Would you join an arts organization, if at the end of the season you would be asked to share the costs of any funding shortfall?
This is exactly what people did when Chamber Music Columbus (CMColumbus) got its start. It was called the “system of guarantors” and a group literally brought their checkbooks and wrote off the organization’s debts so that each concert season could begin in the black. Now this process is called crowdsourcing and CMColumbus was doing it more than six decades before Kickstarter.
Also, how many arts organizations celebrating 67 years were founded by a 17 year old graduate of West High School? James N. Cain, future Ohio State University student saw the need for the “furtherance [of] chamber music” in Columbus. In 1948 the concerts were presented as Prestige Concerts. Various name changes for the organization in the 1980s and in 2003 have brought us to Chamber Music Columbus, a name intended to reflect the grassroots origin and the egalitarian heritage of the all-volunteer group.
What has not changed since the organization’s beginning is that it is still managed by dedicated volunteers. Volunteers plan the programs, raise funds, provide education, do outreach, and promote the concerts of world-class musicians. The Columbus Association for the Performing Arts (CAPA) took over handling the ticket sales at the beginning of the 2014-2015 season.
As with any arts organization, unavoidable changes happen. For instance, after September 11th, a quartet from Germany was stopped at the border and prevented from entering the United States. An award-winning string quartet, which had its origins in Columbus before moving to northern Ohio, was planning to attend a CMColumbus concert. At the last minute, the Ohioans were asked if they could instead present the concert themselves because the scheduled quartet had to cancel. It so happened that the Ohioans were playing at Carnegie Hall the next week and had a program ready to perform. Columbus heard the concert before New York.
Of course, weather conditions, accidents, and medical emergencies cancel concerts. One musician who was unable to get to Columbus graciously agreed to return for a spring concert when 18 inches of snow fell, making it difficult for concertgoers to attend. Sometimes string players break their arms and cannot play. An entire group had to be canceled because one of the members was suffering from morning sickness. Unusual requests require the volunteers to scramble to find rare percussion instruments or specialty snack foods. It’s not just rock stars who require tubs full of Evian water or only blue M&Ms.
There are four more concerts in the 2014-2015 season being performed at the historic Southern Theatre. For more information, call 614-267-2267 or visit CMColumbus.org.
GCAC Presents is a bi-weekly column brought to you by the Greater Columbus Arts Council – supporting art and advancing culture in Columbus – in partnership with the Columbus Arts Marketing Association, a professional development and networking association of arts marketers. Each column will be written by a different local arts organization to give you an insiders look at the arts in Columbus.
