Events

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

Apr 01

Visit the SD Discovery Center in Pierre as they help celebrate Month of the Military Child. Military youth and families receive free admission throughout the month of April. Learn more at https://sd-discovery.org.

Apr 13

KTEQ 91.3 FM, the South Dakota School of Mines student radio station, is hosting its annual rock concert KTEQstrophe (pronounced Kay-Techs-trophy) on Saturday April 13^th from 4 to 6 pm at the Dahl Arts Center in downtown Rapid City. The concert will feature local rock bands Diaphane, Gold Metal, Neon Eyes, and Love Beach. Tickets can be purchased at the door, $6 for SD Mines students, and $10 for general admission. Come out and support local music and Rapid City’s local indie student radio station KTEQ 91.3 FM.

Apr 13

Austin Martin & The Herd is a Montana based country rock band that's built their brand around giving back. In this performance at Bigs Bar, they will be raising donations for Feeding South Dakota. They're known to be the "Motley Crue" of country music.

Austin Martin & The Herd were recently nominated for a country music award- 2024 Hollywood Independent Music Awards, In November 2023, they partnered with the prestigious "Make A Wish" Foundation South Dakota/Montana affiliate, completed their 40 city 2023 "Scars N Stripes Tour". Their hit single, "Country Drunk" was featured on CMT, Yahoo News, and CBS last year. Started their 2024 Feeding America Tour (a.k.a "Feeding the Herd Tour) on February 23, 2024. On this 5o-city plus tour they're volunteering at local food banks, surprising middle- class families to a weeks' worth of groceries, and donating food to local schools that have food pantries for students suffering from food insecurity. Come out and support the band, they're all about performing with a purpose.

They would like to give out a special thank you to: Shipton's Big R, Bretz RV, Coca-Cola, Stockman Bank, Hampton Inn Suites, Feeding South Dakota, Pomegranate Markets, Whittier Middle School, and Exhibit Ambush Consulting.

Follow them here:
www.austinandtheherd.com
IG/Facebook/TikTok: @austinmartinradio/ @austinandtheherd

Fee: $15