Celebrate the closing of the WCHOF’s exhibition, Sound Moves: Where Music Meets Chess, with a unique performance using a custom-made chessboard piano at Saint Louis University’s Sinquefield State Room on January 18, 2024, accompanied by musicians from the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Darwin Aquino.

The instrument, created by Dutch visual artist Guido van der Werve, is a full-sized, playable chessboard with each square controlling a different note, translating the playthrough of a chess match composed by Russian Grandmaster Leonid Yudasin into a mesmerizing musical composition with every move. Saint Louis-based multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and composer Adam Maness will perform Number Twelve Chess Piano Concert in Three Movements with van der Werve on the chessboard. Before the performance, guests will enjoy an artist talk led by Saint Louis University professor and co-curator of Sound Moves, Dr. Bradley Bailey.