subject: The Moog Foundation [print this page] Interested in a musical vacation? If you can hold off on your plans for a few years, you could be one of the first visitors to the Moogseum, Ashville, North Carolina's tribute to the memory of Bob Moog, inventor of the Moog synthesizer.
The Moogseum, which the Bob Moog Foundation hopes to open in the next five years, will be built in Ashville in western North Carolina. The Exploratorium will be a tribute to both Bob Moog and his contribution to electronic music.
Bob Moog is best known for inventing the Moog synthesizer. This synthesizer, invented in 1964, changed the sound of music all over the world in dozens of genres. The inventor died in Ashville, North Carolina in 2005, and the Bob Moog Foundation, responsible for the Moogseum plans, was created as a memorial to his legacy.
The Moogseum is expected to become a fabulous Exploratorium, fun for all ages. Thanks to community support and the Bob Moog Foundation, the plans for the Moogseum stress educational benefits for anyone who visits. The Bob Moog Foundation?s plans for the museum list a number of exciting exhibits for visitors to take advantage of.
The Sonic Exploratorium is to be devoted to experimentation with analog music creation. These instruments can be played by visitors, and can be listened to through headphones for solo performance or jam sessions. The Sonic Exploratorium will include a Theremin station, a Synthesizer station, interactive Moog Modular sound wall and a number of instruments.
For more hands-on fun, the Moogseum will have a Young Inventors Lab, that will be used by students interested in innovative means of making music. The Young Inventors Lab will organize programs all year round to keep Moogseum visitors interested in coming back for more.
In order to entertain adult visitors, the Moogseum has a restored Archive Gallery and Digital Archive, accessible to anyone interested in learning about the history of the Moogseum and its Archives. The Moog Archive Lab will also be viewable from the main museum space, and the Moogseum History Space is an excellent resource for those interested in a Bob Moog Timeline, the status of Moog Music today, and information about the Bob Moog Foundation.
The crowing jewel of the current Moogseum model is the Performance space. This 200 seat hall will be home to concerts, lectures and numerous other events, with a giant video dome projection and screen as well as a great sound system for the ultimate in listening pleasure.
The Moogseum is no inexpensive enterprise. The first drawings of the building have the costs at about three million dollars. Though the Bob Moog Foundation has received a $600,000 grant from the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority, they remain hundreds of thousands of dollars short of their goal. The grant will go into effect in 2012, when ground breaking is expected to begin the construction of the Moogseum.
The Bob Moog Foundation is scheduling events across the country to raise funds for the Moogseum. If you're in the area of any of their events, try to provide a small donation that could benefit generations of music lovers to come.
