Opera Bozeman and Mountain Time Arts Will Bring Two Classical Performances to Yellowstone National Park

In partnership with Intermountain Opera Bozeman, Mountain Time Arts (MTA) is excited to bring two evenings of classical performances to Yellowstone National Park featuring Indigenous opera singers, Soprano, Kirsten C. Kunkle (Myskoke) and Mezzo-Soprano, Kate Morton (Cherokee). Michael Sakir, Artistic Director of Intermountain Opera Bozeman will accompany Kunkle and Morton on the piano and Sapphire Ferguson Jetty (Dakota and Chippewa) will play Métis fiddle music on both nights.

The performances will take place at 5pm on August 24th and 25th at All Nations Teepee Village in Madison Junction during Yellowstone Revealed.

Kunkle will be premiering an art song commissioned specifically for Yellowstone Revealed called "Reclaim the Land," and it focuses on the relationship between Indigenous Peoples and Yellowstone.

Also being performed both nights is "Fire" by Ian Cusson (Métis). The piece speaks to the "interconnectedness of nature, strength of women, and voices of mountains". Our performance will be the United States premiere of the work. Coupled with Kunkle's world premiere of her own work, this will be quite the momentous program.

Yellowstone Revealed is a series of place-based projects by an inter-tribal group of Indigenous artists and scholars that will premiere in Yellowstone National Park in August 23-27, 2022. Yellowstone Revealed's upcoming public artworks are non-invasive, temporary projects designed to demonstrate the historic and continued presence of Indigenous people in the Yellowstone region. The multidisciplinary artworks coincide with Yellowstone National Park's 150th anniversary and will seek to put forward Indigenous truths and perspectives. Yellowstone Revealed will provide a platform and long-overdue opportunity to envision and co-create the future of the park.

Mountain Time Arts (MTA) drives change through the cultivation of bold and engaging public art projects and programs that explore the history, culture and environment of the Rocky Mountain West and its Sovereign Nations. To learn more about Mountain Time Arts, visit: mountaintimearts.org.