MacPhail is registered as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization providing students of all ages, backgrounds and abilities access to inspiring and enduring music learning experiences through extraordinary faculty, relevant programming and integrated learning technology to create successful outcomes[1] 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 became part of the university's extension program and the emphasis shifted from conservatory instruction to community education.

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.

The new facility on the Minneapolis riverfront was designed by James Dayton, who studied and worked with Gehry Partners.

[4] Beginning in the fall of 2006, MacPhail began offering its registration-based programming in Apple Valley at Paideia Academy and continued its expansion by opening a site at Birch Lake School in White Bear Lake in the fall of 2007.