Colonial Music Institute

The Colonial Music Institute (CMI) conducts and promotes research and educational outreach in the fields of early American music and dance.

The CMI is grounded in primary research enlightened by interdisciplinary scholarship, disseminated through scholarly writing, authentic performances, and sound recordings. David Hildebrand, Ginger Hildebrand, the late Kate Van Winkle Keller, and Robert M. Keller founded the CMI in 1999. In 2020, the research resources, publications, and additional educational materials were generously donated to the Washington Library at George Washington’s Mount Vernon.

Learn More About the Founders

Databases

Based on decades of research, the Colonial Music Institute's research facilitated the creation of a number of research databases on Early American music and dance.

Explore the Databases