The MacPhail Center for Music Enriches the Community
by Cherie YurcoIt’s difficult to find someone in Minneapolis, Minnesota, or the Twin Cities area who has not been touched in some way by the MacPhail Center for Music and few organizations have had a longer and more positive influence on their community. The center boasts a 102-year history and a student body of more than 8,200, aged from six weeks to senior citizens.
William S. MacPhail, an original member of the Minneapolis Symphony, first established the MacPhail School of Violin
in 1907. Initial offerings included music history and harmony classes, but because of its popularity, classes quickly expanded and it was moved to a four-story facility and renamed the MacPhail School of Music and Dramatic Art.
Soon, the school began offering college degrees and its faculty grew to more than 100, serving a student body of 3,000. When William S. MacPhail died in 1966, his family gifted the college to the University of Minnesota, where it became the MacPhail Center for the Performing Arts. During its tenure with the university, the school established revolutionary programs for young children, including the nation’s first Suzuki program.
Eventually, the University of Minnesota decided to dissolve its relationships with programs that did not primarily serve
college students, so MacPhail became an independent, nonprofit organization in 1994. Today MacPhail Center for Music
remains a leader in music education with a faculty of teaching artists more than 170 strong, in more than 50 separate teaching locations, in addition to its main downtown Minneapolis facility. Instruction is offered on 35 different instruments and in styles from jazz to classical to world music.
In an effort to bring music to the entire Twin Cities and Greater Minneapolis community, MacPhail offers day and evening adult programs and brings music education to community partners, from day care centers and schools to retirement facilities. Other programs aimed at enriching the community through music include small recitals, master classes, ticketed performances, music therapy, summer camps for adults and children, and jazz education.
Since 2004, adult programs have increased by 20% and welcomed visitors from around the country to master classes
and camps. “No matter the age or artistic background, we all have music in us,” says Paul Babcock, MacPhail Center for Music president and chief operating officer. “As an adult it is never too late to start learning music or come back to something you began as a child. The rewards are far greater than simply learning how to play. It stimulates new ways of thinking and approaching the world around us. It reconnects us socially. And it can be one of the most rewarding and energizing ways to take us away from the many demands of everyday life, inspiring a whole new energy and spirit.”
If you are visiting the Twin Cities area, you can phone the center (612-321-0100) to arrange a tour of its new state-of-the-art facility, which opened January 2008. The new building includes studio spaces, a music media lab, and the stunning Antonello Hall (pictured above), known for its outstanding acoustics.
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