Born in North Dakota, Rose Hammer grew up in the midwest, eventually graduating from Butte HS in Montana. Her strong interest in music led her to pursue a degree in classical saxophone performance at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore. There, she studied privately with Gary Louie, and became increasingly involved with the Jazz department, eventually studying with Gary Thomas, as well as performing with several jazz ensembles. Upon completion of her undergraduate degree, Rose enrolled in the Masters program in Computer Music, while continuing to simultaneously pursue her interests in jazz. In 2004-05, she collaborated with Michael Formanek in creating the Technology and Improvisation Ensemble , funded by a grant from the Johns Hopkins Center for Educational Resources. Additionally, Rose helped start the 24hc at Peabody, which is now run by current students at Peabody and has become a bi-annual event. Encouraged by several faculty members to explore improvisation further, she became involved with activities centered at the Red Room, and was invited to join the Red Room collective in the spring of 2005. She now actively participates as a member of that collective in the booking and running of an experimental concert series at the Red Room in Baltimore as well as the annual High Zero Festival of experimental improvised music. Currently she is involved with a new music group called After Now which focuses on the creation and performance of new compositions; she performs with Death in the Maze and as a performer for the After Now series regularly.