The Music of
The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum

A full symphonic score – a seventy piece orchestra backed by an eighty voice choir – for a history museum?

“Why not?” answered Bob Rogers, Executive Producer for BRC Imagination Arts. “History is too important to be left in the past. If history is important, why shouldn’t it be energized by world class storytelling and the best techniques and technology of Hollywood and Broadway, all guided by world class scholarship?”

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum marks a radical reinvention of history museums. It has been called an “ Experience Museum.” Created, designed and produced by BRC Imagination Arts, visitors to this museum are fully immersed in the life and times of Abraham Lincoln. Utilizing BRC’s signature “Showmanship meets Scholarship” approach with state-of-the-art technology, the ALPM presents an America Abraham Lincoln would have recognized – environmentally, socially, politically, architecturally and musically.

Guests discover two amazing special effects theaters, “Lincoln’s Eyes” and “Ghosts of the Library,” backed by an equally dazzling full symphonic score based on music from Lincoln’s era. Guests also experience The Journey – an innovative walk through the life of Abraham Lincoln from the log cabin to the White House and destiny.

“We don’t just teach the history,” says Rogers. “We put you in it!”

Music is the key to the heart of an audience, and BRC knew it would also be the key to the telling of the story of Lincoln. Like the rails that keep a train going along the intended path, music is the emotional guide track - it provides an emotional sense of connectedness.

And so BRC commissioned the film composer David Kneupper to write a symphonic score for the entire visitor experience. A full symphonic score might be expected in a feature film, but not for a museum gallery – especially not with the technical sophistication applied to this museum. This was a daring and unusual approach.

“For many people, these melodies had become clichés, trivialized by over use in Bugs Bunny cartoons,” said Rogers. Kneupper took a contemporary, dramatic approach; re-energizing these American classics with heart and spirit, restoring these early American chestnuts to their rightful and honorable place in American music history.

The Music of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum aurally conveys the unique and inspiring story of one of the greatest figures in the history of the United States. It is history made manifest in sound and enhances the Museum experience as no other art form can.

BRC Imagination Arts is proud to have released the CD, The Music of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum, which also includes The Civil War Suite.