Beyond Baroque | Fabulous Fanny: A Concert Journey of the Mendelssohn's Berlin
BAROQUE STRING ENSEMBLE TO PERFORM AT NATIONAL DISCOVERY CENTER, JANUARY 7
Concert to feature artists from Boston, Los Angeles, Bozeman, and Bismarck
American Prairie is pleased to announce an evening concert of classical music from Baroque Music Montana at the National Discovery Center in Lewistown, located at 302 W. Main Street. On Tuesday, January 7 at 7:00pm, a period string ensemble composed of accomplished artists from around the United States will present “Beyond Baroque” Fabulous Fanny: A Concert Journey of the Mendelssohn’s Berlin. The 90-minute concert will be held in the Clyde Aspevig Event Center. Admission is free; however, donations to American Prairie can be made online at https://americanprairie.org or at the door with your phone using a QR code.
“Beyond Baroque” Fabulous Fanny explores composer Fanny Mendelssohn’s musical world in Berlin and the influences of her family and social position on her dramatic String Quartet in E-flat. Additional repertoire includes works from the baroque through romantic ages, including pieces from her Aunt Sara Levy’s concert salon and vast manuscript collection, to the hit opera composer of the day Giacomo Meyerbeer, and on to Beethoven, Fanny’s greatest influence. Musicians will use period instruments in an exploration of historic, early-romantic style. Performing artists will be Carrie Krause and Davina Clarke (baroque violin), Maureen Murchie (viola), and Michael Untermann (cello).
The National Discovery Center is free and open to the public Thursday through Saturday from 10am to 4pm. Visit americanprairie.org/national-discovery-center to learn more, and follow American Prairie on Facebook for updates on upcoming events and programming.
About the Artists
Carrie Krause is the Founder and Artistic Director of Baroque Music Montana, an organization which presents a series of community concerts in southwest Montana, as well as the Period Performance Workshop. As a modern violinist, Krause serves as concertmaster of the Bozeman Symphony and was concerto soloist with the Billings Symphony, Fairbanks Symphony, Casper Symphony, String Orchestra of the Rockies, and Bozeman Symphony. She has served as guest concertmaster of the Big Sky Festival Orchestra, Billings Symphony, Helena Symphony, and guest artistic director of String Orchestra of the Rockies. Raised in Fairbanks, Alaska, Krause has performed as baroque violinist with ensembles across the nation and on numerous international series, including engagements in France, England, Serbia, Switzerland, and Finland. She has been featured four times in the Emmy Award-winning TV series, 11th and
Grant. Krause received degrees from Carnegie Mellon University and the Cleveland Institute of Music in violin performance and a second masters from The Juilliard School in Historical Performance.
Davina Clarke performs around the globe with the world’s most highly regarded period ensembles – The English Baroque Soloists and Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, The English Concert, Academy of Ancient Music, Dunedin Consort, Arcangelo, The Sixteen and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Davina holds a Masters from the Royal Academy of Music. She performs regularly at Carnegie Hall and The Lincoln Center (New York), the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Philharmonie (Paris), La Scala (Italy), Palau de la Musica (Barcelona), The Royal Opera House, Wigmore Hall, and Royal Albert Hall in London. Her most recent engagements include the BBC Proms, recording her first and second solo albums, and touring extensively in Europe, the US, and Far East performing Beethoven, Handel and Berlioz. Recently, Davina was made an Associate of The Royal Academy of Music (ARAM) for her outstanding contribution to the music industry. Davina is also founder and host of ‘The Classical Corner’, a podcast which takes listeners behind the scenes of the classical music world today, through discussions with some of the world’s most highly regarded musicians. She also hosts ‘Musical Mixology’, an online cocktail series, exploring the relationship between classical music and cocktails. Davina plays on both a 1659 Francesco Ruggieri violin and also a 1699 Giovanni Baptista Rogeri violin. Davina is supported by Sebastian Lyon, The VEC Acorn Trust, and The Stradivari Trust.
Maureen Murchie is an active performer on violin and viola, in demand as a soloist, leader, chamber musician, and teacher. In addition to her work as Concertmaster of the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra, Assistant Conductor of the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Youth Orchestra, and a member of the Handel and Haydn Society in Boston, recent performing engagements include the baroque and contemporary orchestras of Trinity Wall Street, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Apollo’s Fire, Mark Morris Dance Company, Harry Connick Jr., El Mundo (Carnegie Hall, Feb 2023), and the Broadway pits of Tootsie, Parade, and Farinelli and the King. In December 2021 she was a featured soloist in Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with the American Classical Orchestra at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall.
Maureen grew up in Sendai, Japan, and in 1995 won first prize at the Bach Hall Classical Music Competition in Nakaniida. She holds degrees from Baylor University and a doctorate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her album Gospel Hymns for Violin & Piano with jazz pianist Paul Johnston was released in February 2024. Dr. Murchie has held teaching positions at Eastern Illinois University, McLennan Community College, University of Illinois, Neuqua Valley High School, and InterSchool Orchestras of New York. For the 2023-24 school year she served as Director of Orchestras at Bismarck High School and adjunct string instructor at University of Mary. She was recently appointed Assistant Dean of Humanities, Arts & Sciences at Bismarck State College in Bismarck, North Dakota.
Michael Untermann enjoys a varied musical career as a chamber musician, orchestral cellist, and concert producer. He is a core member and co-principal cellist of Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra in Toronto and continues to be a member of the self-directed string chamber orchestra A Far Cry and principal cellist of Boston Baroque. He is also the Artistic Director of Five Boroughs Music Festival, a chamber music series that presents concerts in venues throughout the five boroughs of New York City. He has performed on Grammy nominated albums with both A Far Cry and Boston Baroque. Other recent projects include concert sets and recordings with Arion Baroque Orchestra, Bach Akademie Charlotte, Ensemble Caprice, the Knights, Portland Baroque Orchestra, Ruckus, and the Staunton Music Festival. Michael studied at the New England Conservatory and The Juilliard School, and was a Fulbright Scholar to Barcelona, Spain, studying with Lluis Claret and the Quartetto Casals.
About Baroque Music Montana
Founded in 2015 by Carrie Krause, Baroque Music Montana specializes in chamber music inspired by history. BaMM performs works by celebrated composers of the Baroque, as well as obscure pieces not heard since the 18th century. Based in Bozeman, BaMM provides a performance platform for local artists, visiting professionals, and students interested in the style. To learn more or to donate, visit https://baroquemusicmontana.org.
