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 06

Fee: Free, Members only event

Long ago, when people experienced a solar eclipse, they thought the world would come to an end. We will discover how the sun, earth and moon are related to each other and explore how a solar eclipse can occur.

Apr 06

The Lead Deadwood Arts Center is excited to announce the 20th Annual LEGO Contest and STEAM Fair will be held on Saturday, April 6, 2024 at Lead Deadwood High School, 320 S. Main in Lead. Participants should create a LEGO sculpture at home and enter it in the contest. Judging will be based on creativity and originality, so the less LEGO kit parts used, the better. Grade categories will be Pre-K, 1 & 2, 3 & 4, 5 & 6, 7 & 8, high school and adults. Awards will be given for the top three in each category. There is no pre-registration, just arrive between 11 and 11:30 with your entry, judging will begin at 11:30. (For easier transport of your sculpture to the high school, please use the back door of gym on CC Curran Avenue). While waiting for the judging, be sure to check out all the great displays and experiments at the STEAM Fair sponsored by Lead Deadwood High School. For more information, please call 605-584-1461. Special thanks to our friends at Dakota Gold Corp for sponsoring this year's contest!

Apr 06

Several Black Hills communities feature historic cabins, either at their museums or in their public parks. These cabins have been saved to highlight and commemorate that town’s pioneer past. Each cabin has a story behind it, and this talk will discuss those stories, a few of which have been distorted over the years. While demonstrating how well we remember our past, this PowerPoint presentation will also provide a quick overview of these Black Hills landmarks. Sponsored by the High Plains Western Heritage Center in conjunction with the Leland D. Case Library at Black Hills State University.

Fee: $Free, with voluntary donations taken at the door

Apr 06

Enjoy our exhibit celebrating 100 years of Little "I" history one last time and reminisce with others as we remember previous Little "I" contests.

Free and open to the public.