With the Honolulu Symphony in bankruptcy, classical music fans will have to think small and intimate this fall, but there’s nothing wrong with having a "conversation between friends," as chamber music has been called.

The Doris Duke Theatre at the Honolulu Academy of Arts and Paliku Theatre at Windward Community College are replacing Blaisdell Concert Hall as the chief venues for classical music, and two separate but similarly named organizations, Chamber Music Hawaii and the Honolulu Chamber Music Society, will be putting on recitals.

Other treats for classical music lovers will be pianist Anton Kuerti, a favorite here for his symphony performances, for two appearances this month at the Doris Duke Theatre; a wind and brass performance at St. Andrew’s Cathedral in December; and two October concerts at the University of Hawaii, one featuring faculty member Jonathan Korth with his wife, singer Rachel Schutz, and another featuring Korth with symphony principals Iggy Jang and Scott Anderson.

Finally, Carl Crozier, longtime cantor of the Lutheran Church of Honolulu, who in 38 years helped its music program grow from seven people to four choirs and a chamber orchestra, marks his retirement with his "Abendmusiken" (evening music) series featuring chamber music and choral works.

Chamber Music Hawaii, which presents local artists in small ensembles, launched its season recently with a satisfying concert of trios. Its concert tomorrow at Paliku Theatre, which will be repeated next Sunday at the Doris Duke Theatre, features the Spring Wind Quintet premiering a work by Oahu resident Jon Magnussen. Magnussen, who studied at Juilliard and in Paris, composed the music to complement a legend of Pakaa, a youth who beat the chief’s fishermen in a canoe race and won a load of fish. Magnussen will narrate the story for the performance.

The Honolulu Chamber Music Society, which brings guest performers to the islands, launches its series Saturday with a return visit by the Zemlinsky Quartet of the Czech Republic. The quartet, whose 20-something members have played together since they were teenagers, has been rising steadily in international competitions for years and recently won a major contest in Bordeaux, France.

The Chamber Music Society will follow that concert with a Nov. 6 performance of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, a Grammy-winning group noted for its crossover virtuosity. The group’s program, called "The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote: Words and Music from the Time of Cervantes," promises to be an amusing evening, with readings of the 17th-century Spanish classic provided by Phil Proctor of the comedy group Firesign Theatre.

Music lovers should not forget symphony musicians, who have been performing chamber music at the Musicians Union. There is no set schedule for these performances, which include discussions about the future of the symphony, but you can sign up to get e-mail notification of these events at honolulusymphonymusicians.org.