Announcing the 2024 Worldwide Play-In Weekend: May 17-19
May is Chamber Music Month!
And ACMP is happy to announce its official Worldwide Play-In weekend:
Friday, May 17 through Sunday, May 19, 2024
We are actively encouraging Play-Ins large and small during the Worldwide Play-In weekend and all through the month of May.
If you would like to organize a Play-In, now’s the time to start planning. Find a venue, get the word out, take reservations, rustle up some parts and let the festivities begin!
Perhaps you need some financial support to rent a space, buy refreshments, tune a piano…if your Play-In is open to the public (subject to your RSVP requirements) you can apply for a Play-In grant from ACMP. It’s a simple application, evaluated on a rolling basis.
And most importantly – ACMP wants to know about your Play-Ins! Please post all of your public Play-Ins in our Events and Workshops Directory soon. (Be sure to select the event type “Play-In.”) You can also get the word out about your Play-In through the ACMP Members Group on Facebook. And you can email me at sgriffin@acmp.net with information about your plans.
For any guidance on planning a Play-In, please watch the video from ACMP’s online “How to hold a Play-In” event from last January. For your convenience, we divided the video up by topic:
“How to Hold a Play-In” Video Excerpts by Topic:
What is a Play-In and How to find a suitable venue
The importance of sight-reading and creative instrumentation choices
Finding repertoire and forming ensembles
Creating a festive environment
Happy Play-In planning!
More Articles
In conversation with Kenji López-Alt: Chef, Food Writer and Amateur Violinist
Kenji López-Alt is a renowned chef and James Beard Award-winning cookbook author. Perhaps he is best known for his work as a New York Times food columnist and the Chief Culinary Advisor for Serious Eats, and for his adventurous cooking videos on his own YouTube channel. But did you also know that Kenji is a life-long violinist and passionate amateur chamber musician? And that you can hear Kenji’s keynote address and play Brandenburg concerti with him and a festive mix of professional and amateur players at the Chamber Music America Conference in Houston on Saturday, February 15?Read More ↗
ACMP 2024 Giving Report
ACMP Foundation awarded a total of $199,938 USD in its 2024 fiscal year (August 1, 2023 through July 31, 2024), distributed over five grant programs. These programs touched the lives of an estimated 6391 chamber music players in 16 countries.Read More ↗
New Film Club Video: “Through the Darkness”
Watch the video of Stephanie Griffin's interview with documentary filmmaker Hilan Warshaw about his film, "Through the Darkness." The event, held shortly after the 150th anniversary of Arnold Schoenberg’s birth, explored the story of two extraordinary figures: composer Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) and Austrian Expressionist painter Richard Gerstl (1883-1908).Read More ↗
A classical open mic night in Boston
Boston Community Chamber Music (BCCM) hosts its fifth open mic event on Saturday December 7 at 3pm at Somerville Music Spaces.Read More ↗
Giving Tuesday is December 3rd!
This Giving Tuesday, please play your part in supporting ACMP's international community of passionate amateur chamber players and the world’s only grants program for adult amateur chamber music!Read More ↗
Q&A: Taking up the cello in later life
The senior years in life are often associated retiring, slowing down or playing golf. But Mavis Himes had a different idea: She took up the cello. It was a long-held dream, one that she needed to act on. Six years later, she is still going strong, despite setbacks like a bicycle accident and an arduous recovery.Read More ↗
Support ACMP through holiday shopping!
It's the holiday season and you can support ACMP by holiday shopping at our store! We have 2 new original cartoon mugs, holiday cards, cute cocktail napkins and a book by Lucy Miller-Murray.Read More ↗
Music for Two Violins: Personal Reflections on 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.Read More ↗
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?Read More ↗
Sixty years after its founding, the Houston Civic Symphony is going strong
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!Read More ↗
Winter in Vermont: Decoda launches its first-ever adult amateur retreat
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.Read More ↗
ACMP Listening Club: Demystifying Charles Ives with violinist Gregory Fulkerson on Sunday, December 8 at 2pm ET
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!Read More ↗
ACMP Listening Club: Brahms Piano Quintet in f minor, Op. 34
Get ready to dive into Brahm's Piano Quintet in f minor, Op. 34 with Peter Fender on Sunday, November 10 at 2pm on Zoom. Learn more about the background of this masterwork and get pro tips on interpretation and performance practice.Read More ↗
Join ACMP at the CMA National Conference in Houston, February 13-16, 2025
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.Read More ↗
ACMP Film Club: “Through the Darkness”
Celebrating Schoenberg at 150: Watch Hilan Warshaw's documentary film and meet him at ACMP Film Club on Sunday, October 6 at 2pm ET on Zoom.Read More ↗
The Daraja Music Initiative: 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!Read More ↗
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!Read More ↗
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.Read More ↗
Win 2 tickets to Peoples’ Symphony Chamber Concerts!
Read More ↗
ECUADOR, MEXICO AND SPAIN: WINE & FRIENDSHIP
Music can bridge cultural divides and connect people from all over the world. Read Catalina Paredes' story about the "Just Play" concert in Quito on July 27, 2024.Read More ↗
Load More
All Articles By