ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION New music ensembles are a recent phenomenon. One may see them as a practical reaction to the orchestral and operatic hegemony on classical music in the United States. As the core audience for classical music ages and the musical language further splinters, a puzzled public confronts a Tower of Babel of classical music that grows only louder. Orchestras and opera companies do commission new pieces on a regular basis. ese commissions have met with limited success in the orchestral world, but opera lovers still pay premium prices to hear music by living composers. Nonetheless, a sizable group of musicians and music lovers prefers chamber music and participating in an ensemble in ways that go beyond merely replicating a part perfectly. ese musicians and the ensembles they form have become a unique genre unto themselves.
