Kids Up Front & Free!
Chamber Music Monterey Bay sponsors a free ticket program for Monterey County school children from 3rd to 12th grade. Children and their paying adult companions are invited to sit in the center front three rows at each of our concerts for an “up close and personal” concert experience with world-class musicians. This program makes it possible for students from all economic backgrounds to attend a professional chamber music performance and discover the joys of classical music. It also provides families with affordable opportunities to attend classical music concerts together. All Monterey County music teachers are informed of this program, and are welcome to attend with their students for free.
To reserve your tickets, contact our office at (831) 625-2212 no more than one month before the concert you would like to attend.
Pre-Concert Lectures
Kai Christiansen
Chamber Music Monterey Bay offers free pre-concert lectures at all its Sunset Center concerts. Learn about selected works and composers to gain deeper insights into the music.
Join noted San Francisco Musicologist Kai Christiansen for five pre-concert talks this season. Mr. Christiansen is a musicologist, writer and lecturer on chamber music and is the founder of earsense, an online chamber music exploratorium at earsense.org.
Lectures start at 7:00 PM in Studio 5, downstairs from the Sunset Center Lobby.
Join us!
Visiting Artist Outreach
Besides presenting world-class concert events, Chamber Music Monterey Bay is also deeply concerned about music participation and performance from childhood on. We know that many local schools lack music instruction; some children are never exposed to classical music, and many parents lack the funds for kids’ private lessons or lessons at all. Yet, as youngsters who became life-long chamber music lovers, many of us have experienced the formative value of summer music camps first hand. So, we know that such programs improve our children’s education and quality of life, develop self-esteem, social and leadership skills, and provide an experience now all too rare in public education.
The professional chamber ensembles that perform on our concert series go into the local schools where they give interactive concerts, clinics and master classes. During our 41st Season, we served over 500 school children, many of them minorities who would ordinarily not have an opportunity to meet world-class musicians on a one-on-one basis. Personal interactions with professional musicians of this stature are a thrilling experience, and expand the horizons of our youth.
A note from a middle school student following one of our programs said it all!
She wrote, “I don’t like classical music but now I think I’ll give it a try.”
Another wrote, “In fact, you inspired me and my friends so much, we started playing together.”
This is what it is all about and we are thrilled to get this feedback and learn the program is hitting its mark! In addition, we frequently take our musicians to play for residents in local assisted living facilities who are not able to attend our concerts.
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