MacPhail is the best! I took piano lessons there for years and it really upped my quality. Their teachers are the best, and they get results. read more

I am wrapping up a 4-week music class that MacPhail school does at the Health Partner clinics. Becca leads the one in Woodbury HP and does a fantastic job to incorporate music and motion every week. The typical format is first doing some songs with your kid followed by an instrument (rhythm sticks, double spoon instrument, tone block, egg shaker, cymbals) and ending with storytime using sounds. There are lesson plans shared at the end of class to continue your music and motion at home. To sign up, look out for sign-ups on Health Partner blog. read more

I was a student at MacPhail Center For the Arts for three years (2003-2005) where I took lessons from percussion instructor, Bob Adney. Once a week my parents would drive me to their old location on Lasalle Ave in Minneapolis for my lesson. I loved the atmosphere of the old building and the fact that you could hear music throughout the building - which I enjoyed. At the time, it felt like one more thing my parents made me do but years later I am extremely thankful that I had the opportunity to learn at such a great establishment and from a wonderful instructor. I feel very lucky to have been able to learn so much from Bob - ranging from marimba, snare, drum set, and timpani. With each instrument I felt that every lessons was one of great quality - learning technique, theory, etc. It is not just a come in, sit down, speed through, and leave type of lesson. Bob held me accountable for practicing and would always go in-depth on what I was learning. He is a wonderful and talented instructor. When you are younger it is easy to feel as if you're being "bossed around" but with Bob it was a genuine desire to share, teach, and help the student learn and improve. He is very knowledgeable, positive, dependable, patient, and has such a strong passion for playing AND teaching. My mother (also with Bob Adney) and younger brother (children's group class) took lessons here as well. I highly recommend MacPhail for anyone who is serious - anyone, any age. If you are looking for private lessons in percussion- Bob Adney is the man. read more

MacPhail is a top notch music establishment serving the greater twin cities community whose families commute each week to take lessons from the Center's esteemed teachers. Although the rates are more expensive than many private non-associated teachers, you can be assured that the teacher is professional and well developed in her instrument's field. Teachers vary to the extreme on teaching style and personality. Group classes and music enrichment (i.e. composing, etc) are also available beside private lessons. read more

MacPhail-I love you! Thanks for giving me my start in music!!!!!! I have very fond memories of this Music school:) read more

Our 4 year old loves his Musical Trolley class. The teacher is great and very patient with kids. It is a class that kids learn about and try instruments, sing songs, clap beats, learn music terms and concepts and do some hands on projects like art projects. They cover 1 to 2 instruments per class session and I think by the end of the Musical Trolley courses the cover everything played in a orchestra. I can now tell my son to talk with piano voice and he knows to talk soft. It also gives us 90 minutes to check out nearby places downtown for a quick bite to eat while he is in class. read more

MacPhail has successfully dismantled its formative vision and philosophy. As renown and qualified staff who are no longer there have said, MacPhail "cares more about endowments than they do integrity." It's continued nod to the founder family and University impetus is disingenuous at best. If I were a MacPhail, I would disassociate my good name. The current location has numerous shortcomings including acoustic in designated architectural spaces and quickly failed to live up to its technological and expansion promises/availability made during an extensive volunteer and financially laborious expansion campaign for the current location. Spineless presidents, head administration and too agreeable Board members have effectively let the once crowned Midwest regional jewel and community music education be driven into the ground. Once declaring proudly "music can change the world", MacPhail has driven away students of all levels as well as highly respected and loyal teachers with competency in developmental pedagogy and highly accredited music educators. It's two main branches - Suzuki and Independent Department, have been watered down senselessly and needlessly. Once the best Suzuki teaching facility in US and asset, its pedagogical components around nurture are now mostly academic repetitive exercises. It no longer draws the allegiance it had and could and by comparison. MacPhail has long had a good amount of disregard for its Suzuki Department and lack of real understanding/appreciation for an inspirational and proven pedagogy for children... The Suzuki division flourished for years in spite, but most of those admirable staff long gone due to needed and weakening administrative supports. The Independent Dept. loves to employ its majority with performance majors and *wow factor* over accreditation in education. There is a characteristic blank stare when Independent Dept. staff are asked- how do you teach what you teach and methodology used. Serious physical injury can result, as well as developmentally inappropriate teaching. It is likely if not certain, the Institution will not accept responsibility for injury, cost and set back. In fact, MacPhail is known to respond in backlash. For an institution to disassociate its financial donors, accomplished students, prospective students, potential staff and loyal alumni is incredulous and foolish. It is an intensive resource driven process to regain. Put MacPhail's deaf ear and mounting dysfunction behind. One wonders just how MacPhail pretends to succeed given its passive-aggressive culture and misappropriated corporate mindset. MacPhail is proven incapable of change. Look elsewhere. read more

I took lessons at MacPhail growing up and my kids started in early childhood at MacPhail and have been in the Suzuki program for years. One of my kids is starting in the Prelude Program soon. I am impressed with MacPhail from end to end. When we've had problems, we've had fast resolution. I wish the Suzuki program was a little more organized with it's schedule and events, but the teaching and programming is top notch. Beautiful performing spaces and great opportunities. MacPhail can be a great fit from the casual beginner to the advanced and focused teen. Been satisified for a LONG time. It is pricey but MacPhail is great with financial aid and scholarship opportunities read more

This place is AMAZING, I don't into Minneapolis very often these days, but when i do i always visit, the music the teachers the best there is. read more

The trouble with MacPhail is two-fold: 1) a lack of accountability; and 2) an across-the-board lack of appreciation by ALL MacPhail personnel (with few exceptions) for the enormous degree of trust that students place in their teachers. My experience as a former adult student is that, while certainly not all, some MacPhail faculty cannot or will not take personal responsibility, or otherwise hold themselves accountable to the students under their tutelage for the things they say during lessons, or for the content or the quality of the product (their lessons) that they deliver. Second, ALL MacPhail faculty and staff, from the Chief Operating Officer down to the front desk staff, need to better understand, appreciate and respect the trust that students place in their teachers. A betrayal of trust against a student by a teacher is emotionally devastating, and a surefire way to get a student to quit music is to tell him/her that he isn't any good, or that she can't perform. In the end, my trust in MacPhail turned out to be terribly misplaced. Space limitations prohibit me from providing a more detailed account of what happened in 2010, but the short version is that I was a MacPhail student for 14 years: from September 1996 through August 2010, during which I took both classes and private lessons in: voice, piano, guitar, ensembles, music-theater performance labs, and solfege (sight-reading). Over the years I worked with no less than 16 different faculty & staff accompanists. Voice was my primary instrument. I had the same voice teacher for four years, from 2006 through April 2010. My relationship with this teacher ended abruptly, after one bad lesson. My teacher made some extraordinarily negative comments to me, her student, during lesson, in reference to a solo recital that I had done on March 30th. Her words to me were: "I couldn't stand to watch you, you were so nervous. I thought you were going to lose it, but you didn't. I don't know how, but you kept it together, your voice was there for you. I would not have been able to sing through those phrases if I was that nervous. You sounded fine; I just could not stand to look at you." She then went on to say that it (being so nervous that your teacher can't to watch you?) was "no big deal." Those two comments contained a mixed message that I simply could not resolve. Never before had she been so harsh or negative. We did no singing or any other work at all the entire hour. I emailed her and told her how hurt I was by those comments. She first responded with an offer to have a face-to-face discussion, to clarify what she called a miscommunication. But then 24 hours later she completely reneged. Rather than take ownership with a simple apology, she canceled our remaining lessons and deferred me to the director of student services to make arrangements for a new teacher. She chose to dismiss her student: a) on a negative note; b) mid-semester; c) after one bad lesson (our first ever); d) after four years of work together; and e) after we just finished a solo recital, the whole purpose of which was to showcase and celebrate that work. I was devastated. It was to me a breach of trust on the deepest level, and a terrible way for any teacher to treat a student. It was a violation of the Code of Ethics as laid out by the National Association of Teachers of Singing. To their credit, MacPhail did assign me a new teacher, and a very good one at that; one in many ways much better for me than the former. But beyond that, they considered their obligation to the student met. They refused to account for what happened, or give any feedback as to where I failed as a student. I tried earnestly to end our student-teacher relationship on more peaceful & graceful terms, but unfortunately neither MacPhail nor the teacher would cooperate. It took MacPhail 4 months to issue a written apology. On July 30th 2010, I was called into a meeting with the Chief Operating Officer and the Director of Human Resources. At this meeting, I was handed a letter warning me to not to make any direct communication with my former teacher, and to not discuss what happened with other MacPhail personnel, or else "MacPhail may need to decide whether it is the appropriate place for you to continue your lessons". In other words, I would be kicked out. At the very bottom of the letter they apologized "that the situation occurred." After that meeting, I left MacPhail. At that meeting, I asked that they refund me the one hours' tuition for the April 15 lesson. The response I got was tentative, that they needed to check with their attorney. (The COO could not offer a "customer" a mere $80 refund without first having to consult his lawyer!) Then to my surprise, on August 15 2010, I received a check for $80, the cost of one hour-long lesson with a Level-2 instructor at MacPhail, along with a second and more sincere letter of apology. Much appreciated, albeit late. read more

I had a similar experience to macphail that mark did. I found that the teachers are not at all accountable for their teaching, much less what goes on behind those doors. In particular, I had a piano teacher there that belittled me and made demeaning statements. "You will never go to a conservatory" "You will never pass the piano proficiency exam" These statements have no place in the life of a young person. The lessons do not come cheap and the faculty should be more accountable for results than they are. read more

My son just finished a five-day ukelele camp and it was a truly wonderful experience. His teachers Sandy and Angel were excellent, planning each day to meet the needs and energy levels of young learners. He learned many skills, gained confidence, and continues to love music and now can legitimately make his own. We are only visiting for a few weeks, but wish we had a MacPhail where we live so that our kids could take similar classes all year long! read more

My experience at MacPhail was great. My teacher, Jeff Lambert, really individualized the lessons to match my musical interests and goals. The lessons I've taken other places were so structured and restrictive. At MacPhail I felt more like I had a great mentor giving me tips to be a better musician, which made me love playing even more. read more

I have been an adult student at MacPhail Center For Music in Minneapolis for three years. I have been an amateur musician my whole life and this is the best school I've ever experienced. My teacher is excellent and there are many opportunities for improvement by working one-on-one or in groups with other students as well as performance opportunities. The building, pianos, practice rooms, studios, and performance hall are all top notch. As an adult student my teacher expects me to push myself but my teacher also helps me set goals and hold myself accountable to achieving those goals and is very willing, engaged, and available to help me advance. There are many free recitals and concerts you can attend if you want to get an idea of the caliber of students studying here. read more

My opinion (and several of our neighbors) - This is an overpriced institution, don't go. At first we thought it was great to get in for lessons, but after observing things for several years, the negative reviews on this site and others are true. We had Julia Elkina for an instructor (terrible) and like the one review said, teachers simply are not accountable. She teaches at Century College and then moonlights at MacPhail. She came to lessons exhausted and tired. TEACHERS ARE NOT ACCOUNTABLE. So, Ms. Elkina crammed logistics, scheduling, etc... in our lesson leaving little time for true lesson instruction. We were so surprised that an alleged premier institution like MacPhail allows its teachers to hold a job so prominantly at another institution as well as have their own piano studios as well teaching there too!. I believe average families should be aware that this establishment is about making money, it's like a factory getting as many students in and out at the highest rate. Getting every dime from you - paying for internal contests, etc... big disappointment. There are a lot of other more economical options. read more