About MIM
Located in Phoenix, Arizona, the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) helps guests access the music of the world through its galleries, educational offerings, and engaging programming.
Our Mission
The Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) enriches our world by collecting, preserving, and making accessible an astonishing variety of musical instruments and performance videos from every country in the world. MIM offers guests a welcoming and fun experience, incomparable interactive technology, dynamic programming, and exceptional musical performances. MIM fosters appreciation of the world’s diverse cultures by showing how we innovate, adapt, and learn from each other to create music—the language of the soul.
Our Story
MIM began with a vision to create a musical instrument museum that would be truly global. Realizing most musical museums featured historic, primarily Western classical instruments, MIM’s founder Bob Ulrich (then CEO of Target Corporation) was inspired to develop a new kind of museum that would focus on the kind of instruments played every day by people worldwide. A focus on the guest experience shaped every aspect of the museum’s development. From the beginning, our goal has been to deliver a musical experience that is enriching, inspiring, interesting, and fun.
Today, MIM has a collection of more than 7,500 instruments from more than 200 world countries and territories. The galleries reflect the rich diversity and history of many world cultures. But music and instruments also show us what we have in common—a thought powerfully expressed in our motto, music is the language of the soul.
MIM’s Architecture
Our Leadership
Read about MIM’s leadership team, board of directors, advisory board, and more.
“Music is the highest form of expression we have as humans. This museum so beautifully embodies that spirit.”
— Andy Summers of The Police
“MIM is so much more than a collection of musical instruments. . . It’s an immersion into world cultures, a history of many different peoples, all united by the love of creating music.”
— MIM guest, TripAdvisor
“As a musician, this is like going to heaven. It’s amazing.”
— Mick Fleetwood, Fleetwood Mac
Join Our Team
Join a friendly community of people who are passionate about music, art, and world culture! Enjoy employment perks, such as:
- Opportunities for team member training, development, and continuing education
- Free admission to the museum and all special exhibits
- Discounted tickets to select MIM Music Theater performances based on availability
MIM News
Stay up to date on MIM announcements, new exhibits, behind-the-scenes features, education initiatives, and more.