Where else in San Francisco can you see some of the best musicians in the world play for free with the City lit up all around them? SFCM's Chamber Music Tuesday series offers just that—and San Franciscans are catching on.

Since the series' inaugural concert in 2021, the Tuesdays are nearly always an at-capacity event, filling the 11th floor Bowes Center's Barbro Osher Recital Hall's 168 available spots. Other than the talent, it's easy to see why: Onstage, performers are flanked by City Hall and Van Ness Avenue while out to the audience's left, Osher Hall's high glass windows look out on the San Francisco Symphony and the city to the west. Depending on the season, audiences can watch the sun set during the performance. Performances in Osher Hall are hardly limited to chamber music, though, hosting everything from musicals to Roots, Jazz, and American Music Big Band concerts.

The Academy of St Martin in the Fields performs in the Barbro Osher Recital Hall.

Chamber Music Tuesdays are, bar none, the best talent-to-cost deal in San Francisco: Guests like Inon Bartanan and Demarre McGill have international touring careers and being able to see them in the intimate setting of the Barbro Osher Recital Hall for free, can in some cases, be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. For Kim Kashkashian's Chamber Music Tuesday, her former student, SFCM String and Chamber Music Chair and viola faculty Dimitri Murrath, performed with her, letting students see the lineage between an SFCM faculty member and one of the most important names in viola pedagogy in the 20th century.

SFCM's Bowes Center, with the Barbro Osher Recital Hall at its upper left, as seen from the San Francisco Symphony.

"It has been rewarding to see the Chamber Music Tuesday series grow a larger audience over the last three seasons," Murrath, who leads the series, says. "The core idea of this series was to bring elements from the school's long-standing tradition in chamber music together with its bold vision in bringing artists from its alliances with Opus 3, Askonas Holt, and Pentatone. These concerts have been a wonderful way to highlight the artistic learning of our students, while exposing them to the real-world demands and conditions of a professional musician."

In the past two years, Chamber Music Tuesday has hosted Inon Bartanan ("One of the most admired pianists of his generation," per The New York Times), the Esmé Quartet (three of its members, Murrath, cellist Yeeun Ho, and first violinist Wonhee Bae, teach at SFCM), GRAMMY-winning Harlem Quartet violinist Melissa White, the Jupiter Quartet, tenor Nicolas Phan, the GRAMMY-winning Parker Quartet, acclaimed violinist Stefan Jackiw, and the award-winning Telegraph Quartet.

An SFCM vocalist performs in the Barbro Osher Recital Hall.

For many of these artists, their performance is part of a longer residency with masterclasses, side-by-side performance opportunities, and coaching sessions for SFCM students. Thanks to its groundbreaking industry partnerships, the Conservatory has a direct line to the rosters of Opus 3 Artists and Askonas Holt, whom SFCM welcomed to the family in 2020 and 2022, respectively.

Melissa White (far left) performs with SFCM students in the Barbro Osher Recital Hall.

"I think the string quartet is the highest form of social interaction, in a way," Bae told SFCM. "You don't feel the responsibility of dominating the stage on your own, but you share that momentum together with colleagues—who feel like your best friends, almost like family."

That goes two ways: Join the audience for a Chamber Music Tuesday and become part of the SFCM family. Just make sure to reserve your tickets early.

Learn more about upcoming Chamber Music Tuesdays or about studying strings, piano, or chamber music at SFCM.