The Grammy Museum grand opening on Dec. 3-7, 2008, marks another destination at L.A. Live and adds to the Grammy Awards’ 50th Celebration, while introducing the ideals of the museum's goal to exhibit works and artifacts that define American music beyond the pop culture charts.
The inaugural exhibition, “Songs of Conscience, Sounds of Freedom,” will look at 200-year history of music meeting politics in America through artifacts and 70 rare photographs from government archives, offering a look at how music defines political culture in America.
When you consider the process of political songwriting and its relationship to political ideology, you may think it's limited to public protest and calls for social change. That will be represented thanks to instruments belonging to Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, and Bob Dylan, along with an 1848 edition abolitionist songbook, "The Anti-Slavery Harp."
Then you have the 1816 edition of "The Star Spangled Banner," John Philip Sousa's conducting baton and gloves, and J. Edgar Hoover's FBI summary of the MC5, showing that the Grammy museum curators are looking deep into the archives.
In what should be considered a neutral political statement, the iPod of a U.S. soldier serving a tour of duty in Iraq will be on display.
The Grammy Museum will be within L.A. LIVE at 800 West Olympic Boulevard. Museum admission will be $14.95 for adults; $11.95 for senior citizens (65+); $10.95 for students with I.D. (ages 6–22); $10.95 for members of the military; members and children 5 and under are admitted free.
For more information about The Grammy Museum, call (213) 765-6800 or visit http://www.grammymuseum.org.
