Rolling Hills Chamber Music

03/18/2026

Did you know the puppets from The Sound of Music live in Iowa?

(Yes, THE puppets from the 1965 film starring Julie Andrews!)

They were created by Bil Baird, an acclaimed 20th-century puppeteer who grew up in Mason City, Iowa. Today, these artifacts of musical theater history can be viewed at the Charles H. MacNider Art Museum in Mason City, home to the largest public collection of his work.

Bil Baird's love of puppetry was sparked as a child growing up in Iowa. His career included opening his own puppet theater, designing a float for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, numerous exhibits and worldwide tours, an Emmy nomination, and even writing the music and lyrics (another music connection!) for an original puppet production.

He passed away on this day 39 years ago -- on March 18, 1987.

📍If you're ever near north-central Iowa, be sure to stop by the MacNider Art Museum to see these puppets (and lots of other great art).

Make it a day trip:
- 1.5 hrs from Ames
- 2 hrs from Des Moines
- 2 hrs from Minneapolis
- 2.5 hrs from Cedar Rapids
- 3 hrs from Iowa City

03/15/2026

We are so excited to present a concert with Iowa Composers Forum at our inaugural festival this summer! Celebrating the art and artists of Iowa is the common thread through every element of our programming, so collaborating with this longtime organization dedicated to promoting new music in Iowa feels like the perfect fit.

Members of ICF can submit scores for consideration by April 30. More information about ICF and the full call for scores can be found at iowacomposersforum.org.

Be sure to mark your calendars for this one-time performance on Saturday, August 8 in Ames! More details about this concert, and our entire weekend festival, coming soon.

03/08/2026

Not only is today but March is both Women's History Month AND Iowa History Month! So, it's the perfect time to highlight just *some* of the women composers from Iowa's past and present.

Is there someone we didn't include that you want to shout out? Leave a comment so we can all get to know even more women composers from Iowa 🎼

03/06/2026

📌 Mark your calendars, folks! Rolling Hills Chamber Music's inaugural festival will take place August 6-8, 2026 in beautiful Ames, Iowa. We hope to see you all there!

Official season announcement coming soon...

03/06/2026

That's a wrap on our first crowdfunding campaign! Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who contributed, helping us raise nearly $3.5K to pay our artists in 2026.

If you missed the window to join the campaign, you can still donate on our general support page anytime: https://fundraising.fracturedatlas.org/rolling-hills-chamber-music/general_support

Stay tuned for exciting information about our inaugural summer chamber music festival very soon!

03/03/2026

The crazy part is, nobody asked us to do this 🙃 It's a lot of work building a music festival from scratch (as a one-person operation no less) but come August, it'll all be worth it. Grateful for every person who has followed, donated, or shared words of support so far -- thanks for being here!

03/03/2026

02/11/2026

Why did we create Rolling Hills Chamber Music? Here are just a few of the reasons we're excited to present our first festival this summer.

02/05/2026

THANK YOU to everyone who has contributed to our crowdfunding campaign so far! Every dollar brings us closer to a beautiful weekend of classical music. With just a few weeks left to hit our goal, now's the time to make your donation if you haven't already: bit.ly/RHCMgiving

01/12/2026

Every Iowa Stater knows the sound of the Iowa State University Cyclone Marching Band. With nearly 150 years of history, a recent Iowa State University Library project set out to capture the heartbeat of the band through stories told by alumni members. Read some of their interviews here as part of the Cyclone Marching Band Oral History Project: https://www.lib.iastate.edu/news/their-own-words-stories-cyclone-football-varsity-marching-band

01/06/2026

Here's to good things in 2026!

01/06/2026

Wishing a happy to the "annoying" and "incessant" bird in Spillville, Iowa, whose call became enshrined in the scherzo of Dvořák's American quartet 💚

A few years ago, I was, for whatever reason, studying the score of the scherzo of Dvořák’s quartet, and it struck me that the celebrated “tanager” passage, measures 21–24, is an absolutely terrible transcription of Piranga olivacea, the scarlet tanager. However, it provides an eerily close...