HARK!
I hear The MIM….
Officially, it’s the Musical Instruments Museum.
But to many around HARK Valley, it’s Music Is Mylife …
The MIM is back, and that’s a good thing.
That’s a really good thing.
That’s a swimming-pool thing.
Personally, on the blistering, endless days of Summer -- which starts in HARK Valley whenever it feels like it, and ends just after you’ve reached your endurance point -- I’d much rather dive into the MIM than a swimming pool. With a pool, you get out -- and in seconds, your skin starts shriveling up, laughing at you for thinking you could find relief.
I look out my backyard in Summer, and I don’t see a pool. I see a Lizard. On the back wall. Doing push ups.
I look out my backyard in Summer, and I don’t see a pool. I see a Lizard. On the back wall. Doing push-ups.
I draw the curtain.
I go to MIM…
Here, it’s cool. Literally, cool. Nice A/C, MIM!
But you can hug the ice cream freezer door at Fry’s, if you’re that desperate.
MIM is cool like a French director, like a Bronx poet, like a 9-piece African band, jamming not to perfect something, but to create something, look at it and say, “Not bad at all -- but maybe this …”
Anyway, MIM is back -- and just in time.
During the dark days of the pandemic, the Summer of ‘20, the MIM shut down.
Ug -- for seven months!
If you’re not familiar with the MIM, picture an awesome museum geared to musical instruments around the world. All kinds of crazy percussion and wind instruments that look prehistoric, but are widely in use in parts unknown ...Add in high-tech but seamless video and audio presentations (you get a headset, when you check in).
That would be enough -- more than enough. But the MIM also has a mid-sized theater -- OK, it’s a bit too-modern, a bit too-sterile, a bit … funk-challenged?
Yeah, so it’s not a Cafe du Nord or Kazmirez or Crescent Ballroom.
But we get over it -- fast -- as the stage draws magnificent performers from around the world.
Even before I got a case of virusnoia, I always tried to avoid crowds. The nice music museum does a lot of “outreach”: “Music can be a great way to spark kids’ imagination and creativity! It can enhance pre-language skills, boost motor development, and even encourage social skills and self-confidence in children starting as young as infancy. #MIMkids”
As such, The MIM can get pretty cluttered with those little coughing-sneezing-shrieking-annoying beasts I guess are lovingly called “kids”....But they clear out by late afternoon, which is when I like to go.
Some new guidelines: “Tickets may be purchased at the museum or online.
“The galleries are typically busiest from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“Complimentary masks are available at entry.
“Grab-and-go refreshments are available for purchase.
“Hand-sanitizing stations are available and high-touch areas are frequently disinfected.”
MIM’s Fb page has even more details.
Since it’s $20+ to buy tickets for one admission, if you plan to go multiple times -- and if you’re a music lover, you should -- it’s a swingin’ deal to get a membership. $100 a year gets you:
Unlimited museum admission for 2
10% discount at the Museum Store
Subscription to Quarter Notes, MIM’s quarterly publication
Recognition at MIM and on MIM.org
Free admission to MIM Musical Interludes concerts
Unfortunately, you have to pay extra (usually $25-30) for the concerts; through this horrid Summer, the MIM hosts the usual variety of brilliant music-makers:
Singer-Songwriters in the Round
Featuring Ashley E. Norton, Krystal Baker, and Sydney Sprague
Saturday, July 17
7:00 p.m.
$28.50–$33.50
I AM AZ MUSIC®
Anthony Mazzella: Legends of Guitar
Friday, July 23
7:00 p.m.
$25.50
GUITAR
Jackie Venson
Saturday, July 24
7:00 p.m.
$25.50–$33.50
I AM AZ MUSIC®
Extreme Acoustic Guitar
Featuring Bill Dutcher, Mike Breen, and Austin Dutcher
Tuesday, July 27
7:00 p.m.
$28.50
MEMBERS
Fall 2021 Concert Series Preview Event
Exclusive event for members who give $250+ annually
Wednesday, July 28
5:30 p.m.
Free for members who give $250+ annually
JTM3
Featuring Jay Allan, Tony King, and Matthew Henderson
Saturday, July 31
7:00 p.m.
$28.50–$33.50
Bossa Brazil
Saturday, August 7
7:00 p.m.
$23.50
Jaleo
Sunday, August 8
7:00 p.m.
$28.50
CLASSICAL
Paradise Winds
Saturday, August 21
7:00 p.m.
$23.50
Milk Carton Kids and Haley Heynderickx
Friday, August 27
7:00 p.m.
$49.50–$64.50
The MIM lives near Desert Ridge off the 101 at 4725 E. Mayo Blvd. in north Phoenix.
Parking is Free
