At 10 a.m. Saturday, horns will blare, drums roll, ribbons flutter and MacPhail Center for Music will 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. "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 state-of-the-art facility clad in shiny galvanized steel and rusty Cor-Ten, with an elegant wood-paneled concert hall. There'll be music all weekend, including choral and piano concerts in the new hall (7 p.m. Sat. & noon Sun.), and a Battle of the Bands by high-school rockers (2-6 p.m. Sun.). Free music continues next week, with lunchtime concerts that include Rossum's quartet (Tue.) and JelloSlave (next Fri.), and 7 p.m. shows including one next Thursday by Radiohead-playing pianist Christopher O'Riley.
Fanfare for MacPhail
By Mary Abbe
August 17, 2012 at 9:04PM
