Support Us

Our Mission

The Chamber Music Conference enables committed chamber musicians to learn and grow, and supports new chamber music composition and performance. We offer an intensive summer program that includes coaching sessions, seminars, formal and informal playing opportunities, commissions, composer residencies, and performances by our distinguished faculty.

How Your Support Helps

The Conference’s annual income typically comes from: participant fees, grants and donations, investment income, and revenue from advertisements in our printed concert programs. Participant fees cover only about 75% of operating expenses, so we rely on the generosity of donors like you to help support our costs while keeping tuition affordable for as many in our participant community as possible.

Please consider joining our growing community of donors. There are many ways you can support the Conference, outlined below. If you’d like to direct your gift to a specific purpose based on your interests and passions, see Designating Your Gift below for more information. You can also make an unrestricted donation for general operating support. Whatever the amount or purpose, your contribution is greatly appreciated and will help ensure more summers of music-making.

Ways to Give

The Conference is a 501(c)(3) organization, Federal Tax ID 51-0152693. All gifts are tax deductible in the U.S. to the full extent allowed by law.

Online Payments

You can make your gift through a secure online payment at PayPal, using a credit card or a PayPal account.

If you wish to direct your gift to a particular purpose, read Designating Your Gift below, and on the screen that appears after you enter your billing information, click the (Optional) Designate a fund link and enter your instructions.

Checks

Please make checks payable to Chamber Music Conference and mail to:

Chamber Music Conference
c/o Sylvia Lipnick
470 Whitney Ave #B1
New Haven, CT 06511

Securities

The Conference welcomes gifts of stocks, bonds, or mutual fund shares. Please consult with your financial advisor and contact us at giving@cmceast.org for transfer instructions.

Matching Gifts

You may be able to increase the impact of your gift if you or your partner works for a company that matches charitable donations. Please check with your employer’s human resources office or personnel department regarding their process.

If a hard copy form is required, mail it along with your check or with a copy of the receipt from your online donation to:

Chamber Music Conference
c/o Sylvia Lipnick
470 Whitney Ave #B1
New Haven, CT 06511

Electronic forms can be emailed to giving@cmceast.org.

Bequests

Join our Robert Maguire Legacy Society by providing for the Conference in your will, trust, retirement plan, or life insurance policy. See more about Robert Maguire.

If you would like to join the Robert Maguire Legacy Society by making a bequest, simply incorporate the following language in your estate plans: I give and bequeath (x dollars or percent of the residue of my estate) to The Chamber Music Conference and Composers' Forum of the East, Inc., a Vermont charitable corporation, for the benefit of the Conference.

Your participation will set an important example for others and will help assure the long-range success of the Conference. You can send email to giving@cmceast.org to notify the Conference of your intentions, to let us know whether you wish to have your name included in our listings of society members, or to request more information.

Assets

Gifts of musical instruments and other tangible assets greatly aid the Conference, and a gift of assets to the Conference also provides you with a generous tax deduction. Please consult with your financial advisor and contact us at giving@cmceast.org for more information or to notify us of your gift.

Designating Your Gift

You can direct your donation to our general operating fund or to one or more specially targeted funds, described below, by specifying your preference in your online donation form, check memo, bequest, or correspondence. Donations without designation will be added, with gratitude, to the general fund. You may make a donation in memory of someone, or in honor of someone; the Conference will acknowledge donations in the name of that individual in our annual donations listings.

General Fund

Contributions provide essential support for operating expenses, participant scholarships, composer commissions, faculty stipends, and educational events.

Financial Aid Fund

Contributions to the Financial Aid Fund enable both new and returning participants who require financial assistance to attend our summer Conference. The fund was established by an initial gift from Carl Tretter and has been further supported by contributions to the fund in memory of Mort Raff and Eve Cohen. See more about Carl Tretter, Mort Raff, and Eve Cohen.

Composers' Forum Fund

Contributions to this fund, including contributions to the fund in memory of Jacob Glick, support Composers' Forum activities, including new music commissions for coaching and performance during the summer Conference. See more about Jack Glick.

Other Special Funds

Named Chair Fund—Contributions to this fund in memory of Pat Stenberg support an Oboe Faculty Chair one week of the Conference. Contributions to this fund in memory of Marya Sielska support a Piano Faculty Chair for one week of the Conference. See more about Pat Stenberg and Marya Sielska.

Barbara and Jerry Hulka Fund—This fund, initiated by a generous gift from participants Barbara and Jerry Hulka, supports lectures and special events. See more about Barbara and Jerry Hulka.

From time to time, we invite gifts to support other special initiatives.

Advertising in Our Program Book

The Conference publishes a program book for each season of our Concert Series. Advertisements in our program book reach hundreds of people each summer. Please contact us if you would like to advertise with us.

We are grateful for the support of all who placed advertisements in our 2023 program book:

Andrea Berger & Barbara Lakota
Carriage House Violins
D'Addario
The Occasional Winds
Opus 1 Chamber Music School
Hugh & Rowena Rosenbaum
Abby Wells

Recognition and Sponsorships

The Conference will be pleased to acknowledge the generosity of appropriately-sized gifts with naming opportunities for a faculty chair, scholarship fund, new music commission, or similar recognition. You will create a lasting legacy while supporting the Conference far into the future. Corporate and business sponsorship opportunities are also available.

Please contact us at giving@cmceast.org for more information.

Acknowledgements

The programs of the Chamber Music Conference are made possible, in part, by support from ACMP Associated Chamber Music Players, the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, the Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, and generous contributions from individuals.