Arts at Tenri Cultural Institute (Arts at Tenri) promotes the appreciation of international art forms in an effort to foster cultural understanding, harmony and community by presenting both performing and visual arts of the highest caliber in a supportive, intimate setting.

To fulfill its mission, Arts at Tenri will host a monthly series of chamber music and world music concerts, and maintain a gallery space with on-going, year-round exhibitions featuring performers and visual artists of every nationality. Audiences will experience exceptional quality in a community-based venue that values a high appreciation of the arts.

The excellent acoustics and intimate gallery setting of the Tenri Cultural Institute create a superb setting for listening to chamber music, and Arts at Tenri offers audiences the rare opportunity to hear both traditional and contemporary music from two cultures in a setting similar to the music rooms of the courts and castles of both Europe and Japan. Over 300 years of chamber music tradition will be presented throughout this series. Piano trios and string quartets from the great composers of Europe will alternate with music from Japan's Edo period written for the standard trio of shamisen, koto and shakuhachi. Contemporary music for both western and Japanese instruments will be heard as well.

The September 28, 2007 inaugural concert showcased the programming goal of the series by combining music from both cultures in a single evening. The series proper will then feature monthly performances alternating between the traditions and feature the artistry of three distinctive ensembles: the Borromeo String Quartet, the Albert Lotto, Natasha Lipkina, Barbara Stein Mallow Piano Trio, and the James Nyoraku Schlefer, Masayo Ishigure and Yumi Kurosawa Sankyoku Ensemble, among others.