Linton Chamber Music grew out of a special concert in March 1977 to reward members of Cincinnati's historic First Unitarian Church for a successful fund-raising canvass.
That concert, by the Trio d'Accordo (violinist Jorja Fleezanis, cellist Yizhak Schotten, cellist Karen Andrie) with harpsichordist Nina Johnson and flutist Rebecca Maag, prompted clarinetist Richard Waller, violinist Rosemary Waller and members of the Church to launch a chamber music series on Sunday afternoons in the Church sanctuary.
In 1999, "Peanut Butter and Jam Sessions" received a Post-Corbett Award for Excellence in Arts Education and Outreach from the Scripps Howard Foundation.
Another Linton spinoff, "The Mayor's 801 Plum Concerts", created in 1994 to attract young urban professionals and featuring diverse, contemporary programming in an early Friday evening, downtown setting (Cincinnati City Hall), has been discontinued.
[4] Artists who have performed on the Linton Chamber Music Series include Nancy Allen, Emanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Yefim Bronfman, John Browning, Chee-Yun, James Conlon, John Dalley, Eddie Daniels, Jeremy Denk, Leon Fleisher, Claude Frank, Pamela Frank, Stewart Goodyear, Robin Graham, Augustin Hadelich, Benjamin Hochman, Daniel Hope, Helen Huang, Paavo Järvi, Ani Kavafian, Ida Kavafian, Alexander Kerr, Benny Kim, Eric Kim, Igor Kipnis, Jennifer Koh, Jaime Laredo, Cho-Liang Lin, Jesús López-Cobos, Lee Luvisi, Ann Marie McDermott, Robert McDuffie, Anthony McGill, Midori, Truls Mørk, Anton Nel, Jon Kimura Parker, William Preucil, Sharon Robinson, Philip Ruder, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Andre-Michel Schub, Gil Shaham, Orli Shaham, Arnold Steinhardt, Steven Tenenbom, James Tocco, Michael Tree, Pablo Villegas, Lars Vogt, Liang Wang, André Watts, and Peter Wiley.
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra music director Jesús López-Cobos becomes the first conductor to perform on the Linton Series, leading Milhaud's La création du monde and Mozart's Serenade K.361, on February 28, 1988.
Benefit concert for Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless performed by violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han.
Cincinnati premiere of "Forbidden Music", works by Erwin Schulhoff and Victor Ullmann suppressed during the Nazi era, led by conductor James Conlon.
North American premiere of Sonata for Violin and Piano by Georg Tintner performed by violinist Cho-Liang Lin and pianist Helen Huang.
Cincinnati premiere of Quintet for Violin, Viola, Cello, Contrabass, and Piano by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, co-commissioned by Ann & Harry Santen for Linton Chamber Music, performed by the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, Michael Tree, and Harold Robsinson.
Cincinnati premiere of "Inventions on a Marriage", Duo for Violin & Cello by Richard Danielpour, consortium commission performed by Jaime Laredo & Sharon Robinson.
World premiere of "Pas de Trois", by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, commissioned by Ann & Harry Santen for Linton Chamber Music, performed by the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio.