Events

Oct 18

Trick-or-treat and the Hall of Flames, featuring hundreds of painted and hard-carved pumpkins.

Mar 23

For over 600 years, stringed keyboard instruments have served as repositories for human imagination, science, technology, craft, artistry, and music. They are admired for their stature – and oftentimes stunning beauty – alongside their ability to play both melody and harmony. Keyboard innovation has continuously expanded throughout the world, throughout time.



Opening in March 2024, the special exhibition “High Strung: Five Centuries of Stringed Keyboard Instruments” will explore the form, function and development of keyboard instruments from early harpsichords to the modern piano. The special exhibition brings together nearly 20 keyboard instruments from the NMM’s collections - some of which have never before been on exhibit.



Instruments that will be on display include:


• An octave virginal (NMM 4660), from the same workshop as the NMM’s Neapolitan harpsichord, c.1530 (NMM 14408)

• A highly decorated harpsichord by Andreas Ruckers, 1643 (NMM 10000)

• Harpsichord by Nicolas Dufour, 1683 (NMM 5943, pictured below), made in Paris in a native style that fell from popularity by the first decade of the 18th century

• French grand piano, Clavecin à marteaux, (harpsichord with hammers) by Louis Bas (NMM 4653) from 1781. This instrument, the earliest surviving French grand piano, is exceptional, retaining much of its original action parts

• Downward-striking piano by Nanette Streicher und Sohn (NMM 10298), and a small trapezoid hammer instrument by Gottfried Maucher (NMM 4570) – an example of a lesser-known instrument type, similar to the tangentenflugel by Späth and Schmahl, built c.1784 (NMM 4145), which was once a favorite instrument type of Mozart

• Grand piano by Erard (NMM 5984) and Chickering & Sons (NMM 5413), built at a time in which America led the way in piano technology, not only with grand pianos, but also with the large ”square” pianos by makers such as William Knabe & Company (NMM 14447)



“High Strung: Five Centuries of Stringed Keyboard Instruments” will open to the public on March 23, 2024 in the NMM’s Jason & Betsy Groves Special Exhibition Gallery. It will remain open through the calendar year. Support for the exhibition is provided by generous grants from the Clayton and Odessa Lang Ofstad Foundation and the City of Vermillion, SD.

Fee: $Included with Museum Admission

Sep 14

Mazing Acres is a charming autumn destination nestled in the heart of the Midwest. Spread across sprawling acres of picturesque farmland, visitors can delight in picking their own pumpkin from the you-pick pumpkin patch. Beyond pumpkins, Mazing Acres boasts an array of family-friendly activities, including a corn maze, hayride, flower field, petting zoo, attractions, and so much more. Don't miss out on their signature kettle corn or milk shakes. Plus, with some of the best photo ops around you'll be capturing memories of your visit to cherish for years to come. Whether you're searching for the perfect pumpkin or simply looking to soak up the seasonal spirit, Mazing Acres offers a delightful escape into the beauty of fall in South Dakota.

Discover a destination where natural beauty and exciting festivities come together. Whether you want a fun autumn outing for you and your girlfriends or a unique fall festival experience for the whole family, we have something for everyone. Come enjoy over 30 attractions, pumpkins, flowers, photo ops, and so much more! Visit us at Mazing Acres for life-long memories you'll cherish forever. 

Fee: $18.95

Sep 19

Our Little STEAMers Preschool is based on the Montessori principles that children learn best when they are given the freedom to move, to choose their own work, and follow their interests, operating within boundaries that include respect for themselves, others, and their environment. In Little STEAMers Preschool students learn through guided exploration and build skills with independent hands-on learning. Using Montessori methods, our teachers progress students’ exploration skills and use a complete preschool curriculum to develop students’ understanding of STEM concepts (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and communication (language arts & literacy).

Fee: $1,064.25 per semester for South Dakota Discovery Center Members

Sep 12

Our Little STEAMers Preschool is based on the Montessori principles that children learn best when they are given the freedom to move, to choose their own work, and follow their interests, operating within boundaries that include respect for themselves, others, and their environment. In Little STEAMers Preschool students learn through guided exploration and build skills with independent hands-on learning. Using Montessori methods, our teachers progress students’ exploration skills and use a complete preschool curriculum to develop students’ understanding of STEM concepts (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and communication (language arts & literacy).

Fee: $693 per semester for South Dakota Discovery Center Members

Aug 27

Together, we strive to create a society of CURIOUS, SCIENTIFICALLY LITERATE, and ENGAGED problem solvers. You can be a critical part in fulfilling our vision by finding your volunteer focus below. Come in during volunteer hours to learn how you can help!

Aug 22

Together, we strive to create a society of CURIOUS, SCIENTIFICALLY LITERATE, and ENGAGED problem solvers. You can be a critical part in fulfilling our vision by finding your volunteer focus below. Come in during volunteer hours to learn how you can help!

Oct 20

Exciting News from Riverview Christmas Tree Farm!
This year, our beloved Pumpkin Festival is bigger and better than ever! Join us for a day filled with fun, laughter, and unforgettable memories.
NEW THIS YEAR: Get ready for our giant pumpkin cannon and apple cannons – watch as we launch pumpkins and apples into the sky! Plus, don’t miss out on the thrilling mining sleuth adventure!
Of course, we’re keeping all your favorite activities! Enjoy pumpkin picking, sip on local South Dakota wines and fall brews at our beer garden, and meet our adorable farm animals.
Kids will love our pumpkin painting, inflatables, train rides, and the ever-popular duck races! There will be tons of games, delicious concessions, caramel apples, cotton candy, and so many other tasty goodies. And let’s not forget our fall crafts and decor to get you in the autumn spirit!
Mark your calendars and join us for a fantastic fall celebration at Riverview Christmas Tree Farm!

Oct 20

The seven-string guitar played a vital role in music of the Russian Empire with many works composed for guitar solo and duet. Combinations of guitar with other instruments are quite rare, and the best music for guitar and piano comes from the circles of Vladimir Morkov (1801–1864). Miller and Timofeyev will perform Morkov’s original works and transcriptions, using the NMM's fortepiano by Anton Martin Thÿm, ca. 1815, and an original guitar by Mikhail Eroshkin, ca. 1900, from Timofeyev's personal collection.

Elizaveta Miller is a true and inspired multi-instrumentalist, who plays most of the keyboard instruments: harpsichord, fortepiano and piano but also clavichord and organ. Her repertoire covers five centuries of music, from late Renaissance to contemporary. In 2013, she became the first prize winner of the Bruges Musica Antiqua Competition. She has performed throughout Europe and Russia, taking part in the Bruges MA Festival, Beethovenfest Bonn, Bozar Music, Dubrovnik Music Festival and The Homecoming Music Festival. As a continuo player, she has collaborated with numerous conductors, including Václav Luks, Reinhard Goebel, Maxim Emelyanychev, Robert Hollingsworth, Christian Curnyn, and others.

Miller studied at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and at Yale School of Music. She held a teaching position at the Moscow State Conservatory in historical instruments departement for 9 years but resigned and left the country in March 2022, after the beginning of the full-scale Russian aggression on Ukraine. In May 2022, she received an offer from the McGill University in Montreal, where she is now an Assistant Professor of harpsichord.

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Oleg Timofeyev is a musicologist, guitarist, composer, documentary film director, and the world authority on the Russian seven-string guitar tradition. Dr. Timofeyev holds an M.A. in Early Music Performance from the University of Southern California and a Ph.D. from Duke University. The recipient of two IREX Fellowships, two Fulbright Research and Teaching Fellowships, he has won the coveted Noah Greenberg Award for his CDs “Music of Russian Princesses at the Court of Catherine the Great.” In addition, he has recorded more than twenty CD solo and ensemble recordings featuring the music for the Russian seven-string guitar, to critical acclaim worldwide. Dr. Oleg Timofeyev has taught at universities and conservatoires in the US, Russia, and Ukraine. In addition to a book on Russian-Romani guitar playing (Centerstream, 2018) and a critical edition of collected works by Matvei Pavlov-Azancheev (with Stefan Wester, DGA Editions, 2020), Timofeyev recently published the historically first monograph on the seven–string guitar in Russia (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2023).

This program is funded by the Clayton & Odessa Lang Ofstad Foundation, Bank of America N. A., Co-Trustee.

A live stream of this concert will be available to watch for free on our website at https://www.nmmusd.org/nmm-live-video

Fee: $Free with Museum Admission