2020 dates: July 19-25
Scripps College
Claremont, CA
If you’re on this website, you probably know that there’s something special and powerful about playing great chamber music. Is it the sensation of being inside the mind of a great composer? The joy of creating a beautiful and ephemeral thing? Spending intimate, creative time with bright, friendly people? The joy of chamber music comes from all of these. And the wonderful thing is: the more skilled you become, the more intense this joy becomes. Imagine having a solid week every year to immerse yourself in chamber music, building your skills in a positive, intense, friendly and informal environment. This is the Southern California Chamber Music Workshop.
This year, the SoCal Chamber Music Workshop (SCCMW), formerly known as the San Diego Chamber Music Workshop, celebrates its 43rd anniversary. SCCMW is designed for amateur and professional musicians (strings, winds, piano, and vocal) ages 18 and up. We offer a fun, intensive and structured program that strives to deepen a musician’s enjoyment and understanding of chamber music, while improving their ability to play within a group. This year’s workshop week includes master classes, group readings, coaching sessions, faculty concerts, evening programs, and musical freelancing.
2020 Theme: Celebrating works by women composers!
This year we are encouraging musicians to explore works written by women composers. This effort is inspired by the “50/50 in 2020” movement in the US which has sought to promote gender parity in the arts, politics, and beyond. We are excited to highlight and explore the many beautiful chamber pieces written by women. Hopefully, this is just the beginning! Come along with us!
What will this initiative involve?
- A curated list of chamber music written by women will be available for participants to peruse. Use this resource to choose the piece(s) you work on in your preformed group, or freelance at night. Many daily assignments will be drawn from this list. While playing works written by women is encouraged, this is not required. (If your heart is set on playing Brahms – go for it!)
- The optional “assigned piece” will be a string quartet written by a woman. TBD!
- Multiple chamber works by women will be purchased to add to the SoCal library.
- Educational posters and an evening lecture about women in music will be available
- And more…!!
We will publish the list of curated chamber music by women on this website soon. If you are thinking of coming in a preformed group, take a look, and consider spending at least part of the week working on a piece from this list.
See our lineup of coaches on our faculty page. The Telegraph Quartet will be back in 2020!
A prospective participant may apply as an individual player or as a member of a preformed group (quartet, etc.) An individual player will receive a new assignment (a combination of new players and a new piece) each day from our coaches. Preformed groups may stay together for as many as five days to explore their own chosen repertoire at greater depth.
If you’re accepted, we’ll send you more information and instructions on how to pay your tuition, and room and board.