Not too long ago, we were invited by the Phoenix Musical Intrument Museum to experience their thoughtfully designed, intimate music theater.

Béla Fleck – banjoist, composer, bandleader.

Noticing that internationally-renowned banjoist Béla Fleck was coming to the MIM Music Theater, we joyfully accepted.

On a sidenote, for those of you who might not be familiar with Béla Fleck, many would argue that he is the world’s premiere banjo player.  Our attraction to Béla’s music is that he has virtually reinvented the image and sound of the banjo by bringing it to not only bluegrass, but jazz, pop, rock, world beat, and even the world of classical music.

To understand his musical influence across all musical styles, he’s won 15 Grammys, has 30 Grammy nominations, and has been nominated in more different musical categories than anyone in Grammy history. For example, Béla has written a banjo concerto.  Wild, huh?

OK, back to my story…

The very first thing we noticed as we sat down were the comfortable seats.  The MIM Music Theater seats are up to five inches wider than a typical theater seat, and you have six inches or more of additional legroom.

In other words, a man can sit very comfortably in the seats and not feel like a canned sardine!

Secondly, the theater only holds 300 seats.  If I remember correctly, we were in the sixth row, and we felt an intimacy with the performer that we’ve never experienced before.

Last, and perhaps most important, were the amazing accoustics of the space.  The sound was not only state-of-the-art, but possessed a natural sound that didn’t feel at all amplified.  If you closed your eyes, you might imagine that you were listening to Bela in his living room.  We were told that the accoustics are so good, that several musicans have flown to the MIM Music Theater to record their albums.

So, let’s see: very comfortable seating, intimate space, and amazing accoustics.  For us, this all boiled down to the best theater experience we’ve ever had.

We’ll be back, and we can’t recommed it high enough.  If you enjoy music, you really owe it to yourself to experience one of your favorite musicians in the MIM Music Theater.

Link: MIM Music Theater

Disclosure: our fabulous experience was provided by the kind folks at the Musical Instrumant Museum Musical Theater.  Thanks!

 
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