Cleveland Chamber Music Society.

The Cleveland Chamber Music Society was founded in 1949 by a small group of individuals in order to sponsor chamber music concerts of high quality by world class musicians in the Greater Cleveland, Ohio, area. Concerts took place at a number of venues, many in the University Circle area, and also at the Fairmount Temple Auditorium, Beachwood, Ohio. In 1953, the Society established a school concert program, bringing local chamber music ensembles to schools throughout the Greater Cleveland, Ohio, area. In 1969, the Society became affiliated with the national program, Young Audiences Inc., whose goals were also to educate young students in the field of chamber music. The society continued to support these concerts when Young Audiences became an independent organization in 1978. Another mission of the Society was to commission the writing and performing of new compositions by local Cleveland composers, included Arthur Shepherd, Normand Lockwood, Walter Aschaffenburg, Starling Cumberworth, and Gerald R. Humel.

The Cleveland Chamber Music Society (f. 1949) was organized by a small group of individuals, many of whom were teachers and physicians affiliated with the Western Reserve University Medical School. This group included Ernest Bueding, Walter Heyman, Paul Eden, Hans Hirshmann, and others. Its purpose was to sponsor chamber music concerts of high quality by individual musicians and ensembles of world class renown and ability. Articles of Incorporation were signed on February 27, 1950. A large bequest from Grover Higgins was received in 1951, making it possible, beginning in 1952, to establish a series of seven yearly concerts. Performers over the years have included the Guarneri Quartet, the Emerson Quartet, Jean-Pierre Rampal, James Galway, the Borodin Quartet, William Parker, Yo-Yo Ma, the Bach Aria Group, the Cleveland Quartet, and many more outstanding individuals and groups who have performed on the yearly series of concerts. Concerts took place at a number of venues, many in the University Circle area and including the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. In recent years, most concerts have been staged at the Fairmount Temple Auditorium in Beachwood.

In 1953, the Cleveland Chamber Music Society established its school concert program, bringing the newly established Symphonia Quartet and other local chamber music ensembles to schools throughout the Greater Cleveland, Ohio, area. In 1969, the Society became affiliated with the national program, Young Audiences Inc., whose goals were also to educate young students in the field of chamber music. The society continued to support these concerts when Young Audiences became an independent organization in 1978.

Another mission of the Cleveland Chamber Music Society has been to commission the writing and performing of new compositions by local Cleveland composers. Local composer Arthur Shepherd was commissioned to write a string quartet, which was performed in 1960. Other commissions include a clarinet quintet by Norman Lockwood (1959), a string trio by Starling Cumberworth (1961), a woodwind quintet by Walter Aschaffenburg (1967), and a quintet by Gerald Humel (1978).

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