Established by Aaron Richmond in 1938, the Series has evolved into New England's major presenting organization with over 100 performance and outreach activities annually.

From its inception the Celebrity Series became a mainstay of Boston's cultural life with performances by Ignace Jan Paderewski, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Vladimir Horowitz, Jascha Heifitz, Lily Pons, Francois Poulenc, the Trapp Family Singers, Isaac Stern, Andres Segovia, Marian Anderson, Martha Graham and Company, Yehudi Menuhin, Glenn Gould, Burl Ives, Rudolf Serkin, Van Cliburn, Maria Callas, the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, the Bolshoi Ballet, Maurice Chevalier, the Joffrey Ballet, the Israel Philharmonic, Ravi Shankar, Olivier Messiaen, Marilyn Horne, Dizzy Gillespie, Victor Borge, Beverly Sills, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Jacqueline du Pre, Twyla Tharp Dance and Luciano Pavarotti.

Many nationally and internationally recognized artists have made their Boston debuts with the Celebrity Series. They include the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Yo-Yo Ma, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Emmanuel Ax, and Leontyne Price. 

Each season from October to May, the Celebrity Series presents more than 50 multi-cultural and international artists and performing ensembles to audiences in the greater Boston area. By utilizing a number of different performance venues throughout the Boston area, each year the Celebrity Series presents programs of classical music, modern and classical dance, jazz, folk, world music, family music and multi-media performances.