Since it was founded in 1984, Chamber Music Concerts has focused on attracting world-class musical performers to the Rogue Valley.

Forty one seasons later, the organization is still offering top-tier performances while also bringing music education to the community and local schools.

“The musicians we bring are excellent communicators, talking about themselves and music and what (audiences should) listen for when listening to something they’ve never heard before,” said Jody Schmidt, executive director of Chamber Music Concerts.

Schmidt, who has a background as a performing musician herself, has been involved with the organization for 23 years.

“Just being able to bring something that means so much to people here; it’s incredibly rewarding,” she said.

Chamber Music Concerts is a nonprofit and self-supporting affiliate of the Oregon Center for the Arts at Southern Oregon University and brings around a dozen performances each year to Rogue Valley audiences.

Past performers with the program include the Tokyo String Quartet, flutist Eugenia Zukerman, pianists Angela Hewitt and Jon Nakamatsu, and many more.

Next up to perform for Chamber Music Concerts will be tenThing (pronounced ten ting), a 10-person brass ensemble led by Norwegian trumpet player Tine Thing Helseth.

The group is scheduled to perform at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 26, at the SOU Music Recital Hall, located on the SOU campus at 450 S. Mountain Ave. in Ashland.

Tickets range from $39 to $59 per person and can be purchased through the box office or online at ci.ovationtix.com/35646.

Chamber Music Concerts offers discounted tickets for full-time students, Oregon Trail Card holders and others, and information can found at the programs website at chambermusicconcerts.org or by calling 541-552-6154.

“We found out about the (tenThing) group, and this is the largest one we have brought in,” Schmidt said.

Helseth, tenThing’s founder and leader, formed the group in 2007.

“She’s a magnificent, virtuosic trumpet player,” Schmidt said of Helseth. “Apparently, she wanted to play in a brass ensemble with the female musicians she respected most, and she came up with a group of friends to play together for fun.”

“I’m especially excited about it because I used to be a french horn player, so I have a soft spot for brass,” she added.

The brass group includes trombonists, trumpet players and french horns and will perform a variety of musical pieces, including: “Adoration” by Florence Price, Oberek No. 1 by Grazyna Bacewicz, and “Kjempeviseslåtten” by Harald Sæverud.

As with many of the other visiting performers, tenThing will provide an educational opportunity and meet with local high-schoolers to showcase and discuss their music, careers and other aspects.

“They’re doing an outreach program at North Medford High School. … We’re hoping to get South Medford High School to attend, as well,” Schmidt said.

With more than 40 years of shows for the community, Chamber Music Concerts’ leaders aim is to continue providing musical performances and education to the Rogue Valley, exposing kids and adult music lovers alike to many genres.

“A lot of these kids are not exposed to this kind of music anymore. … They get to see instruments that they’ve never seen before up close, and can ask musicians anything they want to; it’s a really neat learning experience for them,” Schmidt said. “We do like to present a lot of different styles of music, so there’s a little bit of something for everyone as far as classic music goes.”

Many other groups are scheduled to play in Ashland in the coming year such as the London-based Marmen Quartet, Berlin’s Leonkoro Quartet and world-renowned Trio Zimbalist.

For the time being, Schmidt hopes to continue bringing top-tier musicians to the Rogue Valley and carry on educating the community through music.

“I have a wonderful board to work with that cares about this more anything else. It’s a joy to work with all of these people — I think I’m very lucky,” Schmidt said.