Our Mission

Concord Chamber Music seeks to enhance the cultural life of the greater Boston area by presenting affordable concerts of the highest caliber and through community and educational engagement.

Performances have featured renowned ensembles and artists such as the Juilliard, Borromeo, Muir, Pacifica, Takács, Parker, and Jerusalem Quartets; the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson and Hermitage Piano Trios; Triple Helix; violinists Gil Shaham and Glenn Dicterow; and pianists Yefim Bronfman, Marc-André Hamelin, Menahem Pressler, Jonathan Biss, and Peter Serkin. Concerts also regularly feature members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and acclaimed chamber musicians.

With the 2025-2026 season, Concord Chamber Music began its 26th year of extraordinary musical experiences.

Artistic Directors

A man in a black suit holding a violin, smiling and playing the instrument, against a white background.

Daniel Chong

GRAMMY Award-winning violinist Daniel Chong is one of the most exciting and versatile musicians of his generation. Since 2002, as the founding first violinist of the Parker Quartet, he has garnered wide recognition for his performances in such venues as Carnegie Hall, the Library of Congress, Musikverein, and Wigmore Hall. Additionally, recent solo engagements include appearances at National Sawdust in New York City, Seoul Arts Center, and Jordan Hall in Boston. Daniel has received several awards and prizes such as the Cleveland Quartet Award and top prizes at the Concert Artists Guild Competition and the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition. In the recording realm, he can be heard on the ECM Records, Zig-Zag Territoires, Naxos, and Nimbus Records labels.

Mr. Chong has performed at major music festivals including the Marlboro Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest, Mostly Mozart, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and the Perigord Noir Music Festival. In addition to the core repertoire, Daniel is a strong advocate for new music. Some of the composers he has worked closely with are György Kurtág, Augusta Read Thomas, Helmut Lachenmann, and Chaya Czernowin.

Daniel currently serves as Professor of the Practice at Harvard University.

Jessica Bodner

Jessica Bodner, described by the New York Times as a "soulful soloist," is known for her inexhaustible search for vivid music-making and exploration of sound. Jessica is the violist of the GRAMMY Award-winning Parker Quartet and has appeared at venues around the world both with the Quartet and as an individual such as at Carnegie Hall, 92nd Street Y, Library of Congress, Concertgebouw, Wigmore Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin, Musikverein, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and Seoul Arts Center, and has appeared at festivals including Edinburgh International Festival, Chamber Music Northwest, Chamberfest Cleveland, Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival, Moab Music Festival, Yellow Barn, Perigord Noir, Monte Carlo Spring Arts Festival, San Miguel de Allende, Istanbul’s Cemal Recit Rey, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Hitzacker, and Heidelberg String Quartet Festival. As a member of the Parker Quartet, she has recorded for ECM Records, Zig-Zag Territoires, Nimbus, and Naxos.

Jessica has held visiting teaching positions at New England Conservatory and Longy School of Music, been on faculty at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and Yellow Barn Festival, and is currently a faculty member of Harvard University's Department of Music as Professor of the Practice in conjunction with the Parker Quartet's appointment as Blodgett Quartet-in-Residence. Outside of music, Jessica enjoys running, practicing yoga, and hiking with her husband, violinist Daniel Chong, their son, Cole,

Community and Educational Engagement

Community and educational engagement have been a central tenet of Concord Chamber Music’s mission since its founding.

Concord Chamber Music’s engagement programs bring musical performances to individuals who ordinarily would not have the opportunity to attend a concert. Enriching the core concert experience for our audiences with lectures and pre-concert performances by gifted young musicians is essential to our philosophy. These programs aim to foster an awareness and appreciation of chamber music in people of all ages. Community engagement events have featured pre-concert lectures given by acclaimed musicologist Steven Ledbetter, BSO historian Brian Bell, and concert artists, as well as pre-concert performances by students from Project STEP and the New England Conservatory.

Orchestra rehearsal with musicians playing violins and a violin instructor conducting.

Educational engagement events have included classroom visits and performances at local elementary schools, string workshops for high school orchestra members, and free public master classes for local musicians and students. Participating artists have included Boston Symphony Orchestra piccoloist Cynthia Meyers, CCMS founder Wendy Putnam, composer Michael Gandolfi, BSO Concertmaster Malcolm Lowe, BSO Principal Violist Steven Ansell, and music educator Sally O’Reilly, Professor of Violin at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and a Senior Fulbright Lecturer.

Community and educational engagement events during the 2025-2026 season included:

The inaugural 2025 Concord Chamber Music Competition, which allows school- and college-age chamber ensembles to work closely with artistic directors Daniel Chong and Jessica Bodner to develop a community engagement program, including performing at schools, community centers, and Concord Chamber Music events

Trio Brisa performs at the Willard Elementary School

A free community event in November 2025 at the Concord Free Public Library featuring the GRAMMY Award-winning ensemble Sō Percussion.

A group of people attending a presentation or panel discussion in a room with wooden paneling and built-in bookshelves filled with books. Some individuals are seated and listening, while others are standing and speaking or presenting at the front. A man is clapping, and a woman behind him is gesturing. There is a large television screen and a projector mounted on the ceiling, along with a wall display with white text on an orange background.

Sō Percussion at the Concord Free Public Library

Pre-concert talks by the artists and noted musicologists.

2025–2026 Board of Directors

William J. Blake, Jr., President
Diane Austin, Vice President
Daniel Schrager, Treasurer
Marilyn Bone Kloss, Clerk

Martin Feldman
Leon Golub
Pamela Hill

Thorkil Kjems
Jeffrey Levine
H. Nancy Sokol

Nate Steele
Melissa Webster
Jeff Wieand

Staff

Emily Kristofek, Operations Manager

Concord Chamber Music Society, Inc. is a 501(C)(3) nonprofit corporation.

Founder

A woman with blonde hair playing a violin against a black background.

Wendy Putnam

Concord Chamber Music was founded by Boston Symphony Orchestra violinist Wendy Putnam in January of 2000. Ms. Putnam led CCMS as its Artistic and Executive Director for its first 25 years, through the 2024-2025 season.

Putnam joined the BSO in 1996 and has collaborated and concertized with many of the world’s most renowned musicians, including her BSO colleagues. Distinguished artists have recognized Ms. Putnam not only for her musical accomplishments but also for her devotion to the arts and humanities. Putnam holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees in music and completed Harvard Business School's Program for Leadership Development in 2021.