In 1907, William S. MacPhail, an original member of the Minneapolis Symphony (now the
Minnesota Orchestra), established the
MacPhail School of Violin in Minneapolis. The school expanded its offerings and became the
MacPhail School of Music and Dramatic Art. In need of more space, the school moved into 1128 LaSalle, a four-story building in downtown Minneapolis that, in order to meet the needs of a skeptical investor, could be easily converted into a retail/office space should the school fail. The building allowed the school to expand and offer conservatory education with college degrees, and after
World War II, the
GI Bill helped the school increase enrollment and offerings even further. By the time of its founder's death in 1962, the school had a faculty of more than 100 and a student body of more than 3,000. In 1966, the MacPhail family gave the
MacPhail College of Music to the
University of Minnesota, which changed the name to the
MacPhail Center for the Performing Arts. The school became part of the university's
extension program and the emphasis shifted from conservatory instruction to community education. During its time with the university, the school began trying new methods of teaching young children, and in the late 1960s introduced one of the first
Suzuki method programs in the nation. In 1987, the University of Minnesota announced it would dissolve relationships with institutions that did not primarily serve college students, and in 1994 the MacPhail Center for the Performing Arts again became a private, nonprofit school. In 2003, the organization changed its name to the
MacPhail Center for Music. The new facility on the Minneapolis riverfront was designed by James Dayton, who studied and worked with
Gehry Partners. ==MacPhail today==