The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) is an American organization dedicated to the performance and promotion of

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. It is the largest organization of its kind in the country for chamber music. CMS's home is

Alice Tully Hall Alice Tully Hall is a concert hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in the Upper West Side neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The hall is named for Alice Tully, a New York performer and philanthropist whose donations assist ...

, located in New York's

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

. Founded in 1969 by pianist Charles Wadsworth with the patronage of Alice Tully, the first performance at Alice Tully Hall was September 11, 1969. The current artistic directors are cellist

David Finckel David Finckel (born December 6, 1951) is an American cellist and influential figure in the classical music world. The cellist for the Emerson String Quartet from 1979 to 2013, Finckel is currently the co-artistic director of the Chamber Music S ...

and pianist Wu Han. 032817-Parisian Tableau Cr- Tristan Cook

Overview

CMS'

hosts mainstage performances. The complete

Brandenburg Concertos The ''Brandenburg Concertos'' by Johann Sebastian Bach (Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis, BWV 1046–1051), are a collection of six instrumental works presented by Bach to Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg-Schwedt, Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg ...

are performed each December, and have been called a "New York holiday staple" by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. The Daniel and Joanna S. Rose Studio hosts other events, including contemporary compositions, lectures, and classes. CMS also hosts many education programs for both listeners and musicians, including its Meet the Music! and Inside Chamber Music lecture series. The Bowers program is a residency program at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. It was known as CMS Two until it was renamed after a donation by philanthropist Ann S. Bower. Alumni of the program include

Inon Barnatan Inon Barnatan (born 1979 in Tel Aviv, Israel) is an American/Israeli classical pianist. Biography Inon Barnatan lives in New York City. Music career He studied with Victor Derevianko, Maria Curcio and Christopher Elton at The Royal Academy of ...

Lang Lang Lang Lang (; born 14 June 1982) is a Chinese pianist who has performed with leading orchestras in China, North America, Europe, and elsewhere. Active since the 1990s, he was the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Berlin Philharmonic, ...

, Hilary Hahn, Paul Huang,

Nicholas Canellakis Nicholas Canellakis (born 1984 in New York City) is an American cellist. He made his Carnegie Hall concerto debut in 2015 with the American Symphony Orchestra. He has performed as soloist with the Albany Symphony as his sister Karina Canellakis con ...

, Anthony McGill,

Alisa Weilerstein Alisa Weilerstein (born April 14, 1982) is an American classical cellist. She was named a 2011 MacArthur Fellow. Life and career Weilerstein was born in Rochester, New York. to a secular Jewish family. She started playing the cello at age four. ...

, and the

Escher String Quartet The Escher String Quartet is an American string quartet based in New York City, where they serve as Artists of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Their name derives from the Dutch artist M. C. Escher. Biography The Escher Quartet was ...

. CMS presents more than 80 concerts per season outside of New York City, including concerts in North America, Europe and Asia.

Artistic Directors

* Charles Wadsworth (1969–1989) *

Fred Sherry Fred Sherry (born 1948) is an American cellist who is particularly admired for his work as a chamber musician and concert soloist. He studied with Leonard Rose at the Juilliard School before winning the Young Concert Artists International Auditions ...

(1989–1993) *

David Shifrin David Shifrin (born January 2, 1950) is an American classical clarinetist and artistic director. Biography David Shifrin received early musical training at the Interlochen Center for the Arts in 1963. He attended the Music Academy of the West su ...

(1993–2004) *

and Wu Han (2004–present)

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, The Lincoln Center