According to Wikipedia, what is called the "salon" originated in Paris in the 17th century. Held in the homes of significant personages, and providing a unique opportunity for women in particular to serve as hostesses and mingle with "society," the early salons brought together high-minded individuals to read and discuss literary works. Over the course of decades, the salons came to include art exhibits and musical performances, so that in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the Paris salons provided opportunities for composers to perform their chamber music and for artists such as the impressionists to show new and controversial works. The Paris salons have thus played a crucial role in the evolution of the arts and music during several centuries. Competition to participate in salons became keen, and careers were made or destroyed based upon invitations to them and the responses of the small but influential connoisseurs who were present.

Outside of Paris, salons (other than the ones women go to for a hairdo!) are not that common. Certain salons have played a role in the rich literary scene in Greenwich Village. Doubtless others have been held and are still occurring in various U.S. cities, but one rarely hears of one that is a true creative force. A notable exception is composer Andrea Clearfield's musical salon in Philadelphia.

Held each month in her Center City home, it brings together musicians and other performing artists to provide an eclectic mix of novel and stimulating performances for a small audience of sophisticated music lovers. Clearfield started it more than twenty years ago, and it has been going strong in its own private and sweet way since then. The musicians love it so much that they provide their music gratis, for its sheer enjoyment and for an opportunity to mingle with and listen to other performers on the cutting edge.

This writer heard praise about Clearfield's salons a few years ago from jazz musicians like