https://www.anarchestra.org
https://www.instagram.com/_anarchestra_
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClWNAsQ-4QzI_FB0d5YXtZQ
What Is This?
For the past several hundred years, a sharp line has existed between people who make music and people who consume it. This split isn’t just about performers and listeners - it is also about whose voices matter in creating music and culture. In 2000, musician Andy Thurlow decided to try to help close that gap, and started the project that would become his life’s work - the Anarchestra.
Consisting of over two hundred unique, handbuilt instruments, the Anarchestra challenges conceptions of what instruments can be, and who can play them. Their uniqueness provides a level playing field where everyone is a beginner, which means everyone can participate. The Anarchestra is not just the instruments - it’s the people who play them, and everyone's invited. Since 2000, Anarchestra has travelled across the country, been played by thousands of people, and done everything from teaching acoustics to scoring major films.
What Are You Building?
In 2018, Andy Thurlow survived a stroke which left him unable to actively manage the Anarchestra anymore. As a result, a group of his friends and collaborators have created a non-profit, The Anarchestra Foundation, to maintain the Anarchestra and continue its mission in perpetuity: expanding musical participation, experimentation, and access for musicians and non-musicians alike.
We’re currently hosting the instruments at two venues in Greenfield, MA: 10 Forward and Looky Here. When our time with them ends, we want to open a permanent space to host the instruments: the Anarchestra Museum. The museum will be a place not just for the instruments, but for the music and arts community as a whole. The Anarchestra Museum will host both the instrument collection as well as works by other artists. It will also provide space and programming that help people explore music, art, science, and philosophy more generally, including workshops, events, and educational resources on instrument making and music.
Where Will The Money Go?
This fundraiser is to help us fund the first year of the Museum. All proceeds will go towards rent, utilities, and instrument maintenance first. Anything over that amount will be used to pay additional staff (outside of our core group of volunteers) so that we can have more programs, more often.
Based on our early surveys of locations, we expect to spend around $2,000 a month to cover these operating expenses, which will set our fixed costs at approximately $25,000 for the first year of operation.
The primary space we're currently considering is
Atlantic Mills, a restored mill in Olneyville, Rhode Island. Check out the
link to their site for pictures of the space.
If you’re able to, please help us expand musical participation, experimentation, and empowerment by breathing new life into this unique collection of instruments!