NEW YORK, NY.- On July 7, Ringo Starr’s 70th birthday, The Metropolitan Museum of Art will inaugurate a special display of his gold-plated snare drum that will remain on view to the public through December 2010 in the Museum’s second-floor Musical Instruments Galleries. On loan from Ringo Starr, it was originally presented to him by the Ludwig Drum Company during The Beatles’ 1964 visit to Chicago when the legendary rock group, in which Mr. Starr was the drummer, was on its first tour of the United States. “This special presentation drum—made for the most influential drummer of a generation and representing the highest-end production of the most important drum manufacturer of the 20th century—holds iconic stature,” stated Jayson Kerr Dobney, Associate Curator in the Metropolitan Museum’s Department of Musical Instruments. “We are so pleased