Charles Wadsworth, 1929–2025

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center mourns the passing on May 29, 2025, of the great and irrepressibly gregarious Charles Wadsworth, its Founding Artistic Director who led the organization for two decades. He was 96. With CMS’s first Chair of the Board Alice Tully and William Schuman behind him, he revolutionized the world of chamber music, nurturing this institution with love and expertise beginning in 1969.

Very few founders in history have had the vision to create something which has stood the test of time. Charles’s boundless imagination, determination, and artistic instincts formed a unique chamber music organization revered worldwide from its earliest days. The standards he set for himself and his artists, as well as his faith in the chamber music repertoire and its audience, remain the North Star which continues to light the way for CMS. 

A renowned pianist, Charles performed countless times at Alice Tully Hall, where he often spoke from the stage, introducing concerts with humor and warmth beloved by audiences. He helped to foster the careers of innumerable artists, including Pinchas Zukerman, Richard Goode, Paula Robison, Jacqueline du Pré, and Jessye Norman, among many others, some of whom are still performing with CMS. His contributions to the genre of chamber music were immense, and he worked tirelessly to bring this body of work to audiences around the world. By programming a wide range of instrumental and vocal combinations, expanding listeners’ understanding of classic repertoire, and commissioning dozens of new works, he constantly advocated for a capacious understanding of what chamber music could be.

CMS Executive Director Suzanne Davidson reflected on his legacy: “Chamber music meant so much to Charles, and he shared his love of this music with more people than we’ll ever know. Audiences adored him, and he supported the careers of some of the greatest performing artists of our time. Long after his tenure as Artistic Director of CMS, he continued to be an esteemed presence on our stage and at our galas. His contributions to the art form were legion, but perhaps chief among them was his ability to connect with people. We will miss him terribly.”

On May 1 of this year, Charles was the honoree at CMS’s Spring Gala. Sitting in Box A of Alice Tully Hall, he received a rapturous ovation from the crowd. Current CMS Artistic Directors David Finckel and Wu Han said, “We were thrilled once again to be in his presence, and so gratified to have played him a program of some of his favorite music. The concert was titled The Wadsworth Legacy, with good reason: we are all the beneficiaries of Charles’s vision and hard work, and in that sense, he is with us every day. Without him, we wouldn’t have the musical family we have, or so much great chamber music in our lives.”

Charles Wadsworth was born in Barnesville, Georgia, in 1929. A precocious musical talent from a young age, he established himself in New York City as a concert pianist and chamber musician, later founding the chamber music series at the Spoleto Festivals in Italy and South Carolina under the direction of Gian Carlo Menotti. In the 1960s, William Schuman, then president of Lincoln Center, asked Wadsworth to help create a constituent organization that would focus on chamber music. With the financial assistance of Miss Alice Tully, a concert hall designed specifically for chamber music was built, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center gave its first concert on September 11, 1969, with Charles at the keyboard.

Everyone at CMS is deeply grateful to Charles Wadsworth for his many years of dedication to artists and audiences, and to the chamber music art form. His legacy will endure for generations to come.