About Us

Learn about who we are, what we do, and why!

Mission, Vision, and Values

Chamber Music Monterey Bay is a 501(3)c non-profit organization.
Our tax ID # 23-7001657.

OUR MISSION

Chamber Music Monterey Bay enriches the cultural life of the community by

promoting high-quality chamber music through a world-class concert series and community education programs.

OUR VISION

Chamber Music is defined as music performed by one person per part, with two or more players, and usually without a conductor. CMMB focuses on the European-based tradition of chamber music composed over the past four centuries and its contemporary international expressions. CMMB preserves the tradition of live classical chamber music performance and creatively explores the evolution of this art form by offering new music as well as the beloved classics.

Catalyst Quartet, 2022

View Season Concerts

artistic highlights and history

In it's earliest iteration, Chamber Music Monterey Bay (CMMB) was part of an early Carmel music organization, founded in 1927. Its founders, Hazel Watrous and Dene Denny, were two pioneers of early California history who brought music performances to the Monterey Bay Peninsula in the mid-1920s, often featuring new works by local composers. In 1966, a new organization, which would eventually be called Chamber Music Monterey Bay, was formed to focus on small ensemble chamber music concerts (trios, quartets, etc.). Today, in addition to ongoing outreach and education activities throughout the community, CMMB is active in presenting - and often commissioning - new works by young composers which reflect the world in which we now live.

Here are some of our artistic highlights:

2002-2012

Chamber Music Monterey Bay was one of only twenty presenting organizations nationwide to participate in the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson International Trio Award (KLRITA), 2002-2012. The biennial KLRITA was the first piano trio award in the world of classical music and was created to encourage and enhance the careers of accomplished and extraordinarily promising young piano trios (piano-violin-cello). The four KLRITA winners appeared on our series to huge critical acclaim.

2008

We launched our first multi-event residency program with the nationally-acclaimed Cypress String Quartet. As a result, more than tripled its annual number of outreach activities in local schools, with the artists working closely with area teachers to augment their music curricula. This program continues today as CMMB’s “Visiting Artist Outreach” Program, through which our visiting ensembles visit K-12 classrooms in Monterey County and provide interactive music activities. In addition, as time allows, our ensembles make occasional visits to Senior Residences for people who cannot attend live performances in Carmel.

2007

Chamber Music Monterey Bay achieved a major artistic milestone by commissioning a chamber work for the first time. Credo, a string quartet written by internationally-acclaimed composer Kevin Puts and performed by the Miró Quartet, had its World Premiere in Carmel in October 2007. The work was later recorded (2009) and is being performed around the world, a new favorite among the world’s most renowned presenters.

2012

Chamber Music Monterey Bay presented “Te Amo Argentina” – a program of vibrant works, by Argentine composers, accented by Tango dance and photographic images of the diverse Argentine landscape – a pulsating and inspiring homage to classic Argentina. Featuring music from the Latin Grammy Award-winning album “Antonio Lysy at the Broad – Music from Argentina”, this was a hugely exciting event; our audience even joined the dancers following the performance for some unscheduled tango lessons!

2013

We presented “Portals”, a multi-media exploration of longing and connection in the digital age conceived by virtuoso violinist Tim Fain, producer & creative director. Co-producer and film direction by Kate Hackett, choreography and dance films directed by Benjamin Millepied, text by Leonard Cohen, and lighting and production design by Roderick Murray.

The program included music by: Philip Glass, Kevin Puts, Aaron Jay Kernis, William Bolcom, Nico Muhly, and Lev Zhurbin.

2011-2015

Our most recent artistic achievement, the four-part Arc of Life commissioning project, features the work of four acclaimed American composers: Kevin Puts, Chris Theofanidis, George Tsontakis, and Joan Tower. World Premières of each of the four commissioned works were the highlight of four consecutive Chamber Music Monterey Bay concert seasons – featuring the Daedalus String Quartet, Trio Solisti with clarinetist Jon Manasse, the St. Lawrence String Quartet with soprano Jessica Rivera, and the Miró String Quartet.

2015-2016

In our 2015-2016 season, the Jasper String Quartet performed a new work by Aaron Jay Kernis – co-commissioned by Chamber Music Monterey Bay in consortium with Caramoor, Carnegie Hall, Classic Chamber Concerts (Naples, Florida), Chamber Music Northwest, and Wigmore Hall.

We plan to continue commissioning new works in partnership with presenter consortia, thus carrying out our Mission to present music composed over the past four centuries and its contemporary international expressions – exploring creatively chamber music’s on-going evolution.

Isidore String Quartet at Marina High School, 2025

Community Outreach Highlight

Here are some of our Community Outreach Highlights:

Marina High School Orchestra Class

Isidore String Quartet- 2025 January

Testimonials from Students:

'"It really helps students visualize what they could be playing in the future."

-Leah, 16 of age

'I love the passion that you can see within the musicianist's body language and how you can feel the engery of positivity in the room while they play. The artists were definately connected with their playing and their love for what they do."

-Amari, 17 of age

'"The musicians were amazing. The quality of their performance was beyond anything my students normally get to hear. They are an excellent inspiration for them."

-Maria (Class Teacher)

Senior Class

Isidore String Quartet- 2025 January

Carmel Valley Manor Residents

Mission

Monterey High School Orchestra Class

Viano String Quartet- 2025 April

Senior Class

VIANO String Quartet- 2025 APRIL

Hacienda Carmel

Mount Toro High School Orchestra Class

Catalyst Quartet- 2025 late April

Testimonials from Students:

'"It was a great event and it made me look at music in a different way."

-Alex, 16 of age

'I liked how I was able to listen to music I don't usually listen to. I think these events will encourage kids to play instruments or listen more to that type of genre."

-Leslie, 18 of age

'"Something that I love about this event is that it make me feel in peace. Also it takes my anxiety away for a while. I was very happy to seen the concert."

-Carolina, 18 of age

Middlebury Institute for International Studies

Catalyst Quartet- 2025 Late APRIL

Orchestra Students Class

Staff

our board and staff

Board of Directors

Beth Garnett – President

Holly Byers Ochoa - Vice President

Anne Fitzpatrick - Treasurer

Peter Williams – Secretary

Amy Anderson – Artistic Chair

Janet Brennan

Matt Norton

Peggy Field

Office Staff

Elizabeth Brooks - Executive Director

Arturo Rios - Administrative Coordinator

CMMB Board and Staff, 2025