With his career reaching the greatest heights of international acclaim, violinist Gidon Kremer (born in 1947 in Riga, Latvia) was anxious to establish connections with the aspiring younger musicians of the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, and to share his rich artistic experience with them. In line with this conception, he created the chamber music collective known as the Kremerata Baltica in 1997; it is an ensemble identified with Kremer's eclectic and restless exploration of unusual repertory, as well as with fresh interpretations of standard works. Kremer's initiative has stimulated the independent musical life of the Baltic states, loosening the shackles that dire economic straits have placed on the arts.

The name Kremerata Baltica is a pun combining the violinist's name with the old designation of a chamber ensemble as a "Camerata"; the group sometimes adopts the unusual capitalization KREMERata BALTICA in printed materials. The Kremerata at first consisted of only 23 string musicians and performed its debut program to the audiences of Kremer's native Riga in February of 1997, on the occasion of his 50th birthday. In addition to works by Felix Mendelssohn and Franz Schubert, the orchestra played the music of Baltic composers Erkki-Sven Tüür (Estonia), Peteris Vasks (Latvia), and Feliksas Bajoras (Lithuania). The program additionally featured Sutartines, a work that echoes the tragic events of January 1991 in Lithuania by Kremer's longtime friend Alfred Schnittke. Professor Saulius Sondeckis, the well-known conductor and artistic director of the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, also conducted the Kremerata Baltica.

In the summer of 1997, the Kremerata Baltica played the Kremer-led Gstaad Festival (Switzerland), the Lockenhaus Festival (Austria), and the Salzburg Festival. The Kremerata began hosting its own festival in Sigulda, Latvia, in 2003. The Kremerata Baltica has toured extensively, visiting more than 600 cities across 50 different countries. On these tours, it has had several well-regarded guest conductors, such as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Christoph Eschenbach, and Kent Nagano, among others. It has also performed with many world-class soloists, including Jessye Norman, Evgeny Kissin, and Yo-Yo Ma.

As the 20th century neared its end, the Kremerata Baltica experienced considerable commercial success with recordings of music by the "holy minimalist" composer Arvo Pärt and by the tango-classical fusionist Astor Piazzolla. The Kremerata has recorded for several labels, including ECM, Profil, and Nonesuch. It earned an ECHO Klassik award in 2016 for its recording of Shostakovich's piano concertos with soloist Anna Vinnitskaya. In 2019, Kremer and the Kremerata Baltica joined with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Mirga Gražinyte-Tyla on the Deutsche Grammophon album Weinberg: Symphonies Nos. 2 21, which won a Grammy Award the following year. Owing to travel restrictions during the 2020 coronavirus lockdowns, the members of the Kremerata were unable to meet since so many members lived in different countries. Members living in Latvia gathered together to perform throughout Latvia and Estonia, while members living in Lithuania did the same in that country, giving rise to the offshoot ensembles, Kremerata Lettonica and Kremerata Lithuanica. The full Kremerata Baltica returned in 2021 with the Sony Classical album Zal: The Music of Milosz Magin, exploring the music of that little-known composer and teacher. The following year, it issued PPP on the Skani label, featuring the works of Peteris Plakidis, Kristaps Petersons, and Georgs Pelecis. ~ TiVo Staff, Rovi