Last August Gramophone's James Jolly travelled to Montana in the USA, to sample the musical, artistic and architectural wonders of Tippet Rise, an arts centre created by Peter and Cathy Halstead on a 12,000 acre working ranch. As well as possesssing a wonderful concert hall, Tippet Rise also plays host to numerous large sculptures, some of which can also be used as performance spaces. And for a number of weekends each year musicians from all over the world come to perform at Tippet Rise.

In 2024, pianists Yevgeny Sudbin and Jean-Efflam Bavouzet were among the performers and James took the opportunity, made considerably easier by Tippet Rise's state-of-the-art recording facilities, to sit down with them to talk about pianos, recording, repertoire and the place in which they all found ourselves …

The photograph was taken in The Olivier Music Barn, Tippet Rise's concert hall, in front of Mark di Suvero's painting Seminal (1978-82, acrylic on linen).