History:

The Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble was founded by Pittsburgh composer, David Stock, in 1976, and since then has commissioned and premiered over 300 works by composers including John Cage, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Michael Daugherty, David Lang, Derek Bermel, Pierre Jalbert, and Kevin Puts. Current Artistic Director, Kevin Noe, assumed that post in 2000 and implemented a new artistic vision that completely transformed the company: incorporating the drama, lighting, sound, and stage design of theatre into PNME's concerts. PNME's Pittsburgh audience has grown by over 600% since 2002, and the wildly successful experiment continues as a fully realized performance style dubbed the PNME "Theatre of Music.” 

Today’s PNME is a fixed ensemble (flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion, soprano, and bass-baritone) of artists from around the world, chosen through a rigorous audition process, who perform a summer festival season in July at City Theatre in Pittsburgh’s vibrant South Side neighborhood each year. 

Our beloved Founder, David Stock, stayed heavily involved in the company, and even wrote and conducted a new piece of his own for PNME's 40th anniversary, just a few months before his passing in 2015. Our lime green light shines brightly for him, and we will never forget all he has done for the musical fabric of Pittsburgh, PNME as a company, and it's wide-range of members individually throughout more than four decades of it's existence. 

Currently, PNME produces an average of 10 concerts each year in Pittsburgh featuring existing contemporary works and new commissions; produces educational programs that provide opportunities to increase knowledge and appreciation of contemporary music; produces recordings of contemporary music; and tours concerts of contemporary music both nationally and abroad. 

Highlights:

  • PNME’s production of “The Gray Cat and the Flounder” just returned from Edinburgh, Scotland where they performed a 21-show run at the world’s largest arts festival, the Edinburgh Fringe Festivals. The show was produced by Edinburgh’s top producers, Civil Disobedience and was shown in the prestigious venue, Assembly.
• PNME has commissioned 5 composers who have gone on to win the Pulitzer Prize in Music.
  • Top Ten Classical Events of the Year (2005-11, 2013, 15): our concert series has made this list from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 9 times.
    • National Endowment for the Arts American Masterpieces program (2009-10): The NEA’s highly competitive American Masterpieces program paired leading American musicians with recognized masterpieces by American composers.
    • Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council’s Work of Art Awards Nominees for “Best Management” and “People’s Choice”: we were one of only two organizations to receive nominations in more than one category in 2009. We are most proud of the “People’s Choice” nomination, as it comes directly from Pittsburgh audiences.
    • Edinburgh Festival Fringe (2008): a 17-show tour to Scotland of our original production Just Out of Reach, which earned a coveted "Total Theatre Award" nomination from Edinburgh critics.
    • Against The Emptiness Recording (2009): Our second commercial release features works commissioned by our organization from composers Ryan Francis, Kevin Puts and Pierre Jalbert. The Post-Gazette gave it 3 1/2 stars out of 4 and wrote: “While this disc will be justly celebrated for the first commercial recording of Kevin Puts' expansive Einstein on Mercer Street, its other works shine, too.” ~ (Andrew Druckenbrod, Post-Gazette, July 30, 2009).
    • Night Music Recording (2007): This recording features works commissioned by our organization from composers Kieren MacMillan and Thomas Albert. The success of this release prompted us to release a second recording in 2009.