We are excited to present a multi-day regional celebration of J.S. Bach, featuring Carrie Krause as she pursues the Annapurna of solo repertoire by performing the Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin. Called Bach Roads of Montana, events are listed below, and details can be found on our 2020-21 Season page.
“Bach has been a life-long companion, my favorite composer even as a young student. I love his logic, intellect, craft. Bach was a lover of word games and numerical puzzles, and playing his music has elements of solving a cerebral puzzle. That said, his figuration and sequential patterns are beyond anything I could ever invent in my mediocre improvisations. These six Sonatas and Partitas are the one ‘desert-island’ pick for violinists, our daily text, personal trainer of technique maintenance and growth. Playing this pieces will be a culmination of the past many months of devoted practice and years of dreams!Bach is played by musicians of all ages, abilities, and instruments. His music is loved by audiences world-wide, the backdrop of our daily lives and life’s most profound events as the hallmark of weddings and funerals alike. In celebration of community, and this place we love, BaMM hosts a spectrum of events to celebrate this landscape, history, and our athletic and artistic culture.”–Carrie Krause
Bach Roads of Montana kicks off in downtown Bozeman the weekend of May 15-16. On Saturday, Bach on Main Street features pop-up performances by a variety of musicians of all ages, abilities, and instruments. Musicians will perform in 20-minute time slots at various locations in downtown Bozeman. In the afternoon, a neighborhood parade of Suzuki violin students will begin at the Campeau House (419 S. Grand) at 3 pm and conclude at Canterbury Park (Tracy and Olive), with young musicians playing Bach pieces from memory. Sunday is Bach at Trails. In partnership with Gallatin Valley Land Trust, local musicians will entertain hikers at trailheads across the valley, playing in 20 minutes at a time. This was piloted with great success this past summer, as musicians performed at the Langhor, Peets Hill, and Sourdough trailheads. Biking for Bach is a community bike tour held the weekend of May 22-23 that will link six towns of our valley with six solo violin works of Bach. Join us for any or all parts of this road bike, with brief performances by Carrie in parks and coffee shops along the way. Towns are Churchill, Manhattan, and Three Forks on Saturday, and Gallatin Gateway, Bozeman, and Belgrade on Sunday. The Historic Churches Tour will be held Friday, May 28, through Sunday, May 30. Carrie will perform Bach’s solo works for violin in centuries-old rural churches, celebrating these treasured historic buildings and their communities through live performance, photography, and recording. Churches are in or around the picturesque communities of Townsend, Lennup, Laurin, Virginia City, Jeffers, Willow Creek, and Manhattan. Exploring the Bach-side of the Sonatas and Partitas is an outdoor lecture-performance that will take place on Sunday afternoon, June 13 at the Beehler’s Triple Tree home. The celebration’s finale is on June 17 and 19, when Carrie will perform the Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin at St. James Church in Bozeman.