Friends of Music Concerts

Friends of Music Concerts of St. Louis began in 1979 when Patricia Lee Werner and a few other musicians initiated a free public concert series permitting accomplished musicians of the Saint Louis Area to present classical vocal and instrumental music in a format less arduous than a full recital. In 1983 Friends of Music Concerts became a 501(c)(3) corporation in the state of Missouri. Friends of Music Concerts was for many years regularly supported by the Ladies Friday Music Club of St. Louis. Concerts are free to audiences and expenses have been met entirely by donations, making the music available to anyone able to attend regardless of other circumstances.

Virtually all performances in the history of this series have been held in the visually and acoustically outstanding sanctuary of Eliot Unitarian Chapel in the St. Louis suburb of Kirkwood. The intimacy of the small Chapel (seating under 200) and its acoustics have proved an attraction over time to both performers and audiences.

Each season is planned to provide a wide range and variety of instruments and vocal talents with music ranging from the sixteenth through the twenty-first centuries, including jazz. In the 2018-2019 season Friends of Music Concerts began an annual collaboration with the Arianna String Quartet, presenting both a concert by the Quartet and a concert by student quartets from the Arianna Quartet’s spring Chamber Music Festival.