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Maria Schleuning is the violinist and artistic director of Voices of Change, which has recorded five CDs, won a Grammy nomination and has presented more than 60 world premieres. For 35 years, the chamber group has advocated for new music — commissioning 25 of those world premieres, for example. Now the group is even offering free, casual concerts in salon settings, the same weekend it performs one of its scheduled concerts at Caruth Auditorium. It’s a new frontier in outreach — like pop-up galleries exhibiting in empty spaces and touring authors meeting booklovers in restaurants and homes.

We talk to Maria about performing in a chocolate store, the limits on the music the group will play and their awarding cash prizes to young composers.