NEP (est. 1976), may be the best little-known local symphony orchestra around Boston. Its focus is on leading new orchestral music –- in its last two seasons, 17 of the 28 works performed were written in the last 100 years, including four world premiers. Its Music Director is Richard Pittman, formerly of the New England Conservatory and founder of Boston Musica Viva. Its musicians, though professionals, semi-professionals, and accomplished amateurs, are all volunteers for NEP except the Concertmaster. It is the Orchestra in Residence at Simmons College, and its awards include national grants from the Aaron Copland Fund for New Music, the Virgil Thomson Foundation, and the Getty Foundation; four ASCAP awards in the last ten years for "Adventurous Programming;” and a “Best of Boston 2000”citation in the Boston Globe. Its annual worldwide "Call for Scores,” and its Composer in Residence Program, have given nearly 50 living composers over the last ten years opportunities to have their works performed and discussed with audiences; its Young Artists competition enables highly talented Greater Boston youth to play this challenging repertoire alongside first-rate musicians. Its audience outreach program schedules performances in communities that do not have orchestras, and it frequently performs First Night concerts. Such excellence merits your support.