Chamber Music Society Receives Largest Ever Individual Gift From Ann S. Bowers

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS), today announced it has received the largest individual gift in its 48-year history from Ann S. Bowers of Palo Alto, California. Given specifically to secure the future of the vibrant CMS Two residency program which is dedicated to developing the next generation of outstanding young musicians, the five-million dollar gift enables broader and deeper experiences for every artist in the program. In recognition of her gift, CMS Two will be renamed The Bowers Program, beginning with the 2018-2019 season, which opens October 16.

Wu Han and David Finckel, Artistic Directors of CMS, commented: "We have always considered young artists to be the life blood of CMS and the embodiment of its vibrant future. This magnificent gesture of support for the program not only strengthens its capacity, reach and impact, it enables CMS to explore ideas and opportunities for our young artists never possible before."

The program, which began as CMS Two in 1994, now constitutes the world's most distinguished opportunity in chamber music for outstanding young artists in the early stages of major careers. Identifying and nourishing a select number of individuals and ensembles chosen from an international pool of candidates through highly competitive auditions, the rigorous three-season residency fully integrates the program's artists into every facet of CMS activities in New York and abroad, performing, recording and often teaching, as equal colleagues alongside CMS musicians. CMS Two, now The Bowers Program, has proven to be an important springboard for many of today's most significant and influential chamber music artists, and is integral to the vibrant future of CMS itself.

Approximately half the artists appearing under the auspices of CMS during the 2018-2019 season are either current members or alumni of the program. They are musicians whose performances invigorate not only the CMS stages in New York and on tour, but also those of concert series and festivals around the world, including pianists Alessio Bax, Inon Barnatan, Juho Pohjonen, Gloria Chien; violinists Arnaud Sussmann, Benjamin Beilman, Paul Huang; flutist Tara Helen O'Connor; clarinetist Anthony McGill; cellist Dmitri Atapine; violist Matthew Lipman; and the Miro, Escher and Danish String Quartets.

Noted Ann S. Bowers, "Enabling young artists to move their careers forward is an expression of my love of music. I've seen the impact that the CMS program has had on so many young musicians, providing them unique and significant experience. With this gift, I'm ensuring that the program will continue enhancing the lives and careers of the finest emerging artists now, and for generations to come."

Ann S. Bowers began her professional career when she joined the human resources group at Macy's in San Francisco, and thereafter made the transition to the burgeoning technology field in Silicon Valley. There, she found success in human resource management, becoming the first director of personnel at Intel and the first woman to hold a vice president title in Silicon Valley at Apple. Ann Bowers was married to the late Robert Noyce, founder of Intel, and she created and served as senior trustee of the Noyce Foundation, which supported ways to improve the teaching of math and science for 25 years.

Suzanne Davidson, CMS Executive Director, stated, "Ann's extraordinary gift acknowledges and invests in the importance of having a home for artistic excellence through a program fostering a strong, multi-generational culture of musicians and audiences. Her visionary work and philanthropy has supported technological, cultural, scientific and educational leadership initiatives focused on improving the world, and we are honored she so generously affirmed CMS' commitment and essential role in developing the chamber music leaders of the future. Her support plays a pivotal strategic role in launching CMS' next 50 years."

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) is known for the extraordinary quality of its performances, its inspired programming, and setting the benchmark for chamber music worldwide: no other chamber music organization does more to advance, educate, and nurture a love of and appreciation for the art form. During the upcoming season, 130 musicians from 19 countries will perform with CMS in150 NYC performances, in residencies and on tour to four continents. CMS continues its leadership position in the digital space, with more than 600 hours of performance and education video available on its website, free to the public, a 52-week public radio series, radio programming in Taiwan and Shanghai, and a dedicated show on Sirius XM radio. Many of these performances are live-streamed on the CMS website, broadcast on radio and television, or made available on CD and DVD, reaching hundreds of thousands of listeners around the globe each season. As CMS approaches its 50th anniversary season in 2019-2020, education and global access remain integral parts of its mission. CMS has created multi-faceted education and audience development programming focused on bringing chamber music to people from a wide range of backgrounds, ages, nationalities and levels of musical knowledge.