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Member Story

A Space for Everyone

Ohio-based ACMP cellist Melanie Bernhardt had a workshop experience that prompted her to contemplate one of the most difficult questions we face as we age or simply develop health problems that affect our playing: When should one put down one’s instrument? Should friends discourage friends from playing when their physical capabilities are compromised?
Featured Orchestra

The Houston Civic Symphony

60 years and going strong!

Join ACMP for an action-packed chamber music vacation in Houston, Houston, Texas has a long-standing arts tradition, including the region’s oldest community orchestra, The Houston Civic Symphony. The group was founded in 1964, and sixty years later it’s still going strong!
Chamber Music Vacation in Houston

Join ACMP at the CMA National Conference

February 13-16, 2025 at Rice University and the InterContinental Hotel Houston

Join ACMP for an action-packed chamber music vacation in Houston, Texas this February at the CMA National Conference. We’re making history! For the first time in ACMP’s long-standing relationship with CMA we are collaborating with them on their annual conference as a Partner Organization. We’ve made sure there are many fabulous activities of interest to all of you who play chamber music for pleasure.

Claim your ACMP discount and register now!
Chamber Music Repertoire

Music for Two Violins

Personal Reflections of a Forgotten Genre

For the past seven years ACMP coach Gabriel Schaff has had the pleasure of discovering a corner of the chamber music repertoire that he now considers to be undervalued and under-explored: music for two violins. Read about the gems of this repertoire, from the Baroque era through the twentieth century.
How-to Guide

How to convert a Merton Music 2-up Booklet to a Single-Page PDF

Struggling to convert those pesky booklet-style Merton Music pdfs in IMSLP to a single-page pdf that you can easily print or read on your iPad? ACMP member Tom Frenkel has figured it out! Read his handy guide.
ACMP Listening Club

Demystifying Charles Ives with violinist Gregory Fulkerson

Sunday, December 8 at 2pm ET on Zoom

Join violinist and Ives scholar Gregory Fulkerson on Sunday, December 8 at 2pm Eastern for an in-depth discussion of Charles Ives’ life, background and music, with a special focus on his String Quartet no. 1 (1896- 1902), in celebration of the groundbreaking composer’s 150th birthday!

Sign up now!
New Workshop

Winter in Vermont: Decoda launches its first-ever adult amateur retreat

January 3-9, 2025 at Potash Hill

The Affiliate Ensemble of Carnegie Hall, Decoda, is launching its first-ever adult amateur chamber music retreat at the historic Marlboro Music Festival campus, Potash Hill in January 2025. Read Stephanie Griffin’s interview with Decoda clarinetist and workshop organizer Alicia Lee.

Register by November 26

The Daraja Music Initiative: 15 years of Music and Conservation in Tanzania

15 years of Music and Conservation in Tanzania

Since 2017, ACMP member clarinetist and nonprofit leader Alexys Bush has traveled to Tanzania, Africa where she teaches general music and clarinet for the Daraja Music Initiative (DMI), for whom she serves as Assistant Director. DMI bridges music education and the conservation of Tanzania’s national tree – the African Blackwood, also known as ebony – used to make clarinets, oboes, piccolos, and some string fingerboards. It’s not too late to get involved in DMI’s 15th anniversary season as a volunteer!

Volunteer in Tanzania!
Just Play Concert

Playing for Good

Playing for Good: The Mystic String Quartet and Big Lux

The Mystic Quartet joins forces with hip-hop violinist Big Lux in a unique and highly creative concert program, “Harmony Not Hate,” on as a benefit for the Southern Poverty Law Center at 4pm on October 19 at Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church in Mystic, Connecticut. Read about the thinking behind the program, their discovery of new works through the Kronos Quartet “Fifty for the Future” online library, and their adventures working with a renowned hip-hop artist – and support their cause!

Grants

The ACMP Foundation awards grants to foster the playing of chamber music for pleasure by people of all ages and skill levels from all over the world. Since its founding in 1993, the ACMP Foundation has awarded over 3,000 grants totaling over $4 million dollars for ongoing programs and special projects promoting participatory chamber music activities worldwide. ACMP grant recipients include workshop presenters, nonprofit organizations, regional and national institutions, individuals, and ensembles. The ACMP Foundation does not require non-profit/charity status for grantees (501c3 in the U.S.).

Workshops and Community Music Programs

Apply for funding for your workshops and community programs for amateur musicians of all ages. Grants are awarded to programs offering active participatory chamber music experiences to adult amateurs and youth over 13

 Guidelines Apply

Home Coaching

The Home Coaching program encourages musicians who meet regularly as a group to engage a professional coach in order to gain musical insight, develop efficient rehearsal skills and exchange musical ideas.

Guidelines Apply

Play-In

ACMP awards up to $500 to individuals or organizations towards expenses for public Play-Ins. A Play-In is a participatory chamber music event, where all in attendance bring their instruments and play chamber music for pleasure in small and large ensembles. Listeners are also welcome, but Play-Ins are not concerts.

 Guidelines Apply

Just Play

ACMP awards up to $300 to help chamber music ensembles showcase work they have rehearsed and prepared in an informal concert setting. All players in the ensemble must be members of ACMP with a profile in the Directory of Chamber Musicians.

 Guidelines Apply

Impresario

ACMP awards grants of up to $500 to membership organizations to present concerts that provide performance opportunities for multiple adult amateur chamber music ensembles.

 Guidelines Apply

Susan McIntosh Lloyd Award

Each year, ACMP’s Board of Directors gives the Susan McIntosh Lloyd Award for Excellence and Diversity in Chamber Music to a chamber music organization or ensemble demonstrating an outstanding record of chamber music education to diverse communities. The award is given in honor of former ACMP Board Member and long-time newsletter editor Susan McIntosh Lloyd (1935 – 2018) and celebrates her life-long commitment to education.

 Guidelines Apply
What does ACMP mean to you? Join ACMP
“A long and generous tradition of providing a network for players, and a source of useful information on chamber music and performance”
— Ronald M Costell, cello
“The best Facebook “avant la lettre” for chamber music players”
— Henri van den Hombergh , Violin , Nijmegen, Netherlands
“A tremendous resource for networking, and a community of similarly chamber-music-crazed individuals!”
— Stephen Poppel, clarinet
“Education, opportunity!”
— Shari Ebert, violin
“A portal to promised serendipities. Some get to be tangible.”
— Marjana Viero Rutkowski, cello
“A worldwide resource not found in kayaking or cross-country skiing”
— Gary Leisman, flute
“As a chamber music junkie, ACMP is a great resource!”
— Arlene Hajinlian, piano
“An excellent resource for all things amateur adults need to know to find and play together”
— Rita Spillman, piano
“A great international family of musicians connecting players around the world. I found many friends by our community and even during the pandemic we kept well connected”
— Stephan Brandel, violin
“The way to stay connected to chamber music, the heart of my life…”
— Julie Fulkerson, violin
“An important database and support group”
— Linda Plaut, violin
“Very valuable resource and community builder for chamber music players and fans. Really appreciate your grants – they help small organizations like us (Chamber Music Madness, in Seattle WA) put on workshops for students and adults, with professional coaching”
— Pamela McDonald, violin
“I love the organization. I have made great friends and had wonderful chamber music experiences through ACMP”
— Janet White, cello
“A resource for diverse musical people interested in chamber music”
— Dwight Campbell, horn
“A network to find chamber music players worldwide”
— Yuki Konii, cello
“I was so excited when I found out it was possible to link up with players around the world. It’s a magical thing to be able to turn up somewhere and know you have a link with people in a foreign country because you share a love of chamber music.”
— Sarah Watson, viola
“It provides a way to connect with other chamber players, widen my knowledge of chamber music and improve my playing skills”
— Valerie Chereskin, flute
“Linked me with incredible friends all around the world to play music”
— David Rasmussen, violin
“ACMP helps me find workshops, other players when I travel, and now is getting me going with online playing.”
— Mari Gottdiener, violin
“A nice resource for finding players and workshops, and the founder of the Worldwide Play-In”
— Mary Felley, cello
“An international community of people who love playing chamber music”
— David Pearl, cello

ACMP By The Numbers

Players
>3,000
Grants Awarded
>$4M
Countries
>40
Email Subscribers
>5,000
Join ACMP

ACMP Guide to Playing Levels

Consult the guide to help determine your playing level for the Directory of Chamber Musicians

Self-rating can be tricky! But it is an essential tool to get the most of your chamber music experiences through the ACMP Directory of Chamber Musicians. Read ACMP’s handy guide to help make your assessment. And please remember: you can edit your profile and change your playing level at any time!

Location search: By proximity? Or in a specific location?

An easy guide to searching the ACMP directories by location.

 Master Class Video

Watch the first Kronos Quartet master class on YouTube

ACMP’s first online master class with the Kronos Quartet on Saturday, November 12, 2022 was a success! Congratulations to the three groups from Idaho State University, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and SUNY New Paltz who performed so beautifully. Watch the November class and sign up now to play on April 15.

How to Hold a Play-In

Watch the videos from ACMP’s online panel discussion

Watch the video of ACMP’s online workshop “How to Hold a Play-In” with panelists Peter Aupperle, Susan Alexander, Michael Knoch, Virginia Feldman, Phyllis Kaiden and Bob Myers. Get some expert tips on holding a Play-In and organize one yourself for ACMP’s 2023 Worldwide Play-In Weekend, May 19 – 21.

Chamber Music for Novice-level Players

Violinist and educator Jill Schultz shares tips on how to find satisfying chamber music repertoire for novice-level players

 CMA and ACMP

Partners in Chamber Music!

Watch the video of ACMP’s panel discussion at the CMA 2023 National Conference

Chamber Music America (CMA) and ACMP are finding new ways to support one another in our shared mission of supporting the field of chamber music worldwide. In January 2023, ACMP gave its first public panel discussion at the CMA National Conference: “Coaching your Audience” on best practices for working with adult amateur musicians.

 Planned Giving

Remembering Louise Hauser: Educator and Philanthropist

ACMP is grateful to have received a generous bequest from the late Louise Jean Hauser Russo, who passed away on December 3, 2020 at the age of 99.

 Just Play Concert Video

ACMP Members in California perform Beethoven and Gabriela Lena Frank

California ACMP members Sue Soong, Kevin Jim, Angus Davol and Julie Park perform an ambitious program of Beethoven and Gabriela Lena Frank at their concert in Albany, California, supported in part by ACMP.

Watch the video!

 At a Glance

Online Chamber Music Resources

ACMP is committed to helping music lovers worldwide in their efforts to keep chamber music alive over the Internet throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and beyond.

 JamKazam

Playing Chamber Music Over the Internet – For Real!

Susan Alexander shares her insights on JamKazam with links to her user-friendly how-to guide.
ACMP stimulates and supports the playing of chamber music for pleasure by musicians of all backgrounds, ages and skill levels worldwide by connecting people and supporting chamber music activities for individuals, groups and organizations Join ACMP