Led by Co-Artistic Directors John Kennedy and Charles Wood, Essential Music is of a flexible instrumentation depending on the music or project at hand. We perform as a chamber ensemble with a percussion core and as a full orchestra, specializing in American music from throughout the modern era.

We believe the most successful presentations of new music are assisted by the context provided by links to the avant-garde traditions established in the early 20th Century. Amplifying and preserving these traditions in both older and new music is our work.