Bozeman Symphony musicians will be featured as part of the concert series, Symphony at the Shane, presented by the Bozeman Symphony, at the Shane Lalani Center for the Arts – 415 East Lewis Street, Livingston, MT – on Thursday, May 16th, at 7:30 PM. Symphony at the Shane performances feature the very best of the Bozeman Symphony Orchestra and Symphonic Choir. Each performance showcases two diverse soloists and ensembles.You’ll be wowed by these fantastic musicians and proud to know they are your neighbors! Violinist Carrie Krause along with Julie Gosswiller on piano will perform a selection of romantic musings featuring the music of Sergei Prokofiev, Cesar Franck, and Fritz Kreisler. Clarinetist Wendy Bickford along with Laurel Yost on piano will perform Solo De Concours by Andre Messager, Sonata No 2 in E-flat by Johannes Brahms, and Three Pieces for Clarinet and Piano by Paquito D’Rivera. 

Violinist Carrie Krause specializes in early music, performing with baroque ensembles as soloist and concertmaster across the country and on numerous international series, such as the BBC Proms and Utrecht Early Music Festival. Originally from Fairbanks, Alaska, Carrie is concertmaster of the Bozeman Symphony, teaches students ages four to infinity, and is founder of the concert series Baroque Music Montana, the baroque ensemble I-90 Collective, the Second String Orchestra, Bozeman Chamber Ensembles for youth, and the Period Performance Workshop. She is a graduate of The Juilliard School, Cleveland Institute of Music, and Carnegie Mellon. Some days she loves
to skate ski almost as much as practicing violin. www.baroquemusicmontana.com

Pianist Julie Gosswiller’s greatest passions in life is making music with other musicians and for that she is in high demand. Ms. Gosswiller has collaborated with many of her colleagues at Montana State University and with renowned musicians, Adam Barnett Hart, of the Escher String Quartet, the Ahn Trio, Dallas Brass and more. Together with her colleagues, she will concertize in China this December. For more than 17 years Ms. Gosswiller and Elizabeth Croy have performed art song throughout Montana and the United States. The two have been featured twice now on the Emmy Award Winning Series, 11th and Grant with Eric Funk. Eric Funk wrote of Julie’s playing, “her technique is only dwarfed by her expressiveness and deep interpretation of the music. I have enjoyed hearing her performances numerous times over many years a can attest to her incomparable artistry.” They won numerous awards in the Cybersing Competition including the Nancy Babcock award for best pianist and were one of ten teams chosen nationally to participate in the Cleveland Art song Festival. They continue to promote art song in venues around Montana. Ms. Gosswiller’s other passion is teaching at Montana State University where she received the President’s Excellence in Teaching Awards. Her students have won the Montana State University Concerto competition.  Private students have won the Montana Music Teachers Association competitions at the elementary, junior and senior levels. Her students have won honors at the regional level and gold medals in Musicfest Northwest. 

At six years old, Clarinetist Wendy Bickford heard her older brother practicing the clarinet. Even though the sounds were rather frightening at times, she wanted to play it. He charged $5 a minute for Wendy to try it out. After discovering the classical music station and Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto, life was never the same; she knew she wanted to be a performer.  Wendy earned her bachelor’s from the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University and her master’s from the University of Northern Colorado.

Prior to moving to Montana three years ago, Wendy was a clarinetist in “The President’s Own” Marine Band performing for Presidents George W. Bush and Barrack Obama. During this time, she performed as a soloist, chamber musician and coordinated outreach programs throughout the United States.  Wendy has also performed with several orchestras including the Colorado Symphony.  

Currently, Wendy has started a private studio and is a member of the Billings Symphony Orchestra and Chorale. She has started a clarinet choir for high school students and is hoping to expand to younger players soon.  Wendy is also in progress of creating a non-profit program to provide opportunities for every child to have more music education in their lives.  Her goal is to see a symphony orchestra of 8 to 10 year-olds that includes children playing mini bassoons!

Pianist Laurel Yost is a beloved member of the professional staff in the Music School at Montana State University. The following quote is from a student that prefers to remain anonymous, “[Professor Yost is] among the most insightful musicians I’ve ever met. She hears everything. She sight-reads with a higher level of detail and stylistic subtlety than most graduate students will ever perform. She knows how to set goals that you can achieve... if you are willing to practice effectively (and diligently).” The professor and pianist performs as a soloist and with ensembles including: Camerata Trio, Beethoven Trio, Milhaud Trio, and Montana State University-Bozeman New Music Ensemble. Having studied at Colorado State University, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, England, and Whitworth College in Spokane, Idaho, she is currently completing her Doctorate of Musical Arts at the University of Iowa.

Symphony at the Shane would not be possible without help from our concert sponsors: Sal & Carol Lalani and Donald B. Gimbel. Tickets are $15/adult, $10/student, senior and available by calling 585-9774 or online, bozemansymphony.org. Tickets for this event can be purchased in advance or at the door.