The end of 2009 has brought much-deserved recognition to Music on the Edge and IonSound Project, the music department's most prominent contemporary music endeavors.

MOTE's presentation of Alarm Will Sound was recognized as one of the Best Classical Performances of 2009 by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. MOTE presented Alarm Will Sound in collaboration with the Andy Warhol Museum and the New Hazlett Theater, a collaboration that will continue throughout the current MOTE season.

IonSound Project's most recent concert received critical acclaim in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review where critic Mark Kanny praised the program as a whole and each member's individual playing. IonSound continues it's residency at Pitt with a concert of new music by graduate student composers on Tuesday, April 6 and the final installment of the group's Reduce-Renew-Recycle season on Sunday, April 11 (both at Bellefield Hall Auditorium).

Congratulations to MOTE codirectors Eric Moe and Mathew Rosenblum and all the members of IonSound Project for their work in making Pitt's Department of Music a driving force in the region's contemporary music scene.