Chamber Music Monterey Bay’s Luke Fleming brings an unexpected performance to Carmel.

The nonprofit Chamber Music Monterey Bay has been feeling the ripple effects of a U.S. State Department that has been ramping up immigration enforcement and punching down on arts organizations.

When Executive Director Beth Garnett received word that members of Scotland’s Maxwell Chamber Quartet began having issues with visas for the organization’s 60th Season Opening Gala, she turned to the newly minted but highly experienced Artistic Director Luke Fleming for help.

In January, the organization brought the accomplished violist on as artistic director to handle booking for events. Upon hearing the news about the Maxwell Chamber Quartet, Fleming sprang into action, quickly assembling a group of musicians he had performed with at some point over his career.

This group will perform two pieces of music rarely heard in chamber music: Ernest Chausson’s “Concert in D for Violin, Piano and String Quartet,” followed by Franz Schubert’s “String Quintet in C Major, D. 956.” Fleming will play viola for both pieces, but one of the things he’s looking forward to is convening with the friends he’s called together for the gala.

“The whole concert will involve a total of seven players, and it wouldn’t be possible to have a string quartet do all of that,” he explains, adding that pieces like these are typically heard during summer festivals. “It brings a sense of occasion to start with pieces of music that weren’t necessarily string quartets.”

Fleming is used to performing both Schubert’s and Chausson’s pieces with variations of the players involved, but this combination is unique. He’s never performed the two with all the players assembled.

“A lot of these pieces come in and out of your orbit,” he says. “That’s part of what makes it exciting.”

Despite the early difficulties in booking international groups, Fleming is looking forward to his role with CMMB and the season as a whole. He adds that fresh ideas excite him.

“It’s very easy to get locked into a mindset,” he observes. “The occasional drawback of that is that you feel like you’re slapping something together, but I don’t think we’re going to have that problem.”

Chamber Music Monterey Bay’s 60th Season Opening Gala is at 7:30pm Saturday, Nov. 7 at Sunset Center, 908 San Carlos St., Carmel. $30-$75. (831) 625-2212, chambermusicmontereybay.org.