Saturday morning, horns will blare, drums roll, ribbons flutter and MacPhail Center for Music will officially open its snazzy new building near the Guthrie Theater and the Mississippi River.
Kelly Rossum is jazzed. "I was commissioned to write a piece for the ribbon-cutting ceremony," said the trumpeter, who coordinates MacPhail's jazz program and is orchestrating the 10 a.m. event. "It's a classical piece for brass and percussion, so we'll have 16 instruments on the main floor and five antiphonal brass on the third floor filling the place with music. It's called 'Welcome Home,' a fitting title because we'll be there for a long time."
Indeed, MacPhail is launching its second century in fine style.
Its $25 million new home, designed by Minneapolis architect James Dayton, is a steel-clad, state-of-the-art facility that's wired for recording throughout, with an elegant 225-seat wood-paneled concert hall; 56 practice rooms specially tuned for the acoustic needs of instruments ranging from piccolos to snare drums; rooms for master classes by everyone from touring opera singers to fiddlers; studios for voice and instrument lessons, preschool programs and music therapy.
"The building is exciting, but it's driven by a deeper understanding of what music does for individuals, communities and the world we're living in," said MacPhail's president, David O'Fallon.
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More from this series:
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360° photo:
MacPhail Center for Music - Antonello Hall
Sound technicians set up the sound system in Antonello Hall in preparation for the MacPhail Center for Music grand opening this weekend. -
360° photo:
MacPhail Center's U.S. Bank Lobby
Piano technician TomTextor tuned a red grand piano in the U.S. Bank Lobby of the MacPhail Center for Music in downtown Minneapolis. -
Video:
Moving day
Manny Schwartz and his piano moving crew began to transport over 100 pianos from the old MacPhail Center For Music building to the new location in Minneapolis' historic Mill District. -
Audio slide show:
Building the new MacPhail
While it was under construction in October, David O'Fallon, president of MacPhail Center for Music, led visitors on a tour of the $25 million building on the corner of 5th Av. and 2nd St. S.