Our Mission
The mission of Ashmont Hill Chamber Music is to build community through the shared experience of music. We present accessible, affordable, and intimate concerts of the very highest caliber that reflect and celebrate the diversity of our community – both onstage and in the audience – and engage young people in programs that uplift and inspire.
We further our mission by:
* Producing an annual series of musical events featuring some of the world’s most innovative and celebrated artists
* Creating collaborations with Project STEP, the Ashmont Boys Choir, and other organizations that support the music education of young people from all walks of life
* Developing community concert partnerships in order to engage the broadest possible audience
* Providing refreshments after each concert to foster conversation between the audience and artists
* Keeping our ticket prices affordable – and admitting children free of charge
Who We Are
AHCM grew out of informally organized house concerts in the Ashmont Hill neighborhood of Dorchester starting in the 1970s. Until 2014, these concerts were performed by a resident ensemble. This format changed with the retirement of our first Artistic Director in 2014 and the appointment of our new Artistic Director. Now, with the exception of the concert series at the Gardner Museum and the Celebrity Series, both high-end presenters, Ashmont Hill Chamber Music is the only organization in Boston that presents world class touring musicians from Boston and beyond.
Recognized artists who have performed recently include the Borromeo, Jupiter, Armida, Parker, Omer, Harlem, Verona and Aeolus Quartets, the Claremont Trio, Merz Trio, HUB New Music, pianists George Li and Mana Tokuno, soprano Jeanine De Bique, bass-baritone Dashon Burton, violinists Tessa Lark, Randall Goosby, and Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR), and tabla maestro Sandeep Das.
Board of Directors
John Young, Interim President, Treasurer
Margaret Mack, Clerk
Sara Eisenman
Karen Quigley
Anna Ross
Anne Seligsohn
Jane Taylor
Christopher Walter
Advisory Board
John Berg
David R. Godine
Hilary Hoge
Christina Demetriou Keefe
Katalin Mitchell
Joan Moynagh
Florence Rawls
Artistic Director - Mary Beth Alger
As the founder and artistic director of the successful Chappaquiddick Summer Music Festival, which she ran for fifteen years, Mary Beth Alger brings to Ashmont Hill Chamber Music Series a wealth of experience in developing exceptional programs of chamber music with world renowned artists. The series also garnered her praise for the personal connection she established with her audiences and the greater community. The series was profitable for all 15 years.
Ms. Alger was also president of the Board of Directors of the Hingham Symphony Orchestra (now the Atlantic Symphony), a board member of the Janus 21 Chamber Music Series based at the Longy School in Cambridge, and a development associate at the South Shore Conservatory.
When she is not involved in the world of classical music, Ms. Alger teaches art history at Bridgewater State University, where she loves to explore connections between the visual arts and music.