The Chamber Music Festival of Lexington

The Chamber Music Festival of Lexington was founded in 2007 by arts patrons Charlie Stone, Charles Thompson and Lexington native and violinist Nathan Cole. The Festival brings together a collection of world-renowned musicians for one week each year to offer Central Kentuckians performances at various venues in Lexington, a world-premier of a chamber music commission, free pop-up concerts and educational programming in the Fayette County Public Schools. 

In the spring of 2026, Zach Brock, native Lexingtonian and Grammy-winning violinist, was appointed the new Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Festival of Lexington. He assumed the role from his longtime friend Nathan Cole, who had been Artistic Director for 19 years. Nathan will continue to play, but his schedule as concertmaster of the Boston Symphony prompted his decision to step back from the directorship. With Zach's experience in nearly all genres of music, over a dozen albums and three Grammy Awards to his credit, he is superbly qualified to lead the festival into its third decade and beyond. We are lucky to have two superstar Lexingtonians now involved in our Chamber Music Festival. Pianist Alessio Bax, violist Burchard Tang, cellist Priscilla Lee, and violinist Akiko Tarumoto complete the core ensemble. 

In 2019, CMFL took over the Lexington Chamber Orchestra, which offers a year-round season of chamber music from every era, performed by a professional ensemble of local string musicians. This combination of musicians at the top of their fields, innovative chamber music repertoire and venues, and strong local partnerships positions the Festival and LCO as integral elements of Lexington's artistic landscape. These two entities, together, are CHAMBER MUSIC LEX!

DONATE TODAY AND HELP CHAMBER MUSIC LEX FULFILL OUR MISSION:

To enrich the lives of Kentuckians of all ages and origins, presenting year-round programing of traditional and contemporary chamber music, performed by and for Kentuckians.