2020 Season Cancellation

May 14, 2020

To our extended family of art and music lovers,

While we had hoped that Tippet Rise’s fifth season would go on as planned, we have made the painful decision to cancel our concerts and sculpture tours this summer and keep our trails temporarily closed to hikers and bikers. We are doing so to protect the health and safety of our staff, artists, and audiences from Montana and around the world, in keeping with the guidance of public health authorities and our local and state officials.

Many of us turn to music, art, and nature for sustenance during difficult times. To offer comfort and beauty even while the art center is closed, we have expanded our digital offerings. They include:

• The Tippet Rise podcast, which releases a new episode on the first Thursday of every month. The podcast shares music, poetry, glimpses of nature, and insights from the art center, as well as conversations with fascinating artists and other thinkers who are a part of the Tippet Rise family, such as pianist Julian Brocal and architect Francis Kéré, among others.

• Our YouTube Channel, featuring performances recorded in the Olivier Music Barn and outdoors at the Domo, the acoustically rich sculptural structure created by Ensamble Studio.

• Eight short videos with artist Mark di Suvero reading poems that have inspired and informed his monumental sculptures. His selections range from works by the 13th century poet and mystic Hadewijch to Rainer Maria Rilke.

• Google Arts + Culture’s high-resolution images and videos from Tippet Rise. Lovers of art and architecture can explore Xylem, our new gathering pavilion designed by Francis Kéré, as well as our site-specific installations by Ensamble Studio, Alexander Calder, Stephen Talasnik, and Patrick Dougherty.

• Tippet Rise Filmmaker Emily Rund’s gorgeous video weaving Schubert’s Nocturne with the art center’s rolling landscape.

And, of course, Tippet Rise will continue to share online offerings from some of our longtime international partners, such as England’s National Theatre and Glyndebourne Festival and Belgium’s Jardin Musical, as well as the Anderson & Roe Piano Duo, here in the United States. Thanks to OperaVision, Glyndebourne’s 2015 production of the wonderful Mozart opera, Abduction from the Seraglio will be available online until May 20th. After that, we’re excited to highlight our video collaboration with the drone master, Blastr, featuring The Compass Gyre swirling around Mark di Suvero’s sculpture, Proverb. For now, you can check out Yevgeny Sudbin’s beautiful Solar Storm Over Lapland in our Stories section and Julien Brocal’s gorgeous Schubert sonata, played in his vaulted apartment in Brussels. In the weeks to come, we also look forward to making available more music from our 2019 season. It’s going to be a virtual summer. But it’s going to be innovative!

While we are sad that we will not be in the Olivier Music Barn or at the Domo this summer, we look forward to bringing classical music played by the world’s great musicians into our homes and yours, digitally. And, we very much hope to see you next summer under happier and healthier circumstances.

Our thoughts go out to all of our neighbors and friends, as well as the many people around the globe affected by this crisis. We thank you all for your support during these unprecedented times and we wish you and your loved ones the very best.

With warmest wishes,
Cathy and Peter Halstead