Tippet Rise Art Center Announces Details Of 2023 Season

Learn more about the upcoming lineup here!

By: Mar. 08, 2023
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Tippet Rise Art Center Announces Details Of 2023 Season

Tippet Rise Art Center, located on a 12,500-acre working ranch nestled at the foot of Montana's Beartooth Mountains, today announced full program details for its eighth concert season, taking place over five weeks from August 18 to September 17, 2023. The 2023 concert season marks the start of a new Wander series, offering two concerts that move musicians and audiences between different monumental works of art. Two new sculptures will be installed this summer - Trilogy (1978) by Louise Nevelson and Archway II (1984/2016) by Alexander Liberman. Tippet Rise has also begun construction on a new, remote, outdoor performance venue, the Geode, designed by Arup.

"The 2023 season will lead to extraordinary encounters with music and art, from the incredible range of performers and repertoire that our Artistic Advisor Pedja Mužijević has so brilliantly woven together, and the ways our new Wander concert series brings music directly to the mountaintop, to the two new sculptures being installed by seminal artists Louise Nevelson and Alexander Liberman," said Cathy and Peter Halstead, co-founders of Tippet Rise Art Center. "Our new project Geode continues our experiments in optimizing the acoustics of open-air music performance. It will be the only place you can hear indoor acoustics outdoors, surrounded by mountains."

World Premieres of Tippet Rise Commissions

Tippet Rise continues its commitment to supporting the creation of new works by featuring six world premieres of compositions as part of the Tippet Rise commissions series. During the first concert weekend, violinist Gidon Kremer and pianist Yulianna Avdeeva perform Three Serenades for Violin and Piano (2019) by Valentyn Silvestrov. Avdeeva also performs the world premiere of Silvestrov's Five Bagatelles for Solo Piano (2020). The following weekends, Tippet Rise Artistic Advisor and pianist Pedja Mužijević joins violinist Rebecca Anderson to premiere Three Waltzes of the Moment for Violin and Piano (2019) and pianist Anna Geniushene performs Four Pieces for Piano (2020) - the sixth and seventh of ten works commissioned by Tippet Rise from Silvestrov, Ukraine's leading living composer.

As part of the Wander series, Sandbox Percussion performs the world premieres of two works for percussion ensemble, written by composers Amy Beth Kirsten and Douglas J. Cuomo in response to artist Mark di Suvero's sculptures Beethoven's Quartet and Proverb at Tippet Rise and in celebration of the artist's 90th birthday.

"This season at Tippet Rise will be one of our most wide-ranging to date, celebrating diversity of artistic expression both in composers and performers" said artistic advisor Pedja Mužijević. "Our 2023 concerts present extraordinary music by a variety of composers, spanning from Claudia Sessa, a 16th-century Italian nun to 20th-century composer Florence Price and Icelandic composer Veronique Vaka; from American icons like Steve Reich and George Crumb to new voices like Amy Beth Kirsten and Caroline Shaw, standing alongside giants of the past like Mozart and Liszt. We are looking forward to welcoming performers from all stages of their careers, from legendary artists like Gidon Kremer and Richard Goode to young trailblazers, such as Merz Trio and Clayton Stephenson."

The Geode

Tippet Rise has commissioned a new open-air performance space for pop-up chamber music, the Geode, developed by a team of specialist engineers at global sustainable development consultancy Arup shepherded by design leader Willem Boning. The Geode is a minimal intervention into the landscape located at 5,500 feet in altitude in a natural bowl overlooking the Beartooth Mountains.

The acoustical shape of the Geode is an evolution from Arup's design for the Tiara, located at the Art Center's Cottonwood Campus. Composed of four acoustical structures, or "harmonic polygons," the Geode is a cluster of interrelated acoustic shelters which will envelop and protect musicians and visitors from the sun and wind while exposing them to the wild feeling of the surrounding environment. Built in partnership with TrueNorth Steel and Gunnstock Timber Frames, the Geode is crafted from weathering steel and vertical grain Douglas Fir wood, charred in a Japanese-inspired Yakisugi finish. The abstract swirls created by the process will scatter sound waves, blending the sound from each instrument into a harmonious whole.

To create a minimal structure that sits lightly on the land, and in keeping with Tippet Rise's commitment to sustainability, Arup worked with Tippet Rise to identify a site that would not require any excavation or new road construction, limiting disturbance to the site and limiting the project's carbon footprint. Arup also selected materials for their durability and ability to weather gracefully over time, and carefully detailed the structure to stand up to the harsh elements.

"It's been just over ten years since we began working with Peter and Cathy to help shape their vision for Tippet Rise, and we're honored to continue working with them to create new ways for visitors to connect with music, art, and nature," said Willem Boning of Arup. "The design process for the Geode was an amazing opportunity to closely collaborate with the Halsteads and an incredible team of young and diverse engineers at Arup to design a daring and truly unique venue."

2023 Concert Season Overview

Tippet Rise's 2023 concert season kicks off on August 18 with a piano recital by the incomparable Sir Stephen Hough, who returns to Tippet Rise for the third time. This year, Hough performs works by Mompou, Debussy, Liszt, as well as one of his own compositions. August 19 and 20 feature leading violinist Gidon Kremer making his Tippet Rise debut alongside pianist Yulianna Avdeeva to perform Silvestrov's Hommage à J.S. Bach for Violin and Piano (quasi echo) and the World Premiere of the Tippet Rise Commission Three Serenades for Violin and Piano (2019). Avdeeva also performs the World Premiere and Tippet Rise Commission of Silvestrov's Five Bagatelles for Solo Piano (2020). The program includes violinist Madara Pētersone, a leading member of the renowned chamber orchestra Kremerata Baltica.

The second week starts on August 25 with Artistic Advisor and pianist Pedja Mužijević presenting an evening with friends including acclaimed flutist Brandon Patrick George and clarinetist Mark Dover, who will be making his debut; violinist Rebecca Anderson, making her Tippet Rise debut; cellist Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir; and pianist Jenny Chen. They perform works by Amy Beach, one of the first American female composers to reach notoriety; the innovative composer George Crumb, who passed away at age 92 last year; the World Premiere of Valentyn Silvestrov's Three Waltzes of the Moment for Violin and Piano (2019), a Tippet Rise Commission; and Beethoven. On August 26, the ensemble Imani Winds, who has inspired audiences of all ages and backgrounds through their dynamic playing and programming, makes its Tippet Rise live concert debut with an outdoor performance at the Domo by Ensamble Studio. Titled Black and Brown, their program celebrates composers of color including Jeff Scott, Paquito D'Rivera, and Wayne Shorter, who recently passed away at age 89, and features works written for Imani Winds by Reena Esmail and Julio Medaglia.

On August 27, pianists Pedja Mužijević and Jenny Chen perform contrasting works by Mozart and Crumb; violinist Rebecca Anderson and Chen perform works by Lili Boulanger, the first female winner of the important Prix de Rome composition prize in 1913; cellist Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir, a champion of music from her native Iceland, presents a piece by contemporary composer Veronique Vaka; and Anderson and Chen play Adoration for Violin and Piano by Florence Price, the first African American female composer to be performed by a major American orchestra. The program concludes with Anderson, Thorsteinsdóttir, and Chen performing Clara Schumann's Piano Trio in G Minor.

Richard Goode, the revered recitalist, returns to Tippet Rise for a second consecutive concert season during the third week. Goode's program on September 1 includes works by Mozart, Fauré, and Chopin. The acclaimed Sandbox Percussion performs on September 2 as a part of Tippet Rise's new Wander series, moving the artists and the audience to various locations throughout Tippet Rise. Guests begin at Beethoven's Quartet where Sandbox Percussion performs a World Premiere and Tippet Rise Commission by composer Amy Beth Kirsten. From there, musicians and audience members hike together (or take a shuttle) approximately one mile to Mark di Suvero's Proverb, where the ensemble performs an additional World Premiere and Tippet Rise Commission by composer Douglas J. Cuomo. Both Kirsten and Cuomo's works were inspired by the Mark di Suvero sculptures near which the works will be performed. On Sunday, September 3, the Dior Quartet makes its debut in the Olivier Music Barn playing works by Kevin Lau, Soo Yeon Lyuh, Dinuk Wijeratne, and Maurice Ravel.

The 2022 recipient of the prestigious Cliburn Silver Medal, Anna Geniushene begins the fourth week on September 8 with her Tippet Rise debut where she performs works by virtuosos Muzio Clementi, Tchaikovsky, and Prokofiev, as well as the World Premiere of the Tippet Rise Commission - Valentyn Silvestrov's Four Pieces for Piano (2020). On September 9, the remarkable brass quartet The Westerlies leads the concertgoers in the second Wander concert of the season. The audience will move between three different sites within the art center's main Cottonwood Campus. Beginning at Iron Tree by Ai Weiwei, members Riley Mulherkar and Chloe Rowlands (trumpet) and Andy Clausen and Willem de Koch (trombone) perform Robin Holcomb's Wherein Lies the Good. Guests and musicians alike then take a short stroll to Patrick Dougherty's Daydreams and Cursive Takes a Holiday to experience Entr'acte by Pulitzer Prize-winner composer Caroline Shaw. The performance concludes under the canopy of Francis Kéré's Xylem with This is Water, composed by The Westerlies' trombonist Andy Clausen. On Sunday, guitarist JIJI makes her Tippet Rise debut with a performance out on the land at the Domo sculpture. Her program, titled Counterpoint Dream, consists of Baroque-period works by Claudia Sessa, Marais, Bach, and then Paganini, to post-Romantic and modern pieces by Isaac Albéniz; Frantz Casseus, Steve Reich, and Antón García-Abril.

The fifth week features three Tippet Rise debuts starting on September 15 with the renowned Brentano String Quartet. The group performs works by contemporary Scottish composers James Macmillan, Henry Purcell, Beethoven, and Bach's masterpiece Art of Fugue. On September 16, the Merz Trio presents its program titled Humoreske, which weaves together works by George Enescu, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Prokofiev, Gabriel Fauré, Thelonius Monk, Benjamin Britten, Shostakovich, Brahms. The 2023 concert season comes to a close with pianist Clayton Stephenson, a finalist at the prestigious 2022 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Stephenson performs beloved works by Bach, Beethoven, Straus, Gershwin, as well as Hiromi Uehara.

New Sculptures

This summer two newly acquired sculptures will be installed among the other large-scale and site-specific works sited throughout the land. Trilogy (1978) by Louise Nevelson, a three-piece, large-scale abstract sculpture made of cor-ten, steel, and aluminum, will be placed within a short walking distance of the Olivier Music Barn on Tippet Rise's main Cottonwood Campus, separated by a small ridge and installed in a valley on its own. Towering more than forty feet high at its tallest point, the monumental work evokes a family unit or a trio of entities in varied stages of growth and development. Alexander Liberman's Archway II (1984/2016), measuring 40-feet-tall and made of red-painted steel, frames the land at Tippet Rise, serving as a metaphorical gateway to the Beartooth Mountain range in the distance. The work is illustrative of Liberman's lifelong fascination with sacred spaces, and the arches and altars people pass through to enter them.

Concert Tickets

Concerts will begin on August 18 and run through September 17 on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, and are priced at $10; free to those 21 and under. Pre-purchased tickets, which are required for concert admission, will be available through a randomized drawing; the drawing will open on the Tippet Rise website on March 21 at 12:00 PM Mountain Time through April 10 at 12:00 PM Mountain Time. For the latest information on ticketing, please sign up for the Tippet Rise e-newsletter. Click here for full season details.
Tippet Rise Art Center Announces Details Of 2023 Season




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