The Museo Claudio Arrau León (Claudio Arrau 564, tel. 042/433390, museoarrau [at] municipalidadchillan [dot] cl) is open 9 a.m.–2 p.m. and 3–7:30 p.m. weekdays except Monday, and 10 a.m.–2 p.m. weekends. Admission is free.

Opened in December 2005, Chillán’s newest museum is an interactive facility on the site of the classical pianist’s boyhood home (only two remodeled rooms, filled with Arrau’s personal effects, remain of the original house, which was severely damaged in the 1939 quake). A work in progress, with a 300-seat auditorium still under construction, the museum contains several exhibits detailing how musical instruments work.

Born in Chillán, Arrau (1903–1991) spent much of his adolescence and youth in Berlin before fleeing Nazi Germany (after using a diplomatic passport to help many Jews escape the Hitler regime) and settling in New York. He frequently toured Chile and other South American countries, however, and was buried in Chillán’s Cementerio General.