Anthony Checchia and Chamber Society celebrate 30 years together

'We want the public to hear great music at prices they can afford."

That has been Anthony Checchia's mantra, whether founding the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society 30 years ago, or presenting concerts 25 years before that.

The society has become the largest presenter of chamber music in the country, now giving 60 concerts of major artists each season. It insists on prices from $18 to $24 (with a $4 Kimmel Center fee for shows at its Perelman Theater), though the same concert in New York a few days later goes for three times that.

On Thursday, celebrating the society's 30th year, Checchia will be honored at the Perelman Theater, where some favorite musicians will collaborate in a gala program. Pianists Richard Goode and Jonathan Biss, clarinetist Anthony McGill, violinist Pamela Frank, cellist Peter Wiley, soprano Susan Shafer, and the Brentano String Quartet will perform. (Shafer will sing Schubert's "The Shepherd on the Rock." The definitive recording for years has been by Checchia's wife, Benita Valente, a revered star of opera and recitals and still a teacher of master classes.) As he has done for the last several years, Checchia will continue as adviser in support of the Chamber Society's many activities.

Artists sometimes take lesser fees to play in Philadelphia, but Checchia sees why so many choose to play here anyway. "Ensembles know we have an enthusiastic audience and venues with good acoustics, and if they're touring, why not?" he said. "Remember that when we started, there were very few string quartets and young ensembles performing, and now there are so many, and they all want to be heard."

Only two years after Checchia arrived in 1956 as bassoonist at the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont, he became manager of the festival and its school. Founded in 1951 by legendary pianist Rudolf Serkin, this intense crucible of gifted young musicians works closely with master artists, like the current artistic director, renowned pianist Mitsuko Uchida. Marlboro has launched three generations of major names. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma, for instance, insists he decided to become a performing musician at Marlboro.

Checchia became an impresario in 1964, presenting the first Music From Marlboro concerts at the Theater of Living Arts, adding concerts each year by the Guarneri String Quartet, and booking venues as diverse as the Trocadero, Walnut Street Theatre, the Fleisher Art Memorial, Friends Select School, the Museum of Art, and the Moore College of Art.

Ideal venues were not available but, in 1986, around the time the Chamber Music Society incorporated, it held concerts at the Convention Center and the Port of History Museum (now the Independence Seaport Museum). Then-Mayor Ed Rendell pledged to include a recital hall in the proposed Regional Performing Arts Center, which became the Perelman Theater at the Kimmel Center, where the society shares most of its programs with the American Philosophical Society at 427 Chestnut St.

"Our principle has always been not to expand unless there was a need," said Checchia, "but we found there was great interest in wind players, vocalists, and new music. In recent years, we have teamed with the great young artists from the Curtis Institute, the Academy of Vocal Arts, Settlement Music School, and Temple Prep, offered master classes in schools, and featured Philadelphia Orchestra musicians."

Checchia has shown a talent for choosing the right venue, such as smaller ones like the American Philosophical Society for young talents who haven't yet established big names. "Some things sound better in certain places, and some concerts require more intimacy," said Checchia. "But artists know we care about them, and Philadelphia is now an important touring stop with a sophisticated audience - that doesn't clap between movements!"

At a time when funding for the arts is under such pressure, the Chamber Society's executive director, Philip Maneval, also a composer, says he is proud of having performed several hundred new works, 59 of them commissioned by the society in the last 30 years. "We've presented new music by most local composers and take pride in a huge number of world premieres and Philadelphia premieres commissioned by the touring ensembles themselves.

"We try to connect with younger people and stress a friendly environment," Maneval said. "At the Philosophical Society, we have a social series in which attendees can sample wine, beer, cupcakes, chocolate, and other delicacies by local vendors at intermission while getting acquainted."

For 30 years, PCMS has brought us almost every imaginable master pianist, singer, violinist, wind player, ensemble, and string quartet, playing some of the most intimate and persuasive music ever composed. Checchia's society has created an enthusiastic audience that can't imagine a Philadelphia without it. You can find Tony and Phil in the lobby after each concert. They're the two being thanked by a flock of patrons.