Musical Instrument Museum

Opening in spring 2010, the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) will celebrate the similarities and differences of the world’s cultures as expressed through music—a language common to us all. With musical instruments from every country in the world, MIM will pay homage to the history and diversity of instruments and introduce museum guests to their varied and unique sounds. MIM will be an engaging, entertaining, and informative experience, in which the uninitiated and the knowledgeable, the young and the old will feel welcome.

MIM is a 195,000-square-foot museum located in Phoenix, AZ, one of the country’s fastest growing regions and a popular site for national and international tourists. Under the leadership of Founding Board Chairman and Chairman Emeritus of Target Corporation Robert J. Ulrich, and President and Director Billie (Bill) R. DeWalt, Ph.D., MIM curators are traveling the world to gather indigenous and popular musical instruments from 200 countries and territories to build a collection that will grow to more than 10,000 instruments in all.

MIM’s galleries will provide a rich sensory experience for the 250,000+ guests the museum will welcome each year. Wireless audio and flat-screen video will immerse MIM guests in the sights and sounds of the instruments being played. MIM exhibition galleries will be organized according to 10 broad geographical regions within which guests will experience the full range of musical instruments—from the mountains of South America to the rainforests of Southeast Asia, from the African savannah to the mountains of Appalachia. In the hands-on Experience Gallery, guests will also be able to play instruments from the collection. And traveling exhibitions displayed in the Special Exhibits Gallery will feature collections of instruments from collaborating museums.

MIM will be home to an intimate 299-seat, state-of-the-art Music Theater, which will be an exciting center for live music featuring a broad range of traditions that celebrate music as the art form that touches all people and cultures. MIM will also be an important resource for scholars and musicians, who will come to study the museum’s collection and use MIM as a center for symposia and conferences.