At Teton Raptor Center, Birds Are Encouraged To Chime In During Concerts – Cowboy State Daily

In the middle of a contemporary music performance at the Murie Ranch this summer, something extraordinary happened. As the violin reached into its higher, more dissonant passages — what some might call screechy — a bird began to sing along, matching pitch with uncanny precision.

“There was a really special moment,” said Emma Kail, executive director of the Grand Teton Music Festival (GTMF). “You heard a bird that matched pitch and was in some way kind of tuning in, participating.”

The wild bird seemed to respond to the music by harmonizing with the violin, creating an impromptu duet between human and avian performers.

This encounter perfectly captured one of the festival’s ambitions for its “On the Road” programs, which venture beyond traditional concert halls into the natural world and different corners of the Jackson community.

On a sunny Saturday afternoon in Wilson, another such collaboration took flight inside the restored 1940s Moseley-Hardeman Barn at the Teton Raptor Center.

The soaring Gothic arches that once stored hay echoed with birdsong-inspired compositions as the festival transformed this meeting space at the raptor rehabilitation center into an intimate concert hall where the worlds of chamber music and wildlife converged.

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