Santa Maria Valley Discovery Museum Acquires New Musical Instruments Thanks To Donor

The Santa Maria Valley Discovery Museum recently added two new outdoor musical instruments to its musical library for guests of all ages to enjoy. Thanks to an anonymous donation, a pair of Conga Drums and a set of Soprano Pentatonic Freechimes take pride of place in the museum’s front entrance.

Now the Discovery Museum, which is used to seeing developing scientists and engineers, will now be encouraging musicians in the making!

The Santa Maria Valley Discovery Museum recently added two new instruments to its musical library for guests of all ages to enjoy. Thanks to an anonymous donation, a pair of Conga Drums and a set of Soprano Pentatonic Freechimes now stand in pride of place in the museum’s front entrance.

“We’re so excited to offer more hands-on opportunities for children to play and learn about music,” Museum Executive Director Nancy Gastelum said in a press release. “Music supports children’s all-around development and helps shape their skills in concentration, memory, and listening. In a free-play environment, where there are no wrong notes, the experience can lead to a lifelong love of music and music making.”

We asked Nancy how the museum found Percussion Play and why they chose outdoor musical instruments for their new exhibit. She told us,

"My exhibits director found your site through an Internet search and after evaluating what you had and what similar companies had to offer, she thought that your quality and price would work within our environment and our budget. We were given $3,000 from a private donor who specifically wanted to see a musical instrument exhibit in our museum, and I had been wanting some outdoor chimes after seeing them in a downtown, outdoor shopping area in Fort Collins, CO. The children playing the chimes were very engaged and as I sat and watched people come and go, I noticed people of all ages were enjoying them. We have a very small outdoor area near the front entrance of our museum, and I thought that both the drums and the chimes would lend themselves well to the space and offer children and their families an opportunity to explore music in a fun and simple way.

We were very excited to receive the instruments and our donor is thrilled that we chose the chimes and the conga drums. The children are loving them and we are very happy with them!"

The Santa Maria Valley Discovery Museum is the only children’s museum in Northern Santa Barbara County. It's 13,000-square-feet space features hands-on exhibits, weekly programs and special events.