Together, Minneapolis and St. Paul are known as The Twin Cities. McNally Smith College of Music was founded in Minneapolis in 1985. The college moved to a much larger, custom-designed campus in St. Paul in 2001.

A “City that Rocks” –as dubbed by Rolling Stone and Esquire—the Twin Cities is the cultural center of the Upper Midwest. Surrounded by a fertile cultural community with world-renowned theaters, museums, and music venues, the area attracts artists from all disciplines because of its rich culture and support for the arts.

Hailed by the Urban Institute as the number one metropolitan area in the nation for quality of life, the Twin Cities is a great place to be when getting a music degree. Four distinct seasons provide endless options for entertainment and relaxation to break from music college activities. Recreational pursuits include an extensive trail system for biking, running, in-line skating, and walking. Numerous lakes offer swimming, canoeing, kayaking, and sailing.  In addition, a wide variety of ethnic restaurants, eclectic bookstores, farmers’ markets, art galleries, vintage clothing shops, coffeehouses, dance clubs, movie theaters, and a full compliment of professional sports teams are but some of the hundreds of places to see and be seen while at music school.

Most students live near the McNally Smith College of Music campus, in the heart of downtown Saint Paul. Situated along the Mississippi River and surrounded by well-maintained city parks, National Geographic ranked Saint Paul as the 4th Greenest City in the US.

Take a video tour of downtown Saint Paul with one of our music students.