Described by The New York Times as “a hotbed of contemporary-classical players” and a “rural experimental haven," the Oberlin Conservatory of Music cultivates innovation in its students, and has long been an undergraduate Mecca for nationally acclaimed composers, chamber musicians, and ensembles. It has produced scores of powerhouse new music performers and ensembles that began their careers as members of Contemporary Music Ensemble (CME), including the multiple Grammy Award-winning sextet eighth blackbird and the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), among others. In its six annual full-concert cycles, CME performs music of all contemporary styles and genres: from minimalism to serialism, to electronic, cross genre, mixed media, and beyond.

Under the direction of Timothy Weiss, the ensemble’s consistently innovative programming and high level of performance has led to considerable acclaim. The Plain Dealer praised its recent performance at the Cleveland Museum of Art, saying it “spoke volumes about the caliber of Oberlin Conservatory's new-music program, with astonishingly vital performances by Oberlin students.”

CME has worked with many prominent composers from a variety of backgrounds, including Stephen Hartke, George Crumb, Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Helmut Lachenmann, David Lang, Joan Tower, Frederic Rzewski, and a long list of others, and has premiered many of their works. CME also regularly premieres works by prominent Oberlin faculty, student, and alumni composers.

Oberlin attracts some of the most well-regarded contemporary music icons to perform as soloists with CME, including Jennifer Koh ’97, Claire Chase ’00, Tony Arnold ’90, Marilyn Nonken, Stephen Drury, Steven Schick, and Ursula Oppens. Outstanding students regularly receive opportunities to perform as soloists with the ensemble as well, a luxury that is seldom afforded to undergraduates at other institutions.

In addition to its concerts at Oberlin, CME regularly tours the United States. In recent years, the group has performed at the Winter Garden, Miller Theater, Merkin Concert Hall, Harvard University, Benaroya Hall, Palace of Fine Arts, and Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, as well as in numerous partner concerts with the Cleveland Museum of Art. CME also has been featured on a number of commercial recordings, including John Luther Adams’ In the White Silence (New World Records), Lewis Nielson’s Écritures: St. Francis Preaches to the Birds (Centaur Records), and several releases on the Oberlin Music label.