Bold. Visionary. Unforgettable.
Present Music is one of the nation’s leading ensembles dedicated to the performance and commissioning of new music. Based in Milwaukee and founded in 1982, we are known for pushing boundaries, spotlighting diverse voices, and creating vibrant experiences for audiences of all kinds.
Our Mission
To engage artists and audiences in imaginative and provocative experiences with new music through ensemble performance and education.
What We Do
“You can almost always expect Present Music to bring on the unexpected.”
– The Shepherd Express
We specialize in adventurous programming that embraces a wide spectrum of musical voices. Whether performing in concert halls or unconventional spaces, our ensemble delivers performances that are expressive, inclusive, and seriously fun.
The Present Music ensemble is flexible in size—ranging from a core of seven to over twenty musicians—so we can perform everything from intimate chamber works to large, genre-defying productions.
Artistic Leadership
In 2019, Eric Segnitz (violinist/composer) and David Bloom (conductor) took the helm as Co-Artistic Directors, ushering in a new era of “breathtaking and inspired programming” (The Shepherd Express). As of 2024, David Bloom serves as Artistic Advisor and Principal Conductor, continuing to bring his dynamic vision and leadership to Present Music’s stage.They follow in the footsteps of founder Kevin Stalheim, who led the organization for 37 transformative years—establishing Present Music as a bold and vital force in contemporary classical music.
Commissions & Recordings
We’ve commissioned and premiered more than 100 new works by composers from around the world—many of which are now recorded on major labels
Notable collaborations include:
Pulitzer Prize winners John Adams, David Lang, Caroline Shaw, Du Yun, and Henry Brant
Acclaimed composers like Elena Kats-Chernin, Missy Mazzoli, Bright Sheng, and Michael Torke
And many of today’s most promising emerging composers
In 2022, Present Music’s commission of Voiceless Mass by Raven Chacon won the Pulitzer Prize for Music.
Music Education: The Creation Project
Our Creation Project invites Milwaukee Public School students to become composers—guiding them through the creative process and giving them the unforgettable opportunity to hear their music performed by professional musicians.
It’s a powerful way we nurture the next generation of artists, thinkers, and creators.
National and Global Reach
Present Music proudly represents Milwaukee on stages across the U.S. and the world—touring and performing at major music festivals in Japan, Turkey, China, and New York City. We are a six-time recipient of the ASCAP/Chamber Music America Adventurous Programming Award, an unprecedented honor in the field.
Why It Matters
At Present Music, we believe new music can spark connection, conversation, and change. We’re proud to make Milwaukee a national center for creativity—and to welcome everyone into the world of contemporary music.
David Bloom
David Bloom is a conductor equally at home in opera, new music, and orchestral repertoire, noted alike for his “rockstar energy” (Urban Milwaukee) and “graceful sensitivity” (I Care If You Listen). He is founding Co-Artistic Director of Contemporaneous, a 23-member New York-based ensemble which he has led in performances lauded as “ferocious and focused” (The New York Times). Also Co-Artistic Director of Present Music, he brings “breathtaking and inspired programming” (Shepherd Express) to Milwaukee’s long-running new music ensemble. Bloom dedicates his work to collaborating with artists and communities to inspire creativity, empathy, and joy.
In such venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Walt Disney Concert Hall, MoMA, and Park Avenue Armory, Bloom has worked with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Bang on a Can All-Stars, Jacaranda, The Crossing, NOW Ensemble, Ensemble Connect, Choir of Trinity Wall Street, Kronos Quartet, and soloists Dashon Burton, David Byrne, Helga Davis, Isabel Leonard, Iarla Ó Lionáird, Courtney Love, Hila Plitmann, Dawn Upshaw, and many more. Especially active as an opera conductor, Bloom has led productions for Opera Omaha, Beth Morrison Projects, Tri-Cities Opera, Cal Performances, PROTOTYPE Festival, Experiments in Opera,Opera on Tap, and more.
He has conducted over 350 world premieres and collaborated with collaborated with such composers as Donnacha Dennehy, Du Yun, inti figgis-vizueta, Michael Gordon, Judd Greenstein, Nathalie Joachim, David Lang, Tania León, Emma O’Halloran, and Julia Wolfe. In 2021, he conducted Present Music in the world premiere of Raven Chacon’s Voiceless Mass, which went on to win the 2022 Pulitzer Prize.
Bloom serves on the faculty at New York University, where he is Principal Conductor of Orchestras and teaches conducting. He has also served as an artistic advisor for activist orchestra The Dream Unfinished since the organization’s founding in 2015. davidbloomconductor.com
Eric Segnitz
Eric Segnitz is a violinist, composer/arranger, and Co-Artistic director of Present Music. Over Present Music’s entire history of concerts, tours, and recordings, Segnitz has written countless arrangements, scored six films for live performance. As multi-instrumentalist and a founding member of the ensemble, he has performed in virtually every performance from violin, and viola to guitar and hardanger fiddle.
As a soloist, he has recorded the world premiere of Astor Piazolla/John Adams’ concerto Todo Buenos Aires, as well as premieres of the concerto In White and the duo Partita by Kamran Ince. He served as producer and second violinist for the Kepler Quartet’s epic and widely-heralded recording cycle of microtonalist Ben Johnston’s ten string quartets. Fanfare Magazine calls Kepler’s Johnston recordings, “a gigantic contribution to American music… among the most important recordings devoted to music of our time. A milestone in music history.” His recordings as performer and/or producer have been released on the Argo, Innova, Albany, Northeastern, LML, Dargason, Narada, and New World labels.
His composition credits include plays, television, film, and concert works. He has written arrangements for the Carnegie Hall Lullaby Project, multiple productions at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, and string arrangements published by Hal Leonard. Orchestral experience includes the Milwaukee Symphony, the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra, and guest concertmaster positions with a number of orchestras throughout the Midwest.
Segnitz also directs many of Present Music’s education programs, serving as the resident composition teacher with Present Music’s Creation Project, and curator and performer in the Arts in Community Education programs. He also curates a Nordic fiddle festival every August in Door County, Wisconsin.
Marta Troicki, Managing Director
Daniel Petry, Development Strategist
Staff
Board of Directors
Officers
Jessica Franken, Chair
Carole Nicksin, Vice Chair
Fran Richman, Secretary
Brian Wilson, Treasurer
Louise Hermsen, Governance
Heidi Dondlinger
Reed Groethe
William Helmers
Laura Kapp
Rebecca Kiefer
Randall Lindert
Kai Simone
Donna Woodall
Tim Frautschi*
Lois Smith*
*Denotes Special Directors
Directors
Following are Present Music’s three most recent Form 990’s: