An Estonian immigrant named Alfred Aasma made this kannel, a form of zither, before he emigrated to Canada in the 1920s. More than forty years later, he donated it to the Museum. The kannel has 48 metal strings.

This Hardanger fiddle is a Norwegian folk violin. Built in 1928 by a Norwegian immigrant, Anders Odegaarden of Norway Valley, Alberta, the fiddle is made of spruce and maple. The fingerboard is inlaid with mother-of- pearl and ivory. A dragon's head decorates the scroll.

A shofar is an ancient Jewish liturgical instrument. A natural trumpet, it is usually made from a ram's horn. This shofar was a family treasure, brought to Canada ca.1900 by Vladislaw Schwartz, a Jewish immigrant from Minsk, Russia. Many Jews left Russia around this time, to escape pogroms.