Tippet Rise Art Center has a jewel box of a concert hall: the Olivier Music Barn. Audiences love it, and so do all the world-class musicians who come to Tippet Rise each year. Two great chamber music ensembles – the Gryphon Trio and the Calidore String Quartet – performed Tippet Rise the same weekend in September 2022, and sat for interviews in front of their audiences. As the name suggests, “chamber music” was created for intimate performance spaces – in Baroque palaces. You may not think that sounds intimate, but Joseph Haydn composed his music for the room in a European palace that the engineering and design firm Arup used as the model for the Olivier Music Barn.

The evolution of music doesn’t happen by accident. To move from one era to the next is to find common values, use them as stepping stones, and organically develop them into something new.

When Jim Ruberto is in the recording studio at Tippet Rise, his overarching mission is to preserve the performers’ intentions and the music’s profound emotional impact. To accomplish this, he must work to remove hundreds of noises from every live performance our audio team records—it's exacting work and a labor of love for our Assistant Audio Engineer.

Tippet Rise Co-Founder, Peter Halstead, shares his passion for playing and recording music through some inspirational moments of a fifty-year musical journey.

Music, like the stillness and solitude of a Montana winter, is a special kind of gift. John Luther Adams and the JACK Quartet share their thoughts and hopes for the music of our time.

Inspired by extraordinary concert halls, and designed to share in the joy of music, the Olivier Music Barn connects us to nature and to each other.

Cover Photo by Erik Petersen
Engineered by Jim Ruberto
Produced and Narrated by Zachary Patten

Photographer James Florio traverses this beautiful land for days at a time, in all weather conditions, listening, learning, and becoming a part of the land. Through his images, we are able to walk alongside him.

Engineered by Jim Ruberto and Monte Nickles
Produced, Narrated, and Music by Zachary Patten