Founded in 1989 by Rupert Hamer, Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, Kenneth Tribe and Marco van Pagee, the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition was established as an Australian event to equal the greatest music competitions in the world.
In 1997 the organisation expanded to also present the Australian Chamber Music Competition (which became the Asia-Pacific Chamber Music Competition in 2009) that incorporates a similar ensemble development program of chamber music master classes and fellowships and is a stepping-stone to the International Competition.
In 2005, the organisation changed its name to Chamber Music Australia, to properly reflect the broad range of activities, programs and competitions that it now stages.
