A staunch advocate for new music, CCM has commissioned thirteen works from today's leading composers. CCM actively seeks to present the first and definitive performance of new works, adding to the chamber music canon and the organization's legacy as an interpreter and presenter of contemporary music.

The following list comprises CCM's commissioned works:

Richard Mills: Requiem Diptych
May 1, 1997: Subscription Series, Avery Coonley School
Commissioned by The Chicago Chamber Musicians

Richard Wilson: String Quartet No. 4 (1997)
January 17, 1998: 92nd Street Y
Commissioned by The Chicago Chamber Musicians

Sebastian Huydts: Octet (1998)
May 21, 1998: Music at the Millennium,
Museum of Contemporary Art
Commissioned by The Chicago Chamber Musicians

Anthony Plog: I Met a Dinosaur
February 21, 1999: Family Concert, Field Museum
Commissioned by The Chicago Chamber Musicians

Dana Wilson: All Our Yesterdays (1999)
May 10, 1999:Music at the Millennium,
Museum of Contemporary Art
Commissioned by The Chicago Chamber Musicians

David Sampson: Dectet (1998)
May 21, 1999: Music at the Millennium,
Museum of Contemporary Art
Commissioned by The Chicago Chamber Musicians

William Russo: The Shepherd (2000)
May 15, 2000: Music at the Millennium,
Museum of Contemporary Art
Commissioned by The Chicago Chamber Musicians

Bruce Adolphe: Tyrannosaurus Sue: A Cretaceous Concerto
May 21, 2000: Music at the Millennium,
Museum of Contemporary Art
Commissioned by The Chicago Chamber Musicians

Eric Ewazen: The Art of the City (2000)
May 31, 2000: Music at the Millennium,
Museum of Contemporary Art
Commissioned by The Chicago Chamber Musicians

John Harbison: North and South (Six Poems of Elizabeth Bishop) (1999)
May 13, 2001: Composer Perspectives,
Museum of Contemporary Art
Commissioned by The Chicago Chamber Musicians

Bruce Adolphe: Witches, Wizards, Spells and Elves:
The Magic of Shakespeare
February 15, 2003: Family Concert, Chicago Shakespeare Theater
Commissioned by The Chicago Chamber Musicians

Dana Wilson: Daylight at Midnight
October 16, 2005: Subscription Series, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall
Commissioned by The Chicago Chamber Musicians

Paquito D'Rivera: Three Poems from the New World
June 18, 2006: Music of the Americas, Grant Park Music Festival, Harris Theater
Commissioned by The Chicago Chamber Musicians

John Harbison: Umbrian Landscape with Saint
February 25 & 26, 2007: Subscription Series, Music Institute of Chicago and Gottlieb Hall
Commissioned by The Chicago Chamber Musicians

Dana Wilson: Shallow Streams, Deep Rivers
November 18, 2007: Subscription Series, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall
World Premiere; Commissioned by Gail Williams

Avner Dorman: Jerusalem Mix
October 26 & 27, 2008: Subscription Series, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall & Gottlieb Hall
U.S Premiere; Co-commission with the Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival

Peter Lieberson : The Coming of Light
September 27, 2009: Unity Temple Concert Series
World Premiere; Co-commission with the Unity Temple Restoration Foundation

The following are pieces that were given their World Premiere by The Chicago Chamber Musicians:

Laura Schwendinger: Nonet
October 4, 2004: Live from WFMT, Fay and Daniel Levin Performance Studio

Grace Choi: Chansons Innocentes I
May 9, 2005: Composer Perspectives, Museum of Contemporary Art World Premiere

Augusta Reed Thomas: Scherzi Musical
October 21 & 22, 2007: Subscription Series, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall & Gottlieb Hall

Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Quintet for Alto Saxophone and String Quartet
January 16, 2008: Arizona Friends of Chamber Music, Tuscon Arizona