What do Claude Debussy, Abraham Lincoln, and Oscar Wilde have in common? They are engaging visitors at museums and cultural sites across New England—and you might be surprised to know that these iconic historic figures are doing it right on mission.

Museum spaces and cultural sites have long been utilized as concert venues. But all too often the scales have been tipped to showcase the performance, leaving the museum to play the role as host or—pardon the pun—second fiddle. But times are changing. In this post-pandemic world, where a paradigm shift in museum interpretation has raised the bar with regard to thought, theory, and practice, audiences expect more; indeed, they deserve more. With some thoughtful insight, a touch of creativity, and a little bit of museum magic, a more balanced model of performing arts-museum collaboration is emerging that puts mission and vision right at the very heart of the equation.

When Viennese fortepianist Daniel Adam Maltz performed in Boston last May, he could have played his program of Haydn and Mozart sonatas in any concert venue. But placing him at the c. 1754 King’s Chapel created the “perfect trifecta” of audience engagement: 18th century music performed in an 18th century venue on a 18th century piano that the composers themselves would have known. Yes, Maltz was the headliner, but hearing chamber music the way Mozart would have heard it (and intended it to be heard) created an up-close-and-personal experience that brought King’s Chapel to life. Suddenly, the architecture and history of the site itself became featured players. The names of Tory ministers from centuries past with their names emblazoned on wall plaques, Boston’s colonial elite memorialized by name on their individual pews, the enslaved and free Black congregants who were relegated to the upper gallery, and even the departed souls lying in the crypt beneath, were all listening in. You just can’t get that kind of immersive and transformative experience in a symphonic hall. 

Across the Charles River in Cambridge, the Harvard Art Museums’ mission aspires, in part, to “encourage close study of original works of art.” This created a unique and challenging opportunity to achieve this institutional objective through the lens of music. From an entertainment perspective, it would have been simple enough to place a violinist, cellist, and pianist in the Museum’s light-filled Calderwood courtyard. But inspiring the musicians to pair three works of art from Harvard’s permanent collection to the three pieces of music in their program creates an elevated and integrated experience for visitors. As the strains of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel resound through the galleries of Renzo Piano’s architectural masterpiece, the tenets of Impressionism leap off the canvases in the galleries adding an aesthetic and emotional dimension to the visitor experience. Monet, Renoir, and Gauguin were Debussy and Ravel’s contemporaries, after all, so the union of this art from Harvard’s collection with the aesthetic style of musical impressionism creates a mission-centric synergy that, in this particular case, is only possible at the Harvard Art Museums. Visitors not only see impressionistic strokes of the artists’ paint brushes, but hear the impressionistic strokes of the composers’ pens, sparking curiosity and adding an incentive to view these paintings up close. Right on mission.

The performing arts come in many guises, and theater, not least among them, has been an integral part of the genre for millennia. When North Shore-based Theater in the Open, an ensemble dedicated to creating, sharing and supporting theater, was mounting a production of Oscar Wilde’s Lady Windemere’s Fan, it was almost too easy to recognize that this play needed to be performed in a setting commensurate with Wilde’s Victorian sensibilities. Enter the Forbes House Museum in Milton, Massachusetts, and the Robert Treat Paine Estate in Waltham, Massachusetts, two sites with built environments and missions rooted in 19th century histories. Wilde lectured all around New England in the fall of 1882, so presenting the play at these two historic house museums provided accurate—if not authentic—staging, enabling audiences to experience the production in a setting contemporaneous with Wilde himself (not to mention Robert Treat Paine and Robert Bennet Forbes). When the curtain was raised, actors and audience were engaged by Wilde’s brilliant and witty Victorian dialogue which shared (not usurped!) the stage with two of New England’s iconic historic sites. A Victorian play performed in Victorian-style costumes in a Victorian setting. Trifecta!

At the West End Museum, the magic of film and the power of music have been interwoven into a unique theatrical experience that supports the Museum’s mission to interpret the history and culture of Boston’s West End, which fell victim to two decades of mid-20th century urban renewal that led to the clearing of more than half the neighborhood. The two short films, a 1915 Edison silent and a 1937 conspiracy docudrama, which showcase Abraham Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth, are accompanied by the live performance of musical scores courtesy of members of the New England Film Orchestra. Booth has an ominous and mostly unknown history in Boston, having resided at the Parker House just days before the fateful assassination of Lincoln; he was purportedly seen quite frequently in the city’s West End neighborhood. Mission-focused programming such as this heightens the visitor experience while appealing to an audience inclusive and beyond of the Museum’s traditional constituency. The interests of history buffs, music lovers, film connoisseurs, and Civil War enthusiasts are conflated in a program that, like those at King’s Chapel, Harvard Art Museums, Forbes House Museum, and the Robert Treat Paine Estate, is perfectly on point—and mission—for the West End Museum.

The importance of activating cultural sites using the performing arts to create meaningful and mission-driven engagement opportunities transcends far beyond mere entertainment. It places the museum and its mission at the epicenter of the visitor experience. Every site is unique and deserves a similarly unique approach to its model for public engagement. As historians and museum professionals of the 21st century, it is our duty—and “mission”—to strive to invigorate our most treasured historic and cultural spaces to the greatest extent possible and, in doing so, consider the possibility and potential of using every tool in the toolbox; not least among them the glory of music, the transcendency of art, and the grace of the spoken word.