  The Richmond Performance Series (RPS) is now entering its fifteenth season. Chamber music is the essence of the RPS mission. It is a vehicle for musicians to express their cooperative virtuosity and a compelling language for introducing young audiences to classical music. Mark Ludwig, violist for the Boston Symphony, has been the Artistic Director from the inception of the series. Featured performers are frequently chosen from the Boston Symphony. Seven concerts are performed between October and June.
 Live chamber music is about relationships. There is the relationship that an individual musician has with his instrument. There is the relationship that each individual within group of chamber players has with each of the other musicians. There is the relationship that, the performers have with the audience. This is real and palpable. There is an energy that occurs at the exact moment that a note resonates. An audience feels that energy and hears each singular note. That unspoken dialogue which exists between audience and performer intensities that energy within that shared experience. That experience cannot be recreated on tape or a CD. It is of the moment, live as it happens. There is a special relationship between chamber players and their audience. Something magical happens to the listener when he can hear and relate to each phrase that emanates from an individual instrument. It is a single voice as compared to a chorus. There is an intimacy that comes from that form. The Richmond Performance Series has continued to explore that relationship by bringing extraordinary chamber players to our community in a series of ultimate concerts of the highest caliber. And that is only the beginning. Perhaps of even greater importance, is the relationship that is being fostered between school children in our community and those same extraordinary artists. We have gifted professional musicians sharing their time, experience and expertise in a one-on-one relationship with young, student musicians. By being given the opportunity to take part in the Richmond Performance Series Artist Residency Program, these children are given a gift that lasts well beyond the week that they are sharing with these artists. They are learning that making music is a valuable act. They are experiencing first-hand what it means to be a member of a cooperative group. And they are learning by the very existence of these professional musicians in their lives, that they are valued as both individuals and as artists. This is further heightened when these young student musicians perform at the end of the week for both their peers and an adult audience, sharing the stage and playing side-by-side with these, professional musicians. It is a great pleasure for me to be able to write this letter. The Richmond Performance Series provides a gift, both to the musicians and to the audience. Coupled with the extraordinary work of the Artist Residency Program, that gift extends to our community and our children I feel deeply honored to be a part of such an organization and I would like to extend my genuine appreciation to all of you for sharing this commitment.
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