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.