In 1994, the idea of a chamber music festival in Ottawa came to life to remedy the meager availability of live classical music during the summer months and fill the city’s churches with splendid sounds. Ottawa Chamberfest started life as the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival with 22 concerts in two churches and was an immediate hit. Growing steadily over the years, the 2011 edition of Ottawa Chamberfest presented almost 100 concerts, attracting over 80,000 listeners and is the largest chamber music festival of its kind in the world.