College of Micronesia-FSM
News & Information

Traditional Micronesian
Musical Instruments

This photo of this Chuukese musician with his traditional nose flute will be among those to be displayed during the exhibit. .

National Campus to host presentation on traditional musical instruments

National Campus music instructor and Pacific Collection staff at the National Campus Library will be hosting a special photo exhibit and presentation entitled, “The Sounds of Micronesia: A Photo Exhibit of Traditional Sound-Producing Instruments of Micronesia.”

This Pacific Collection exhibit, featuring rare photos and drawings of indigenous Micronesian musical instruments, is scheduled to begin on Friday, April 11 and will continue into the summer semester.

Brian Diettrich, the music instructor will give a special opening presentation in the Pacific Collection to discuss the instruments and play various historical recordings on Friday April 11 at 10 am, and again on Wednesday April 16, at 2:30 pm.

The Friday presentation is open for the general community, and due to space limitations in the Pacific Collection, the presentation will be repeated on Wednesday for the college community.

Everybody is welcome to stop by the Pacific Collection section of the Learning Resources Center at the National Campus to view the exhibit. The photos and drawings include: wooden drums from Pohnpei and the Marshall Islands, percussion sticks, nose flutes from Chuuk and Pohnpei, mouth flutes from Yap and Palau, shell trumpets, mouth harps, leaf instruments, and the musical bow.