In 1983, during spring break from the Juilliard School in New York City. violist Leslie Harlow came to Utah for a ski vacation. Skiing for her first time in Park City, she fell in love with the area and decided to move to Utah after graduation.  A European tour with the Juilliard Orchestra delayed the move by a few months, but in 1984, Ms. Harlow moved to Salt Lake City and organized the first Deer Valley Chamber Music Festival.  The Festival launched in the summer of 1984 and featured violinists Glenn Dicterow, Bill Preucil, Paul Rosenthal, Manuel Ramos, violist Paul Neubauer, cellist Jeffrey Solow and pianist Michael Gurt, along with a number of artists in residence in Utah.

Originally the Festival came under the umbrella of the Kimball Arts Center with the Park City Chamber Music Society as the organizing group.  In 1986 the Chamber Music Society gained its non profit status and today continues as one of Summit County’s oldest arts organizations.

The third year of the Music Festival clarinetist Russell Harlow joined the Festival as co-director.  Russell Harlow is the founder and former director of the Nova Chamber Series in Salt Lake City and a veteran chamber music performer.

The name of the original Music Festival was eventually changed to the Park City International Music Festival, and is now also referred to as the Park City Music Festival.

Over the years the Chamber Music Society has presented a number of components and projects including the Sonolumina Chamber Orchestra, the Young Artists Institute, the Bravo! Program, Concerts at Sundance, a performance in Carnegie’s Weill Hall in New York City in 1996, the Autumn Classics Music Festival, the Winter Classics Music Festival, the Spring Chamber Music Festival (in collaboration with Utah Valley University) and the landmark Park City Film Music Festival, the nation’s first film festival dedicated entirely to the impact of music in film.