The Greenleaf Collection

Donated to Interlochen on the last day of the 1960s, the Leland B. Greenleaf Musical Instrument Collection consists of almost 300 instruments, including one of the few surviving Conn-o-Saxes, which is a hybrid instrument between a saxophone and an English horn that was manufactured in the late 1920s, alongside other notable instruments. 

While the Collection itself is composed of instruments of all kinds, it is mainly made up of brass and woodwinds, including 33 saxophones, out of which 21 are playable in varying degrees, including 7 that were given minor repairs for playability. Moreover, there are 16 saxophones in the Greenleaf collection that are of rare/ultra-rare status. These saxophones are:

• Conn O-Sax prototype

• Loomis patent prototype

• 3-digit serial number Conns: 168, 197, 211, 227, 301, 337

• Buescher Straight Alto

• Boyer 8M C Melody

• 2 Adolphe Sax original instruments

• Bass Saxophone

• Sopranino Saxophone

• Buescher Top Hat & Cane Tenor Alto, Mint Condition

While the other saxes are more common, the importance of the collection is the congruency of their curation. As these instruments are “Museum Sets,” they can be displayed to show the evolution of designs over time (with matching instrument pairs of finishes and sizes). 

---Introduction provided by Jake Goldwasser (Greenleaf Curation Fellow, Summer 2023), compiled by Eileen Ganter (Photo Archivist), edited for website by Noah Ma (IAA '25)