Origins of the Chamber Music Society If you think you've never heard the Schuman-Tully-Wadsworth Trio, think again -- because every note played by The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center bears its unique and lasting stamp. Collectively and individually that Trio has contributed immeasurably to the cultural life of the United States. Indeed, there might be no Chamber Music Society as we know it but for the effort spearheaded by Alice Tully, William Schuman and Charles Wadsworth. The magnitude and diversity of chamber music demanded an institution devoted solely to its repertoire, and as President of Lincoln Center, William Schuman determined that chamber music should be housed -- in a hall designed specifically for it -- along with dance, orchestral music, theater, opera and film at America's preeminent artistic base. Dr. Schuman invited the eminent pianist, chamber musician and accompanist, Charles Wadsworth, to help determine the structure of the new chamber music constituent. They decided on a unique format in which chamber works of every size and description would be presented by highly esteemed performers, including a core of Artist Members to be augmented each season by Guest Artists. This institution would also encourage and commission the creation of new works. The founding triumvirate was made complete with the arrival of Alice Tully, a former opera singer and vocal recitalist who agreed to help finance a chamber music hall on condition that it have exemplary acoustics and comfort. The Chamber Music Society's inaugural concert on September 11, 1969 marked the opening of its home, Alice Tully Hall. Mr. Wadsworth served as the Chamber Music Society's first Artistic Director from 1969 to 1989, and Miss Tully served as the Chairman of the Board from 1969 to 1989. WILLIAM SCHUMAN (1910-1992) did not attend his first professional concert until he was 20, but it changed his life profoundly and immediately. Within five years he had attained a B.S. degree in music education and shortly thereafter began to teach at Sarah Lawrence College. At the same time he composed music in what would be regarded as a distinctly American style. His first published work was a popular song with lyrics by Frank "Guys and Dolls" Loesser. When William Schuman's Second Symphony came to the attention of Aaron Copland in 1938, the elder composer called him "the musical find of the year." A Guggenheim Fellow in 1940 and '41, he became Director of Publications at G. Schirmer in 1944 and one year later was named President of The Juilliard School of Music. During the '40s he also earned the first of two dozen honorary doctorates and was awarded the first Pulitzer Prize ever given in the field of musical composition. Dr. Schuman's considerable speaking skills -- Harold Schonberg wrote that "the man can speak with the fervor, hypnotism and eloquence of Gielgud on one of his better days" -- helped him persuade the planners of the new Lincoln Center complex to make Juilliard a constituent. He helped develop the Juilliard Quartet, which served as a model for similar institutionally-based ensembles. In 1962 Dr. Schuman began his seven-year period as founding president of Lincoln Center, during which he was influential in helping establish Lincoln Center's Chamber Music Society and Film Society; he also launched the annual Mostly Mozart festival there. In 1971 Copland again paid tribute to Dr. Schuman: "In Schuman's pieces you have the feeling that only an American could have written them ... You hear it in his orchestration, which is full of snap and brilliance. You hear it in the kind of American optimism which is at the basis of his music." And, Copland, might have added, you hear it in the titles of his pieces, among which are New England Triptych, American Festival Overture, The Mighty Casey, and Mail Order Madrigals, which are settings of texts from the Sears Roebuck catalogue! Dr. Schuman won the Gold Medal of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the National Medal of Arts, and was a Kennedy Center honoree. He was honored with his second Pulitzer Prize in 1985. Prior to his 70th birthday, Leonard Bernstein wrote, "...the man is the music. We are all familiar with the attributes generally ascribed to his compositions: vitality, optimism, enthusiasm, long lyrical line, rhythmic impetuosity, bristling counterpoint, brilliant textures, dynamic tension. But what is not so often remarked is what I treasure most: the human qualities that flow directly from the man into the works -- compassion, fidelity, insight, and total honesty...."

ALICE TULLY (1902-1993) first made her mark as a singer in New York and Paris during her twenties, and in her nineties was celebrated as one of the most generous of America's cultural philanthropists. A mezzo and then a dramatic soprano, Miss Tully studied in Paris with Jean Périer and made her professional debut in 1927 with the Pasdeloup Orchestra. In 1933 she made her operatic debut as Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana with the Salmaggi Opera Company at the New York Hippodrome. She later appeared as Carmen at the Manhattan Opera House and gave recitals in New York and Europe. During World War II Miss Tully was a pilot in the Civil Air Patrol and served as a nurse's aide in the Red Cross. Although she retired from the stage in 1950, some of her greatest musical contributions were yet to come. In 1958 Miss Tully inherited the estate of her maternal grandfather, William Houghton, founder of the Corning Glass Works. She would donate millions of dollars to arts institutions during the next three and a half decades. When her cousin, Arthur Houghton Jr. -- a co-founder of Lincoln Center -- suggested that she underwrite a chamber music hall, she agreed, and during the building of the hall she helped establish the chamber music institution that would permanently occupy it. Although her gift was to have been anonymous, Miss Tully agreed to allow the new hall to bear her name once she was assured that it would have exemplary acoustics. That assurance came when Heinrich Keilholz, who revamped Cleveland's Severance Hall to the liking of Maestro George Szell, was named acoustician of the new Lincoln Center hall. Ever concerned about the well being of performers and audiences alike, Miss Tully insisted that the new hall have rows wide enough to be comfortable for a rather tall friend of hers, even at the expense of a few rows that would have meant more seats and therefore higher ticket revenues. She was also involved in the selection of the Theodore Kuhn Company to build the hall's organ. Miss Tully chaired the Board of the Chamber Music Society and served on the Boards of the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera and The Juilliard School among other arts and educational institutions. In 1970 she was awarded New York City's highest cultural award, the Handel Medallion; she was also honored with New York University's Gallatin Medal, the National Medal of Arts and the Red Cross Humanitarian Award. She was also an officer in the French Legion of Honor. Composers William Schuman, Gian Carlo Menotti and Riccardo Malipiero dedicated works to her.

CHARLES WADSWORTH was recently extolled by The New York Times as The Man Behind the Chamber Music Boom. "The land is alive with professional chamber music groups, many thriving along the lines that Mr. Wadsworth laid out for The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center," observed The Times. "Chamber music has become a force to reckon with in American culture." Mr. Wadsworth received Bachelor's and Master's degrees in piano under Rosalyn Tureck; he also studied vocal repertoire in Paris, Munich and New York. Those experiences would prepare him for a brilliant career as accompanist to such renowned vocal artists as Beverly Sills, whom he accompanied regularly, and Monserrat Caballe, Jan Peerce, Frederica von Stade, Shirley Verrett and Dietrich Fisher Dieskau, with whom he premiered songs he had commissioned from Samuel Barber. Mr. Wadsworth takes special pleasure in collaborating with extraordinary young artists. Mr. Wadsworth's identification with chamber music began in 1960 when, at the invitation of Gian Carlo Menotti, he created and hosted the Chamber Music Series at the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy. Seventeen years later he founded a similar series at Spoleto/USA, where Mr. Wadsworth continues to appear as pianist and host. In 1965 Mr. Wadsworth was asked by William Schuman, President of Lincoln Center, for ideas about a chamber music constituent to reside in the new hall being built for chamber music. When it became clear that the ideas of the two men were completely harmonious, Mr. Wadsworth was invited to head the new organization, and Alice Tully became its chairman. Under Mr. Wadsworth's stewardship, the Chamber Music Society gave more than 1,000 performances and performed more than 700 works by more than 200 composers. Sixty-five of these works were commissioned by the Society. Mr. Wadsworth has appeared frequently on PBS's Live from Lincoln Center; one of those programs received an Emmy Award, and a Christmas special with Wynton Marsalis was nominated for another. Mr. Wadsworth was the subject of a profile on ABC's 20/20. On the occasion of his farewell Chamber Music Society concert in 1989, Mr. Wadsworth was presented New York City's highest cultural award, the Handel Medallion, by Mayor Ed Koch. Other honors include the medal and rank of Cavaliere Ufficiale in the Order of Merit from the Republic of Italy; the medal and rank of Chevalier in the Order of Arts and Letters from the Republic of France; the First ASCAP Chamber Music Award; and the Medal of Honor in Music from the National Arts Club. Mr. Wadsworth performed at the White House for Presidents Kennedy, Nixon, Ford, Carter and Reagan. In the 1995-96 season Artistic Director David Shifrin created the Chamber Music Society's annual Wadsworth Concerts, devoted to vocal chamber music repertoire, to honor its first Artistic Director. Mr. Wadsworth was selected by the Olympics Cultural Committee to be Artistic Director of Chamber Music for the Cultural Olympiad held in connection with the 1996 Olympic Games. Mr. Wadsworth continues to perform and teach around the United States. In 1997 he will become Artistic Director of the new music festival at Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia. There might not be a Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center but for the efforts that were spearheaded by Alice Tully, William Schuman and Charles Wadsworth. Along with a diverse group of dedicated arts supporters, Ms. Tully, Dr. Schuman and Mr. Wadsworth threw their energies, intellects and resources into the creation of an institution that would champion chamber music then and always.