Panizza in June 2023 in Dublin at the conference of the Society for Musicology in Ireland, and prior to that, spoke about the composer at a conference in Castellazo Bormida.
He has given lectures at the museum about Himalayan instruments and his collection, and will give another one in the fall as part of the Tibetan Twilight Festival in September. His collection will remain on display at the museum until the end of December, when the museum closes for its winter break. Dr. Dailey is working on a comprehensive study of Himalayan organology, which will consist of both print and online resources.
Banner Image: Tibetan art. Image Credit – Tibetan Museum
About The Author
The Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art’s mission is to present the art, culture and history of Tibet to a world audience in order to educate about and inspire appreciation of Himalayan cultures and to foster better global understanding. The founder, Jacques Marchais (1887-1948) intended the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art, established in 1945, to serve as a bridge between Tibetan art and culture and the world.
The Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art preserves its unique collection of rare and sacred artifacts and provides careful stewardship of its historic buildings and gardens. In addition to presenting Jacques Marchais’ history, it is the intention of the museum to give visitors an understanding of Tibet and the Himalayan region. This “Jewel on a Hillside” replicates the monasteries of Tibet while it contains the unique artifacts that reflect the art, history, culture, and religious articles that have been destroyed in their homeland. This singular place in the USA preserves site and artifacts in memory of the founder and as a collection held in a contextual setting.
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