Chamber Music Magazine
Chamber Music is the only national magazine dedicated to the art and business of small ensemble music. A benefit of CMA membership, it's essential reading for everyone in the chamber music community.
Spring 2020
Past Issues
Winter 2020
Fall 2019
Summer 2019
Featured Articles
Just for Us
By Sasha Margolis | Spring 2020
Tomeka Reid thinks every jazz ensemble should have stings. Her annual Chicago Jazz String Summit—taking place via livestream this year—aims to prove it.
Composing a Musicians' Climate Citizenry
By Gabriela Lena Frank and Rebecca McFaul | Spring 2020
A chamber musician and a composer grapple with the environmental impact of a career in music—and begin to chart a new path forward.
When Instincts Aren't Enough
By Andrew Frank | Spring 2020
When seasons and tours resume, presenters and ensembles will need to work strategically to get back on their feet. Audience research can help ensure their decisions are the right ones.
Changing Courses
By Larry Blumenfeld | Winter 2020
At Harvard, a tight-knit community of artists and educators reconsiders how music is studied and played.
CMA Duos: Sylvie Courvoisier & Ken Vandermark
By Peter Margasak | Winter 2020
The pianist and reedist discuss their ongoing collaborations, the pivotal importance of artistic community, and the challenges of developing sophisticated improvised music in today’s arts economy.
Q&A: Arturo O'Farrill & Antonio Sanchez
By Larry Blumenfeld | Fall 2019
On making music and being Mexican in troubled times.
An Invisible Wall
By Irem Karakaya & Emilie Pons | Fall 2019
For many international musicians, traveling to and performing in the U.S. has become prohibitively complex.
The Last Piece of the Puzzle
By Andrew Frank | Summer 2019
A growing movement to program sensory-friendly performances is bringing music and community to long-underserved populations.
Lost Between the Lines
By Sasha Margolis | Summer 2019
Nicholas Kitchen’s quest to decipher long-hidden markings in Beethoven’s original quartet manuscripts.
CMA Duos: George Lewis & Christian Wolff
By Peter Margasak | Summer 2019
The two composers discuss their crisscrossing histories, the unique challenges of teaching one’s own compositions, and their shared passion for what they both call relational music.
Listening for New Orleans
By Larry Blumenfeld | Summer 2019
The sound of the city, unlike any other, has always expressed both simple pleasures and complicated tensions. In the face of rapid change, can its resonance sustain?
Rise of the Reed Quintet
By Sasha Margolis | Spring 2019
How word of a new kind of chamber ensemble spread and took hold in Europe and across the US.
Stories Across Centuries
By Eugene Holley Jr. | Spring 2019
The drummer and composer Mark Lomax II honors the 400th anniversary of the transatlantic slave trade with a massive, 12-CD concept album bridging centuries of African-American history.
Hidden in Plain Sight
By Sarosh Syed | Spring 2019
How a Boston-based presenter is utilizing its festival and an ambitious rebranding effort to draw in younger audiences.
CMA Duos: Sarah Hennies & Ingrid Laubrock
By Peter Margasak | Spring 2019
The percussionist and saxophonist discuss process, place, and Hennies' recent multimedia work Contralto
Pinnacle Win
By Claire Sykes | Spring 2019
The perennially successful Banff International String Quartet Competition continues to evolve its offerings in tandem with a changing field.
Identity Rearranged
By Claire Sykes | Winter 2019
A new recording from Miguel Zenón and the Spektral Quartet pays homage to the music, culture, and history of Puerto Rico.
Connecting the Dots
By Keith Powers | Winter 2019
PUBLIQuartet's improvisatory programs uncover hidden connections between genres, styles, and eras.
CMA Duos: Milford Graves & Jason Moran
By Peter Margasak | Winter 2019
The drummer and pianist compare notes on their years of studying, teaching, and improvising.
A Greater Power
By Larry Blumenfeld | Winter 2019
The legacy of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians keeps growing, one musician at a time.
Feedback Loop
By Nicole Loeffler-Gladstone | Fall 2018
National Sawdust inaugurates a new competition where mentorship--by and for women, trans,and non-binary composers--is central.
CMA Duos: Kris Davis & Mary Halvorson
By Peter Margasak | Fall 2018
The pianist and guitarist discuss writing lyrics, forgoing chord charts, and why playing for a distracted audience can sometimes be a blessing in disguise.
Call and Response
By Michele Mercer | Fall 2018
The We Have Voice Collective continues to deepen and expand the discussion around identity and power in the performing arts.
Life Lessons
By Ray Mark Rinaldi | Summer 2018
Inside Gabriela Lena Frank's innovative new composer academy.
CMA Duos: Okkyung Lee and Craig Taborn
By Peter Margasak | Summer 2018
Introducing CMA Duos, a new column pairing artists for far-ranging conversations on creative practice, inspirations, and the rewards and challenges of musical collaboration.
Off the Map
By Michelle Mercer | Summer 2018
How today’s composers and improvisers evoke landscapes—both familiar and imaginary—in their music.
Balancing Act
By Morgan Greenstreet | Spring 2018
In a year of reckoning around gender inequality, two jazz festivals continue their mission to create a dedicated showcase for female artists.
Remembering Robert Mann
By Sasha Margolis | Spring 2018
The visionary violinist passed away earlier this year, having left an indelible mark on the world of chamber music.
Branching Out
By Kyle MacMillian | Spring 2018
The seven year old Birdfoot Festival presented a 10-day line-up and two artist residencies–a total of twenty-two concerts this past year.
The Inside Story
By Nicole Loeffler-Gladstone | Spring 2018
How Fifth house Ensemble harnesses the power of narrative to reach new audiences.
Resonant Encounters
By Michelle Mercer | Summer 2017
What is it about visual art—and the open, expansive settings in which it is often presented—that helps music audiences embrace the unfamiliar?
Flipping the Script
By Nicole Loeffler-Gladstone | Spring 2017
With a thriving educational outreach program, summer camp, and international festival, PRIZM Ensemble has found a winning formula that puts community first.
Chris Thile and Brad Mehldau
By Gene Santoro | Spring 2017
A new double album by the mandolinist and pianist provides a captivating entry point into the growing canon of jazz-bluegrass fusion.
Southern Exposure
By Peter Margasak | Spring 2017
With a committed volunteer network and an inclusive programming philosophy, the Hyde Park Jazz Festival has forged a uniquely unifying musical presence on Chicago’s South Side.
Out of the Ether
By Shaya Bendix Lyon | Spring 2017
Collaborative work often emerges from relationships that begin in, or primarily occupy, digital space. But what may seem like just part of the work for some poses seemingly insurmountable barriers to others. What can artists do to get their work—and their voices—heard in the vast digital arena?
The Music’s Intention
By Gene Seymour | Winter 2017
The genre-spanning genius of Paquito D’Rivera.
San Francisco Performances’ CreativePIVOT
By Claire Sykes | Winter 2017
A new series from the established Bay Area presenter uses data-driven insights to attract—and keep—an elusive target audience.
Demanding to Be Heard
By Siddhartha Mitter | Fall 2016
Chamber musicians join the Black Lives Matter movement.
Reflecting a Planet in Peril
By Nicole Loeffler-Gladstone | Fall 2016
Through new works and innovative multidisciplinary programs, these artists are fostering creative dialogue around our threatened environment—and how we might save it.
Henry Threadgill
By Gene Santoro | Summer 2016
The uncompromising saxophonist-flutist-composer recently became the third-ever jazz musician to win a Pulitzer Prize—but he’s far from content to rest on his laurels.
Far Afield
By Michelle Mercer | Summer 2016
Three artists relocate for teaching jobs—and find new audiences where they land.
Q&A: Billy Childs
By CMA | Spring 2016
Introducing CMA's new president.
Jane Ira Bloom: Music in Motion
By Gene Santoro | Spring 2016
Few musicians have imbued the soprano sax with such a unique voice.
A Fischer Among Men
By Alicia Anstead | Winter 2016
Kenneth C. Fischer was honored with CMA’s Richard J. Bogomolny National Service Award for his far-ranging, far-reaching career as an innovator and champion of chamber music.
Blurring Boundaries
By Thomas Cabaniss | Winter 2016
The worlds of arts education and community cultural development are moving closer together, providing both challenges and opportunities for growth.
The Engagement Equation
By Adam Schatz | Fall 2015
Navigating the highs and lows of social media and online engagement.
Young 'uns
By Gene Santoro | Spring 2016
Making a living in the music world can be tough. Here Gene Santoro reports how six fledgling jazz musicians are building communities and carving out careers.
