Tippet Rise Art Center Announces Programs For Its Third Concert Season

Tippet Rise Art Center, set on a 10,260-acre working ranch at the foot of Montana's Beartooth Mountains, today announced the programs for its third concert season, comprising more than 25 recitals and chamber music concerts from July 6 through September 8, 2018. Bringing together an international roster of celebrated artists-some who have already made the art center one of their summer homes, others who will be marking their debuts at Tippet Rise, this third season will include extraordinary concentrations of masterworks by Johann Sebastian Bach and of varied and exciting compositions from the 20th and 21st centuries. Other programs will feature immersions into the Romantic repertoire-one of the hallmarks of Tippet Rise-and the world premiere of a new piece by Aaron Jay Kernis, commissioned by Tippet Rise and performed by the Borromeo String Quartet.

Founders Peter and Cathy Halstead said, "Now We Are Three. Still very young, but excited to run around and bump into things. We hope our wonderful audience will join us for this summer's wild ride through the hills and fields of Bach, Chopin, Liszt, a slew of modern and contemporary greats, and our wonderful friend Aaron Jay Kernis, performed by extraordinary artists, some of whom you will remember from seasons past."

Celebrating the Spirit of Place at Tippet Rise
Setting the tone will be the opening concert of the season, on July 6, with the remarkable young pianist Julien Brocal, a protégé and frequent collaborator of Maria João Pires, performing a program titled Reflections Between Man and Nature. With 20th-century works by Maurice Ravel, Sergei Bortkiewicz and Federico Mompou, as well as Brocal's own improvisations, the program will celebrate the union of land, art, architecture and music that is the essence of Tippet Rise.

Bach Beneath the Beartooths
Programs highlighting the genius of J.S. Bach will begin on July 7 with a recital by violinist Caroline Goulding, whose performance will ingeniously contrast an arrangement of the Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565, with contemporaneous pieces by Telemann and Biber and modern and contemporary works by Bartók and Philip Glass.

Other notable programs include cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han, co-artistic directors of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, performing the Sonata in G Major, BWV 1027, for viola da gamba and harpsichord; violinists Vadim Gluzman and Krista Bennion Feeney performing the Partitas for Violin nos. 1 and 2, BWV 1002 and 1004; a selection of Preludes and Fugues performed by the Borromeo String Quartet from Book One of The Well Tempered Clavier, BWV 846-869; and a performance of two Chorale Preludes, Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit (BWV 106) and O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig (BWV Deest), in transcriptions by György Kurtág for piano four hands, played by the father and son duo of Jeffrey and Gabriel Kahane.

Jeffrey Kahane will also be one of the two celebrated pianists to perform the Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, in its entirety during the season, on July 20. The towering work will be scaled again on September 7 by Anne-Marie McDermott, whose program will also include Busoni's transcription for solo piano of the Chaconne from Partita for Violin No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004.

McDermott will close the season on September 8 with two Bach keyboard concertos, No. 5 in F Minor (BWV 1056) and No. 1 in D Minor (BWV 1052) performed with violinists Aaron Boyd and Daniel Phillips, double bassist Xavier Foley and the Calidore String Quartet, followed by a non-Bach masterwork: Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor, K.466, arranged by Carl Czerny.

A Celebration of 20th and 21st Century Music
The Tippet Rise season will include an extraordinary concentration of modern and contemporary repertoire, with remarkably varied programs of more than 30 compositions from the 20th and 21st centuries.

In addition to Philip Glass, living composers whose works will be performed are Ned Rorem (Quartet No. 4, played by the Escher String Quartet, August 11); Gabriel Kahane (Four Songs from The Ambassador and Come On All You Ghosts, sung by the composer with the Dover Quartet, July 21); Timo Andres (Early to Rise, performed by the Dover Quartet, and works for piano played by the composer, also on July 21); Sofia Gubaidulina (Rejoice!, Sonata for Violin and Cello, played by Vadim Gluzman, violin and Johannes Moser, cello, August 3); Henning Kraggerud (Variation Suite for Violin and Cello, Vadim Gluzman and Johannes Moser, August 4); and Ian Clarke (Zoom Tube for solo flute, performed by Tara Helen O'Connor, September 8).

Tippet Rise is especially proud to present the world premiere on August 18 of Aaron Jay Kernis's new piece for string quartet, String Quartet No. 4 (musica universalis), the second of the works he is composing for the art center through a three-year commissioning program. Kernis's first commission for Tippet Rise, First Club Date for piano and cello, was given its premiere in August 2017. In 2020, Tippet Rise will present the world premiere of the third commissioned work, for small chamber ensemble and voice.

The season will also offer a wealth of repertory from the 20th century, including notable works by American composers. Wu Han and Orion Weiss will perform arrangements for piano four hands of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and Samuel Barber's Souvenirs on August 25. Pianist Pedja Muzijevic will perform John Cage's In a Landscape and Henry Cowell's Aeolian Harp on July 13; and Caroline Goulding will join Julien Brocal on July 7 for performances of Ernest Bloch's Nuit Exotique and Sonata No. 2, "Poème Mystique," both composed in the United States in 1924, the year when the Swiss-born composer received his US citizenship.

Highlights of 20th century music will include performances of Shostakovich's Sonata for Cello and Piano in D Minor, Op. 40, with Johannes Moser and Yevgeny Sudbin (August 3); Hindemith's Sonata for Cello, Op. 25, no. 3, with Johannes Moser (August 4); Prokofiev's Sonata for Piano No. 7 in B flat Major, performed by Jenny Chen (August 17); the Tango from Schnittke's Life with an Idiot (arranged by Yevgeny Sudbin) performed by Sudbin, Vadim Gluzman and Johannes Moser (August 3); Arno Babajanian's Piano Trio in F sharp Minor with Sudbin, Gluzman and Moser (August 4); arrangements of Britten's folksongs, performed by Gabriel and Jeffrey Kahane (July 21); and works for violin and piano by Debussy, Ravel and Szymanowski, played by Caroline Goulding and Julien Brocal (July 7).

The Romantic Tradition at Tippet Rise
The richness of the Romantic repertoire resonates strongly in the setting of Tippet Rise and will receive ample attention during the season, with the complete Chopin Nocturnes being performed by award-winning pianist Ingrid Fliter on August 10, in her Tippet Rise debut, and the complete Preludes performed by pianist Jenny Chen on August 17.

On July 14, the St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble will make its first appearance at Tippet Rise, with violinist Krista Bennion Feeney, cellist Myron Lutzke and French horn player Stewart Rose joined by pianist Pedja Muzijevic in a program evoking the relationship among Robert and Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms, with performances of the Scherzo from Brahms's Sonatensatz for Violin and Piano in C Minor, Op. Posthumous, Robert Schumann's Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 63, Robert Schumann's Three Romances for Violin and Piano, Op. 22, and the Brahms Trio for Piano, Violin and French Horn in E-flat Major, Op. 40.

Acclaimed clarinetist Anton Dressler will make his Tippet Rise debut with the Escher String Quartet on August 11 in a performance of the Brahms Clarinet Quintet in B Minor, Op.115. Dressler will return with the Escher String Quartet, joined by Ingrid Fliter, on August 12 for a program that includes the Beethoven Trio for clarinet, cello and piano in B flat Major, Op. 11, Weber's Grand Duo Concertant for clarinet and piano, Op. 48, and Schubert's String Quartet No. 14 in D Minor, "Death and the Maiden."

The Tippet Rise Art Center Experience
The majority of concerts at Tippet Rise are performed in the 150-seat Olivier Music Barn. Weather permitting, select concerts will also take place at the open-air Domo, a 98-foot-long, 16-foot-tall, acoustically rich sculptural structure designed by Ensamble Studio. Performances may also be scheduled at other large-scale sculptures that are seamlessly set within the landscape. Pre-concert lectures are offered at the Tiara, a 100-seat outdoor acoustic shell.

Performances also showcase Tippet Rise's growing collection of pianos. Visiting artists are offered the unique opportunity to select their performance pianos from among some of the finest and most historic instruments in the world, including CD-18, the concert piano of Vladimir Horowitz and Eugene Istomin.

In addition to regularly scheduled programs, two family concerts, designed to enlighten, entertain and educate Tippet Rise's younger audiences, will also be presented, with details to be announced at a later date.

For those who are unable to attend concerts in person, the recordings produced of each performance are as important an asset of Tippet Rise as the live performances. The acoustically optimized Olivier Music Barn is equipped with state-of-the-art recording technology and recorded performances are added regularly to the Tippet Rise website and to the Art Center's YouTube channel.

Art and More at Tippet Rise
In addition to its music program, Tippet Rise Art Center presents large-scale sculptures and other works by some of the world's foremost artists and architects. Many are site-specific commissions that aim to weave together the boundaries of art, nature, and architecture. Artworks set within the landscape include several sculptural structures by the innovative Ensamble Studio, including the 25-foot-tall Beartooth Portal, composed of two vertical rocklike forms, 29 feet tall, that lean together at the top; the similarly designed 26-foot-tall Inverted Portal; and the 98-foot-long, 16-foot-tall Domo. Tippet Rise is also home to two monumental works by the internationally renowned sculptor Mark di Suvero: Beethoven's Quartet (2003, steel and stainless steel, 24 9/16 ft. x 30 ft. x 23 1/4 ft.) and Proverb (2002, painted Cor-ten steel, 60 ft x 17 11/16 ft. x 31 1/2 ft.); two site-specific works (Satellite No. 5: Pioneer, by Stephen Talasnik, and Daydreams by Patrick Dougherty); two additional works by Stephen Talasnik in the Tippet Rise collection which frame the Olivier Music Barn's performance space including Galaxy (2014) and Archeology (2012); and two works by Alexander Calder on loan from the Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden: Two Discs (1965) and Stainless Stealer (1966). Two paintings by Isabelle Johnson, an original owner of part of the land on which Tippet Rise Art Center is situated, and Montana's first Modernist painter, have been acquired by Tippet Rise and hang in the Olivier Music Barn.

Tippet Rise will reopen to the public on Friday, June 29, 2018, one week before the start of the summer music series, for tours of its monumental outdoor sculptures on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays with prior registration. Visitors can explore the ranch and its sculptures via nine miles of hiking and biking trails, or by shuttle vans.

As an institution founded to serve its neighbors in Montana as much as visiting musicians, artists, and audiences, Tippet Rise develops and supports year-round education programs in schools at the K-12 level, local colleges and universities, and other organizations.

Ticketing Information
Concert tickets are $10 each for adults, and free to anyone 21 and under. Tickets for the season's performances will be available through a randomized drawing, for which registration is required. The registration process will open at 12 PM (noon) Mountain Time on Tuesday, February 20 and close on Monday, March 12 at 5:00 PM Mountain Time. Winners will be selected at random on Tuesday, March 13 and notified by email. Winners may purchase up to four tickets to one performance, or divide them among multiple performances. For additional details and to enter the drawing for Season Three, please visit tippetrise.org.

Sculpture tours at Tippet Rise via shuttle vans are $10 each for adults and free for anyone 21 and under and are available first come, first serve (space is limited). Hiking and biking at the art center are free for everyone. Prior registration via the website is required for all visitors.

For concert ticket holders, dinner will be available for purchase before each evening's performance, provided by Cordon Bleu-trained chef Nick Goldman and chef Wendi Reed of Wild Flower Kitchen and served in Will's Shed, a pavilion adjacent to the Olivier Music Barn, designed by Laura Viklund Gunn of Gunnstock Timber Frames. Sandwiches, snacks, desserts, and drinks are also available for purchase during regular opening hours.

Getting to Tippet Rise Art Center
Located in Stillwater County, Tippet Rise is approximately one hour southwest of Billings, two hours southeast of Bozeman, and two-and-a-half hours north of Yellowstone National Park. It is served by two major airports - Billings Logan International Airport and Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport.

 

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