EarRelevant Staff | 20 JUL 2026
SEATTLE, Washington— The Seattle Chamber Music Society has announced plans to build a permanent Center for Chamber Music in downtown Seattle, a project that would create the city’s first venue designed exclusively for chamber music performance while expanding the organization’s educational, recording, and digital initiatives.
Construction is scheduled to begin in winter 2026, with the center expected to open in early 2028. The facility will occupy space within the renovated U.S. Bank Building at Sixth Avenue and Union Street, placing it in the heart of Seattle’s downtown arts district.
The centerpiece of the project will be a 271-seat concert hall designed specifically for unamplified chamber music. The center will also include rehearsal rooms, administrative offices, a hospitality suite for visiting artists, recording and streaming facilities, and spaces to support community programs.
Seattle Chamber Music Society artistic director James Ehnes, the Canadian violinist who has led the organization artistically since 2022, said the hall is intended to become a destination for both performers and audiences.
“Acoustically and visually exceptional, it will be a true home for intimate, unamplified music,” Ehnes said in a statement. “When musicians think about where they most want to perform chamber music, and when audiences think about where they most want to hear it, Seattle will be at the top of that list.”
Chief Executive Officer John Holloway said the venue is being conceived from the ground up for chamber music rather than adapting an existing concert hall to the genre.
“Every decision — from the acoustics and sightlines to the audience amenities and artist spaces — is centered on creating what we believe will be one of the finest chamber music experiences anywhere in the world,” Holloway said.
The design team includes architect Joseph Herrin of Heliotrope Architects, acoustician Joseph W. A. Myers of Kirkegaard, theater consultant Adam Shalleck of The Shalleck Collaborative and mechanical engineer Anne Marie Moellenberndt of ARUP. Sellen Construction will serve as general contractor.
The new venue will become the society’s primary performance home while supplementing, rather than replacing, appearances at other Seattle venues, including Benaroya Hall and Town Hall Seattle.
Accessibility has been a central consideration throughout the design process, according to the organization. Plans call for threshold-free entrances, accessible public spaces and circulation intended to accommodate audiences of varying mobility.
Beyond concerts, the center is expected to support a growing roster of educational and community programs, including the Academy for Chamber Music, open rehearsals, lectures, sight-reading events and performances by The Concert Truck.
The project also reflects the organization’s increasing emphasis on digital media. Seattle Chamber Music Society plans to expand streaming through its Virtual Concert Hall platform, which it says has attracted viewers across nearly every U.S. state and dozens of countries. The center will also serve as headquarters for SCMS Records, the organization’s recently launched recording label.
Founded in 1982, the Seattle Chamber Music Society presents annual winter and summer festivals, along with year-round concerts and community engagement programs throughout the Seattle area. The organization has steadily broadened its programming in recent years through new concert series, educational initiatives and digital offerings, positioning the planned center as the next major step in its long-term development.
If completed on schedule, the Center for Chamber Music will give Seattle a purpose-built home for one of classical music’s most intimate forms while adding another dedicated performance venue to the city’s expanding cultural landscape. ■
EXTERNAL LINKS:
- Seattle Chamber Music Society: seattlechambermusic.org
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