ABOUT US

Welcome to the 74th season of the Asheville Chamber Music Series. We are excited to share this year’s offering of world-class chamber ensembles. We thank you all -- ticket holders, subscribers, patrons, and donors –- for your loyal support. The ACMS thrives because of you, and we are grateful.

The ACMS is a 501(c)3 not for profit organization governed by a volunteer Board of Directors and supported by a part-time Administrative Director.

Founded in 1952 by Joe Vandewart, a refugee from Nazi Germany, and ten other music lovers, the ACMS began modestly. After setting up a table in the lobby of the Battery Park Hotel, the group quickly found 800 people willing to pay the $4 price for a season subscrip-tion for “an unspecified number of concerts.”

The Alberni Trio gave the first concert on October 16, 1952. Since then, chamber ensem-bles from around the world have performed for the Series. These include the Budapest, Emerson, St. Martin in the Fields, Juilliard, and Kodaly Quartets, along with duos, trios, piano quartets, quintets, and larger chamber ensembles. The legendary Amadeus Quartet performed in the first season and returned seven times, partly due to the friendship and hospitality of Mr. Vandewart, who was a leading force in the ACMS until his death in 1985. Each year, one concert is designated as the Joe Vandewart Memorial Concert.

In keeping with its mission, the ACMS created a robust Educational Outreach Program in 2009 to reach out to the next generation, expand music education opportunities for area students, and inspire a lifelong love of music. The Opal String Quartet joined in this effort and is our partner in bringing music instruction into the public schools.

Since 2015, the ACMS has presented chamber concerts as part of the biennial Amadeus Festival mounted by the Asheville Symphony Orchestra. Responding to the 2020-21 national COVID pandemic, the ACMS, supported by its subscribers, presented a complete virtual season, assuring that artists would be paid and that an isolated audience would enjoy great music at home.

In 2022 the ACMS launched its first Rising Stars Series, presented in collaboration with the Asheville Art Museum. These recitals, held in the Museum’s atrium, feature promising North Carolina musicians embarking on concert careers.

In recent years the ACMS has reached beyond conventional boundaries, first by exploring new venues, like The Grey Eagle Music Hall in the River Arts District, and also by appreciating an expanded musical repertory. Leading string quartets enjoy playing new music in front of appreciative audiences, and this is part of why the Asheville Chamber Music Series is sought out by the world’s leading chamber musicians.