About Baroque
Music Montana
Baroque Music Montana specializes in chamber music inspired by history. Baroque Music Montana performs works by celebrated composers of the Baroque, as well as many pieces rarely or not heard since the eighteenth century. Some manuscripts are readily available in digital archives, and some require a great deal of sleuthing to unearth. BaMM’s musician roster rotates based on desired instrumentation for repertoire performed in intimate spaces similar to which the music was originally intended, and often on period instruments. Using historical instruments and referencing original manuscripts, iconography, and historical writing fuels commitment to the music and inspires fresh interpretation. Rather than recreating something old, the aim is to make each performance of this day, of this space, existing because of these musicians and this audience.
Made possible through a grant from The Juilliard School’s Alan D. Marks Center for Career Services and Entrepreneurship, the umbrella of Baroque Music Montana was founded in 2015 by Carrie Krause to provide a meaningful cultural institution of intimate, communicative, progressive performance for our vibrant community. Based in Bozeman, it provides a performance platform for both local artists and visiting professionals who have deeply invested in fruitful historical performance. We partner with many organizations around the state to serve Montana through outreach, house, and public concerts, and an annual Period Performance Workshop sponsored by the Bozeman Symphony.
Enjoy this short video profile of Carrie Krause, made by the Bozeman Symphony in March 2021!
Latest News
Thank you, Give Big donors!
A heartfelt thank you to our generous Give Big Gallatin Valley donors. BaMM raised more than $5,000, on May 4-5, 2023.
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Watch or Rewatch In Celebration of Earth
In Celebration of Earth, performed by Carrie Krause and Julie Gosswiller on April 1, 2023, at Reynolds Hall on the campus of Montana State University, is available on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6maPU3XV6zs
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BaMM’s YouTube channel
Excerpts of some of our performances are our YouTube channel. Come visit and subscribe!
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Baroque Music
The Baroque Period in music was from 1600-1750, beginning with the dawn of opera in northern Italy and concluding with the death of Bach. The purpose of the music was to move the passions, an idea known as Affeckt.
Stylistic conventions of musical forms, ornamentation, and pitch, to name a few, varied greatly from region to region and decade to decade throughout Europe.
Founder Carrie Krause
Artistic Director and violinist Carrie Krause founded Baroque Music Montana in 2015, featuring the world’s top Baroque specialists, playing on period instruments. This music was composed between 1600 and 1750 and still resonates with audiences today. BaMM has helped put Bozeman on the national map as a hub of chamber music activity and outreach, and in 2018 it transitioned to a 501c3 organization whose mission is “to bring live historical performance and education to Bozeman and surrounding communities.” BaMM’s tagline is Music inspired by history, and it has expanded its offerings to include music from other periods in a series called Beyond Baroque. BaMM has also expanded its reach to audiences further afield, including rural areas that rarely get to see live classical music. Carrie’s reputation and personal network attracts musicians far and wide who love returning to appreciative audiences, outstanding musical colleagues, and local hospitality—all amid the grandeur of Montana.
On both Baroque and modern violin, Carrie is a recognized musical leader in Montana and beyond. Her innovative and deeply researched programming includes not only treasured pieces of the repertoire but also unusual and rarely heard pieces, the majority played in Montana for the first time, whether performed in houses, churches, backyards, or parks.
Carrie has been enthralled with the violin as far back as age three, and she fell in love with the music of Bach. After growing up in Fairbanks, Alaska, her family returned to Montana, where her great-grandparents had homesteaded near Lavina. She received her bachelor’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University and master’s from the Cleveland Institute of Music in Violin Performance and Suzuki Pedagogy. She took a two-year leave from her position as concertmaster of the Bozeman Symphony to earn her second master’s in Historical Performance at Juilliard. She also has a studio where she teaches some 30 violin students.
Carrie lives in the foothills of the Gallatin mountain range and treasures the natural surroundings of Bozeman. She is an accomplished endurance athlete, a trail runner, backcountry skier, mountain biker, and backpacker.