The Chamber Music Conference and Composers' Forum of the East (CMC) is a summer conference that brings together amateur musicians, professional faculty, and composers-in-residence to study and play chamber music. The CMC was founded in 1946, and most of its summer sessions have been held at Bennington College in Bennington, Vermont. After the 2019 session, the CMC announced its relocation to the campus of Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, to begin with its 75th anniversary session in 2022. There was a limited 2021 program at Bennington College. (The 2020 in-person program was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.)[1] [2]
The conference was founded in 1946 as a program of Middlebury College. Alan Carter, founder and director, was a professor of music at Middlebury. He was also the founder and music director of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra (then the Vermont State Symphony Orchestra).[3] [4]
Throughout the conference week, participants attend coaching sessions on assigned chamber music works. They may also attend lectures and seminars. Composers-in-residence are commissioned to write new works that are played by participants and faculty during the conference weeks. The faculty present free performances that are open to the public.[5] [6]