The Seattle Chamber Music Society (SCMS) is an American organization of musicians located in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

that is 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 ...

. Established in 1982, the presenting organization is currently in its 30th Anniversary Season. Originally the organization only presented a series of summer concerts during the month of July at the Lakeside School. However, in 1999 the organization added a series of winter concerts during the month of January at

Benaroya Hall Benaroya Hall is the home of the Seattle Symphony in Downtown Seattle, Washington, United States. It features two auditoria, the S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium, a 2500-seat performance venue, as well as the Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital H ...

downtown Seattle Downtown is the central business district of Seattle, Washington. It is fairly compact compared with other city centers on the U.S. West Coast due to its geographical situation, being hemmed in on the north and east by hills, on the west by ...

. In 2005 they expanded their summer series to include further performances during the month of August at

The Overlake School The Overlake School is a 5-12 private, non-sectarian, co-educational, college preparatory school in Redmond, Washington, United States that was founded in 1967 by Charles Clarke. History The original campus was located at the Redwood Manor ...

in addition to the July performances. SCMS was founded by

Toby Saks Toby Saks (January 8, 1942 – August 1, 2013) was an American cellist, the founder of the Seattle Chamber Music Society and a member of the New York Philharmonic. Music history Born in New York City to an immigrant family, Saks began music less ...

, a

cellist The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 ...

and music professor at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

, who served as artistic director until she handed over to

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

-winning

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist

James Ehnes James Ehnes, (born January 27, 1976) is a Canadian concert violinist and violist. Life and career Ehnes was born in Brandon, Manitoba, the son of Alan Ehnes, long time trumpet professor at Brandon University (Canada), and Barbara Withey Ehnes, ...

about a year before her death on August 1, 2013. Ehnes had been associate artistic director since 2008, and Connie Cooper has been executive director since 1996. Recent performers with the organization include violist

Cynthia Phelps Cynthia Phelps (born 1961 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California) is an American violist whose versatile career involves work as a chamber musician, solo artist, and orchestral musician. Phelps is currently the Principal Violist of the New York P ...

, cellist Ronald Thomas, pianist

Jeremy Denk Jeremy Denk (born May 16, 1970 in Durham, North Carolina) is an American classical pianist. Early life Denk did not come from a musical family. After several years in New Jersey, his family settled in Las Cruces, New Mexico, where he grew up. He ...

, harpsichordist Byron Schenkman and violist Richard O'Neill. The Society hosts more than forty artists each season who also boast impressive careers, with the

Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington st ...

describing them as "the equivalent of an all-star lineup. A dream team of chamber players."Seattle Times, July 6, 2008
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References

External links

* {{authority control 1982 establishments in Washington (state) Chamber music groups Non-profit organizations based in Seattle Musical groups from Seattle Arts organizations established in 1982