With windows facing the Beartooth Mountains and seating for just 150 people at most, the Olivier Music Barn is an informal and acoustically intimate indoor performance space.
Chopin: Three Mazurkas, Op. 59 - No. 36 in A Minor, Moderato - Jenny Chen (2018-08-17) by Jenny Chen, Pianist and Emily Rund, Film DirectorTippet Rise Art Center
"Jewel Box" Design
The scale and proportions of the concert hall within the Olivier Music Barn are inspired by the "jewel box" design of the Esterhazy Music Room, the powerful performance space for which Haydn composed his chamber music repertoire. A contemporary innovation—a high ceiling suspended above the boxlike space—lends an elevated, ethereal character to the deeply resonant acoustics. To design the Olivier Music Barn, we enlisted Arup engineers because of Snape Maltings concert barn in Suffolk, England, which they helped Benjamin Britten adapt for music, and because of Wigmore Hall in London, whose renovation they masterminded. Both are small halls with perfect acoustics. The art center's inaugural director, the acoustician Alban Bassuet, led the design process.
The Olivier Music Barn Concert Hall (2018-10-08) by James Florio, Photographer and Gunnstock Timber FramesTippet Rise Art Center
Two works by sculptor Stephen Talasnik, Galaxy and Archaeology, are on display in the Music Barn.
Kahane: Veda (1 Pierce Dr.) - Gabriel Kahane and the Dover Quartet (2018-08-21) by Emily Rund, Film Director, Gabriel Kahane, Composer, Singer, Guitarist, and Dover String Quartet, QuartetTippet Rise Art Center
The Olivier Music Barn, Outdoor Warm-Up (2018-07-15) by Erik Petersen, Photographer and Gunnstock Timber FramesTippet Rise Art Center
Stewart Rose, French horn player for the St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble, rehearses outside the Olivier Music Barn's Green Room.
Acoustically rich and a green design
In January of 2019, the Olivier Music Barn received LEED® Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) for its environmentally sustainable design and systems. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The barn's standards of sustainability include low-carbon emissions and near-net-zero energy consumption.
The Olivier Music Barn (2017-08-12) by Erik Petersen, Photographer and Gunnstock Timber FramesTippet Rise Art Center
The Olivier Music Barn is at the heart of the Cottonwood Campus, the main campus at Tippet Rise Art Center.
Clarke: The Great Train Race - Emma Resmini (2018-09-08) by Emily Rund, Film Director, Ian Clarke, Composer, and Emma Resmini, FloutistTippet Rise Art Center
The Olivier Music Barn in the Snow (2018-11-16) by Erik Petersen, Photographer and Gunnstock Timber FramesTippet Rise Art Center
Like other buildings on the art center's main campus, the Olivier Music Barn is heated and cooled with a geothermal energy system; 8,000 square-feet of solar panels provides electricity to the campus.
Concerts are held in the Olivier Music Barn on Friday and Saturday evenings during the summer music season. Master classes also take place at the art center, taught by such piano greats as Anne-Marie McDermott. Whether they are performing, rehearsing or learning, visiting musicians delight in the barn's acoustically enveloping sound.
Photography by: Erik Petersen, James Florio, Emily Rund, Andre Costantini
Writing by: Alexis Adams
Exhibit by: Emily Rund, Sarah Lanier
Support from:
Lindsey Hinmon
Managing Director, Programs
Melissa Moore
Communication and Administration Manager
Alexis Adams
Publications Administrator
Emily Rund
Filmmaker and Production Coordinator
Pete Hinmon
Managing Director, Operations
Peter & Cathy Halstead
Co-Founders of Tippet Rise
Olivier Music Barn Design and Construction Team:
Tippet Rise Art Center Inaugural Director: Alban Bassuet, PresenceLab (Warwick, Rhode Island)
Master Planners: Arup (London, England)
Architect: Gunnstock Timber Frames (Powell, Wyoming)
LEED Consultant: High Plains Architects (Billings, Montana)
Civil Engineer: DOWL (Billings, Montana)
Commissioning Agent: MKK Consulting Engineers (Billings, Montana)
Contractor: Jeff Engel Construction (Billings, Montana) and Gunnstock Timber Frames
Landscape Architect: Oehme, van Sweden (Washington, D.C.)
Mechanical and Plumbing Engineer: MKK, Arup
Electrical Engineer and Lighting Design: MKK, Arup
Structural Engineer: Hicks Engineering (Bozeman, Montana) and Fire Tower Engineered Timber (Providence, Rhode Island)
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