The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) is an American organization dedicated to the performance and promotion of chamber music. Its website states that it is "the nation’s premier repertory company for chamber music."[295649]

CMS is one of twelve constituents of New York City's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the largest performing arts complex in the world. Its home is at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall and its activities include performances, education, recordings, and broadcasts events. The organization's roster includes 35 performing artists, to which guest artists are added.

CMS presents concert series and educational events annually. The organization's artistic directors are David Finckel and Wu Han. The founding director was Charles Wadsworth (1969-89), and previous directors also include Fred Sherry (1989-93) and David Shifrin (1993-2004).

CMS has released a number of CDs, including works from the standard repertore as well as contemporary compositions. It also tours the United States regularly. The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts at Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut has been an annual tour destination since 2002.

The first CMS performance took place on September 11, 1969. CMS performances include works dating back as far as the Renaissance as well as newly composed pieces. The organization has commissioned over 135 new works from composers such as Bruce Adolphe, Samuel Barber, Leonard Bernstein, William Bolcom, John Corigliano, George Crumb, Lukas Foss, John Harbison, Alberto Ginastera, Morton Gould, Keith Jarrett, Oliver Knussen, Gian Carlo Menotti, Darius Milhaud, Peter Schickele, Bright Sheng, Joan Tower, Jin Hi Kim, and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. CMS also supports the work of living composers by awarding the Elise L. Stoeger Prize, a cash award given every other year to an outstanding composer of chamber music.

The 2009-2010 CMS season presents the complete Beethoven violin and cello sonatas, as well as performances of the complete Beethoven quartets featuring six former CMS Two ensembles: The Borromeo String Quartet, The Brentano String Quartet, The Daedalus Quartet, The Miami String Quartet, The Miró Quartet, and The Pacifica Quartet.

External links

• The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center official site
• Discography at SonyBMG Masterworks
• Free recordings by the Chamber Music Society from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum