WASHINGTON, DC.- The Smithsonian announced at its Board of Regents’ annual public forum that 2019 will be the Smithsonian Year of Music. The announcement featured musical performances, and an interview between David Rubenstein, the chair of the Board of Regents, and singer Dionne Warwick. The Institution-wide initiative will celebrate the Smithsonian’s vast musical collections, with music-related events every day of the year, including performances, exhibitions, lectures, educational programs and workshops.

When combined, the Smithsonian’s musical holdings, activities and events make it the largest music museum in the world. In addition to the hundreds of thousands of musical artifacts in its collections, the Smithsonian has the Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, the Chamber Music Society and runs a record label, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. The Year of Music will spotlight and share with the public those vast musical resources, including:

• 16,000 musical instruments, spanning many cultures from ancient to modern times

• 1,000 portraits of American musicians at the National Portrait Gallery

• 100,000 pages of unpublished music by Duke Ellington at the National Museum of American History

• 60,000 tracks of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

“Music lives and breathes at the Smithsonian,” said David Skorton, Secretary of the Smithsonian. “By highlighting our Institution-wide musical resources and people and by holding a daily musical event throughout the year, we will showcase music’s power to inspire, move and unite people across the world.”