ABOUT US
CHAMBERFEST 2024 JULY 25 – AUGUST 8
Ottawa Chamberfest brings together the boldest names in ensemble and solo performance for musical celebration in the nation’s capital, through its concert series, summer festival, and community engagement and education (CEE) events, which bring music into bring music to schools, care facilities, and the wider community. The world’s largest festival of its kind, Ottawa Chamberfest will celebrate 30 years of changing lives through music in 2024.
Chamberfest’s curation, while steeped in the history of the genre, is ever open to new works and opportunities for collaboration. Chamberfest seeks to foster the art of the small ensemble, and to serving the widest possible community in its delivery.
Throughout the year, Chamberfest animates exciting venues across Ottawa. From churches such as Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre to Beechwood’s Sacred Space, from the lawn of City Hall to the steps of the National Arts Centre, museums, galleries, theatres and heritage sites can all play host to indoor and outdoor performances by artists from around the world and from our own community. Committed to including innovative programming that challenges artists and audiences, Chamberfringe presents late night shows that explore unique collaborations with artists of other genres, including theatre, film, dance and more. While our first festival consisted of 22 concerts at two churches, the festival has grown and changed in many ways; currently it is considered one of the largest chamber music festivals in the world. Chamberfest’s summer festival encompassed 15 days, 364 performers in 75 performances and over 12 venues last year.
Our Concert Series has seen the growth of Chamberfest into an organization that programs world-class artists year round, delighting our audiences with remarkable performances, fresh takes on favourite works, and exciting opportunities to hear new Canadian and international compositions.
Chamberfest is equally committed to our Community Engagement and Education (CEE) events that bring music to schools, care facilities, and the streets, with free and PWYC concerts in Ottawa, and its surrounding communities. CEE includes important community-building initiatives from our Adaptive Concerts and Bring the Kids! programs, which allow the audiences of tomorrow to grow and appreciate music in all its forms, to our concerts in care and palliative settings, to our Chamber Pints, ChamberPride, and City Series concerts, which put exceptional music into neighbourhood settings, and investment in mentorship opportunities for up and coming artists.
