History
Since its inception in 1962, the Grand Teton Music Festival has earned the reputation as one of the most important summer music festivals in the country. Originally produced by an organization known as the Fine Arts Guild as part of the Jackson Hole Fine Arts Festival, the Grand Teton Music Festival’s first several seasons included dance, film, and visual art as well as music. Local volunteers gave time, energy, and money to make the acoustical panels, risers, and floor coverings that provided the setting for beautiful music. With performances in the old High School gymnasium, the Jackson Lake Lodge, and on the lawn of St. John’s Church, the Festival made a mark on the summer cultural life of Jackson Hole.
A NEW LEVEL
The Grand Teton Music Festival moved to Teton Village in 1967 when the Jackson Hole Ski Corporation gave the Festival a rent-free site for a concert tent. The Festival quickly set a goal of finding a permanent home for its concerts to be in place before the tent became shredded by the sun and wind. It became increasingly clear that a permanent music director was also necessary. With the appointment of Ling Tung as Music Director in 1968, the Festival took a giant step forward. He and his business manager Margaretha Walk envisioned the Festival as a summer retreat for an esteemed group of professional musicians. Since that time, musicians from America’s great orchestras and music school faculties gather annually to form a resident orchestra that performs weekly concerts of symphonic music, as well as chamber music, in this collegial setting.
A PERMANENT HOME
After seven years of orchestral performances in Teton Village under a carnival tent and chamber music in the Mangy Moose Saloon, the Festival celebrated its growing national prominence by opening Walk Festival Hall in 1974 at the base of the ski slopes in Teton Village. Paul McCollister and the Jackson Hole Ski Corporation generously donated the land on which the Hall is built. Architect Bob Corbett, acoustic engineer Christopher Jaffe, construction tycoon John Bancroft and Job Captain George Sutherland built Walk Festival Hall achieving acclaim for its unrivaled acoustics. 2007 marks the grand re-opening of Walk Fesitval Hall following a 10-month, $4.85 million project to preserve its rich acoustics. The addition of interior and exterior soundproofing, as well as extensive functional and aesthetic improvements, ensures great performances in Walk Festival Hall for generations to come.
YEAR-ROUND OFFERINGS
In addition to the Festival’s summer season and a series of winter concerts, year-round education and outreach programming has become an integral part of the Festival’s mission. These programs reach more than 12,000 young students, musicians, and adults each year.
A TRADITION OF MUSICAL EXCELLENCE
Eiji Oue succeeded Ling Tung as Music Director, leading the Festival from 1997 – 2003, and was the driving force behind founding one of the Festival’s most loved events, the outdoor, annual July Fourth community concert, Music In The Hole, in 1997. 2006 marked the arrival of internationally renowned conductor Donald Runnicles as Music Director, only the third conductor to hold this position in the Festival’s history.
Now, after nearly 35 years of residency in Walk Festival Hall, the Festival has welcomed some of the world’s most celebrated artists such as Emmanuel Ax, Paul Badura-Skoda, Sarah Chang, Lynn Harrell, Yehudi Menuhin, Itzhak Perlman, the New York Philharmonic under the direction of Zubin Mehta, Robert Shaw and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and the Choral Arts Society of Washington DC to its stage.
A NEW LEVEL
The Grand Teton Music Festival moved to Teton Village in 1967 when the Jackson Hole Ski Corporation gave the Festival a rent-free site for a concert tent. The Festival quickly set a goal of finding a permanent home for its concerts to be in place before the tent became shredded by the sun and wind. It became increasingly clear that a permanent music director was also necessary. With the appointment of Ling Tung as Music Director in 1968, the Festival took a giant step forward. He and his business manager Margaretha Walk envisioned the Festival as a summer retreat for an esteemed group of professional musicians. Since that time, musicians from America’s great orchestras and music school faculties gather annually to form a resident orchestra that performs weekly concerts of symphonic music, as well as chamber music, in this collegial setting.
A PERMANENT HOME
After seven years of orchestral performances in Teton Village under a carnival tent and chamber music in the Mangy Moose Saloon, the Festival celebrated its growing national prominence by opening Walk Festival Hall in 1974 at the base of the ski slopes in Teton Village. Paul McCollister and the Jackson Hole Ski Corporation generously donated the land on which the Hall is built. Architect Bob Corbett, acoustic engineer Christopher Jaffe, construction tycoon John Bancroft and Job Captain George Sutherland built Walk Festival Hall achieving acclaim for its unrivaled acoustics. 2007 marks the grand re-opening of Walk Fesitval Hall following a 10-month, $4.85 million project to preserve its rich acoustics. The addition of interior and exterior soundproofing, as well as extensive functional and aesthetic improvements, ensures great performances in Walk Festival Hall for generations to come.
YEAR-ROUND OFFERINGS
In addition to the Festival’s summer season and a series of winter concerts, year-round education and outreach programming has become an integral part of the Festival’s mission. These programs reach more than 12,000 young students, musicians, and adults each year.
A TRADITION OF MUSICAL EXCELLENCE
Eiji Oue succeeded Ling Tung as Music Director, leading the Festival from 1997 – 2003, and was the driving force behind founding one of the Festival’s most loved events, the outdoor, annual July Fourth community concert, Music In The Hole, in 1997. 2006 marked the arrival of internationally renowned conductor Donald Runnicles as Music Director, only the third conductor to hold this position in the Festival’s history.
Now, after nearly 35 years of residency in Walk Festival Hall, the Festival has welcomed some of the world’s most celebrated artists such as Emmanuel Ax, Paul Badura-Skoda, Sarah Chang, Lynn Harrell, Yehudi Menuhin, Itzhak Perlman, the New York Philharmonic under the direction of Zubin Mehta, Robert Shaw and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and the Choral Arts Society of Washington DC to its stage.