New endowed chair established by patron and Board member Tom Grow
Seattle Chamber Music Society is proud to announce the creation of the Grow Family Director of Education and Community Engagement, a new endowed chair established through the generosity of dedicated SCMS patron and Board member Tom Grow. The endowment represents a significant investment in SCMS’s commitment to sharing chamber music with students, musicians, audiences, and communities throughout the region. Marta Lambert, SCMS’s current Director of Education and Community Engagement, will become the first person to hold the Grow Family Director of Education and Community Engagement position.
Education and lifelong learning are integral to the SCMS experience. Programs including the Youth Academy for Chamber Music, masterclasses, lectures, and open rehearsals give young musicians and audiences opportunities to learn directly from leading chamber musicians, while community initiatives such as the String Quartet in Residence extend that work beyond the concert hall. The Youth Academy alone brings together talented musicians ages 12–18 for weekly coaching, masterclasses, performances, and mentorship from SCMS artists and faculty.
For Grow, those opportunities to deepen the understanding and appreciation of chamber music have long been an important part of his connection to SCMS—and were among his motivations for joining the Board. “I want to help promote the ideas of learning and knowledge of chamber music and its rich history to help audiences, especially younger audiences, better appreciate both the music and artists involved,” Grow said.
By endowing the position, Grow is helping ensure that education and community engagement remain central to SCMS while providing resources for these programs to evolve and reach new generations.
“I’m incredibly grateful to Tom and the Grow family for investing so meaningfully in this work,” said Lambert. “One of the great joys of my role is creating opportunities for people to develop a deeper relationship with chamber music, whether that is a young musician receiving coaching from an artist they admire, a student encountering chamber music for the first time, or an audience member discovering something new about a piece they have heard for years. This endowment gives us an extraordinary foundation to continue building those connections.”
SCMS CEO John Holloway said the gift also reflects the important role philanthropy can play in sustaining the organization’s mission over the long term.
“SCMS has long championed education and community engagement as essential parts of who we are. Tom’s generosity allows us to put real institutional resources behind that commitment. This endowed chair says clearly that this work is not peripheral to our mission — it is central to the future of SCMS.” Holloway said. “It also recognizes Marta’s exceptional leadership and the relationships she has built with students, musicians, patrons, and community partners. Tom is investing not simply in a position, but in the people SCMS will reach for generations to come.”
The creation of the Grow Family Director of Education and Community Engagement follows a long tradition of endowed positions providing organizations with sustained resources to advance important areas of their missions. By establishing the chair, Grow’s gift will support both the continued strength of SCMS’s existing programs and the development of new ways to connect people with chamber music for years to come.
“We want chamber music to be something people don’t simply hear, but something they understand, explore, participate in, and ultimately make their own,” Holloway added. “Tom’s remarkable commitment helps ensure we can keep opening those doors for the next generation.”
