Backyard Baroque

Join the Arts council of Big Sky for Backyard Baroque, an intimate house concert

featuring musicians from Boston, New York City, Seattle and Montana for the poetic music of Handel, Bach, Purcell, and Dowland in a program called “The Countertenor.” The event will take place at the Schwer-Toepffer residence in Big Sky, and is sponsored by the Arts Council’s Schwer-Toepffer Memorial Fund.
             Tickets are $50 per person, including beverages and a light lunch with snacks. The event will start at 12:30 with the concert starting at 2 p.m. The income generated from ticket sales help pay for the event, but the cost of the artists is underwritten by the Schwer-Toepffer Memorial Fund.

The program features renowned singer Reginald Mobley, countertenor, who is joined by favorite John Lenti on theorbo and Elliot Figg on harpsichord, who returns to Montana after the Billings Symphony’s Vivaldi’s Four Seasons last January. The quartet is rounded out by acclaimed Bozeman violinist Carrie Krause.

            Mobley leads a very prolific career in the United States, where he resides. In March 2020, he became the first ever programming consultant for the Handel and Haydn Society following several years of leading H+H in his community engaging Every Voice concerts. He is a regular guest with Cantata Collective, Musica Angelica, Agave Baroque, Charlotte Bach Akademie, Seraphic Fire, Quodlibet, Pacific Music Works, Bach Collegium San Diego, San Francisco Early Music Society, and the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. His recordings have been received with critical acclaim, including several Grammy nominations, most recently for his work on A Lad’s Love with Brian Giebler, which has been nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album.

Baroque Music Montana (BaMM) 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. Based in Bozeman, it provides a performance platform for both local artists and visiting professionals who have deeply invested in fruitful historical performance.

For more information please visit bigskyarts.org or call 995-2742. The Arts Council is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 1989 with a mission to enrich the community through artistic experiences.