New Music Detroit (NMD) is a collective of musicians dedicated to performing groundbreaking musical works from the late-20th century to the present day. A highly flexible ensemble with a cast of core members and prominent guest artists, NMD performs new and adventurous classical music in a wide variety of settings, for a wide variety of people.

NMD strives to collaborate with the most exciting creative voices of our time and regularly gives performances of rarely-heard works by today's major composers.

Through innovative programming and risk-taking, virtuoso performances, NMD continues to explore new ways of bringing the best of new and experimental music to the City of Detroit.

James Cornish is a composer, multi-instrumentalist and third-generation native of Detroit.  He is the composer of three operas, including an opera using the ancient Sumerian epic of Gudea, which debuted in 2011 at the Detroit Institute of Arts.  James also writes operas based from contemporary urban poetry.

James is the recipient of state and national arts grants, including American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius (2009).  He was commissioned to compose a series of dance pieces in public spaces in Detroit (2011).