Brian Potter (left) and Erik Petersons.

by Michael Caruso

With the imminent closing of F.Y.E. ("For Your Entertainment" is a chain of entertainment media stores) and the disappearance of a Center City Philadelphia brick-and-mortar store selling classical music CDs, you might get the feeling that classical music in Philadelphia is on life support. And yet, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society is the kind of success story that dispels such doom-and-gloom.

PCMS has announced a season that includes 60 performances and a host of other events beginning Thursday, Oct. 13, and continuing through Wednesday, May 17. These programs take place in the Kimmel Center’s Perelman Theater, the American Philosophical Society in Society Hill, the Episcopal Church of the Holy Trinity on Rittenhouse Square, Presser Hall at the Mary Louise Curtis Branch of Settlement Music School in Queen Village, Field Concert Hall at the Curtis Institute of Music just off Rittenhouse Square and the Philadelphia Museum of Art on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

Venues are chosen based on the drawing power of the performers and the appropriateness of the event from the largest, the Perelman Theater, to the smallest, Curtis’ Field Hall. There are two distinct chamber music series, a piano recital series, a vocal recital series, a string recital series, a new collaboration with the Perelman Theater entitled “Departure & Discovery” series and collaborations with the Musical Fund Society.

Sitting atop the team that has masterminded PCMS’ incredible expansion during its more than three decades of effort are artistic director Miles Cohen and executive director and composer Philip Maneval. Working alongside this dynamic duo are two West Mt. Airy residents, communications manager Brian Potter and director of education and outreach Erik Petersons.

“The venue is important,” Maneval said. “If audience members feel like they’re a part of the music, they’re more likely to come again. For instance, there’s something very intimate about the American Philosophical Society that invites socializing.”

Potter added that PCMS uses its website to encourage communication between the organization and the audience, and Petersons expressed the hope that everything is being done to make the concert-going experience positive and reinforcing, putting a human face on an institution.

“We’re interested in doing more than just selling tickets,” he said. “We often ask our audiences who they’d like us to bring back and who they’d like us to engage for the first time. We reap the benefits of interacting with our audience by their continuing to attend our concerts.”

Potter pointed to master classes with students at Curtis, Temple University and Settlement Music School as examples of PCMS’ serious commitment to active outreach, plus pre-concert lectures to all concertgoers. “We build on our artists’ teaching strengths, pairing performers as mentors with students. We try to involve music teachers in the public and private schools systems in deciding who to send where, capitalizing on their help and knowledge.” Free tickets and season passes are offered as part of the relationships.

Helen Eaton, executive director of Settlement Music School, said, “The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society’s commitment to bringing the highest quality classical music directly to members of the community is extraordinary. Settlement is thrilled to partner with PCMS every year and to share in the amazing musicians they present to our students and families.”

Potter’s focus is on PCMS’ print, digital and e-mail connections with the public. “Our webpage is important because we’re not a resident ensemble,” he explained. “Our musicians mostly don’t live in the region, so information about our concerts and our performers comes to our audience through our website; a smooth flow of that information is essential.

“It’s especially important for those who didn’t grow up knowing classical music, hearing and playing it in their own homes. Attending a classical music recital can seem like a major challenge, even an experiment, so it’s important for us to make our website inclusive for people new to classical music, so that they feel welcomed and comfortable attending our concerts for the first time and hopefully for many more times after that.”

For more information call 215-569-8080 or visit www.pcmsconcerts.org.

AT THE CATHEDRAL

James Jordan will conduct a newly formed choir called “The Same Stream” in a concert entitled “Abide” Monday, Aug. 8, 7:30 p.m. in the Roman Catholic Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter & Paul off Logan Circle along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Admission is free and donations will benefit the “Concerts at the Cathedral” series.

For more information call 215-561-1313 or visit www.concerts@archphila.org.

Contact NOTEWORTHY at Michael-caruso@comcast.net.