- Home
- About
- About SCMS
- Directors
- Artists
- Vera Beths
- Steven Dann
- Marc Destrubé
- James Dunham
- Mark Fewer
- Eric Hoeprich
- Christopher Krueger
- Myron Lutzke
- Marilyn McDonald
- Douglas McNabney
- Mitzi Meyerson
- Pedja Muzijevic
- Anca Nicolau
- Jacques Ogg
- Loretta O'Sullivan
- Lambert Orkis
- Paolo Pandolfo
- William Purvis
- Marc Schachman
- Jaap Schröder
- Andrew Schwartz
- William Sharp
- Ian Swensen
- Lucy van Dael
- Ensembles
- Concerts
- The Collection
- Recordings
- Education
- Donate
August 2023
Smithsonian Chamber Music Society
2023-2024 Season
The 47th season of the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society features musical masterpieces from the late 16th century to the cusp of the 21st, played on some of the world’s most highly prized musical instruments. Concerts (with the exception of the 28 January Smithsonian Chamber Orchestra evening) take place in the National Museum of American...
July 2014
Renovation plans at the National Museum of American History include a renovation of the Hall of Musical Instruments that will restore the home of the Smithsonian Chamber Music Program. In this video, Museum Director John Gray speaks about the hall, and the Smithsonian Consort of Viols (Brent Wissick, Craig Trompeter, Kenneth Slowik, Catherine Slowik, and Catharina Meints) performs Alfonso...
July 2014
Virtuosissimo del violino, e vero Orfeo de nostri tempi
With these words (“Great virtuoso of the violin, and our contemporary Orpheus”), Francesco Gasparini, writing in his 1708 figured bass tutor, succinctly described Arcangelo Corelli, one of the most revered and influential composers of the entire baroque era. Publishing his works at the time of a...
June 2012
Press Coverage
on the Harpsichord Academy, Competition
and Concert Series
To hear a conversation with Kenneth Slowik and WETA's Marilyn Cooley discussing the harpsichord concerts, academy and competition: Click Here
For the IONARTS article: Semifinalists are announced Click Here
For the IONARTS article on Mitzi Meyerson's concert at the Smithsonian: Click Here...
June 2012
During early August, the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society and the Westfield 2012 International Harpsichord Competition and Academy present four members of the Academy faculty and Competition jury in a series of recitals featuring historical harpsichords from the Smithsonian Collection.
Saturday, 4 August: Arthur Haas (SUNY Stony Brook) performs works of Rameau, Duphly, Forqueray, and...
November 2010
The William Steinway Diary Goes Digital
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History will launch its online edition of “The William Steinway Diary” in December to coincide with a special display of the diary that will provide a glimpse into the famous piano manufacturer’s life and one of the most...
August 2010
Stradivarius. Those five talismanic syllables are certain to excite even the novice string player. How many tens of thousands of instruments have been labeled “Antonius Stradivarius” in an attempt to borrow some of the luster of the famed Cremonese craftsman’s name! But since fewer than 650 authentic Strads survive, to play one, even for a brief moment, will, for most who have...
July 2010
Friends of Music Recordings is pleased to announce its third release, Piano Trios of Clara and Robert Schumann, performed by The Castle Trio: Lambert Orkis, piano; Marilyn McDonald, violin; and Kenneth Slowik, violoncello. This CD presents two of the finest chamber works by Clara and Robert Schumann, whose sixteen-year-long marriage was the commingling of the shared musical experience,...
June 2010
Erin Helyard at the keyboard of the 1794 Broadwood piano
On Thursday 27 May 2010, the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society, in conjunction with the Westfield Center and the Music Division of the Library of Congress, hosted another fascinating keyboard evening in the Hall of Musical Instruments. Australian harpsichordist/fortepianist Erin Helyard, recently named the Westfield Concert Scholar for...
May 2010
The Smithsonian Chamber Music Society presented two special keyboard concerts toward the end of the 2009-2010 season. The weekend of Saturday/Sunday 11-12 April, harpsichordist Charles Metz brought to the Hall of Musical Instruments two instruments for comparison with instruments in the Smithsonian collection. The first was a recently-restored early 17th-century Italian pentagonal virginal...
