The Seattle Chamber Music Society (SCMS) is a chamber music festival located in Seattle, Washington that is dedicated to the performance and promotion of chamber music. Established in 1982, the presenting organization is currently in its 43rd Anniversary Season. Originally the organization 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 Hallindowntown Seattle. In 2005 they expanded their summer series to include further performances during the month of August at The Overlake School in addition to the July performances.[1]
SCMS was founded by Toby Saks, a cellist and music professor at the University of Washington, who served as artistic director until she handed over to Grammy Award-winning violinist James Ehnes about a year before her death on August 1, 2013.[2] Ehnes had been associate artistic director since 2008, and John Holloway has been executive director since 2021. Recent performers with the organization include violinists Augustin Hadelich, Amy Schwartz Morreti, Tessa Lark, Benjamin Beilman, Arnaud Sussmann; violists Richard O'Neill, Matthew Lipman, Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, Cynthia Phelps; cellists Edward Arron, Robert deMaine, Ani Aznavoorian, Alisa Weilerstein; Ronald Thomas; pianists Inon Barnatan, Marc Andre-Hamelin, Adam Neiman, Andrew Armstrong, Jeremy Denk. The Society hosts more than sixty artists each season who also boast impressive careers, with the Seattle Times describing them as "the equivalent of an all-star lineup. A dream team of chamber players."[3]