The S.E.M. Ensemble was founded in 1970 by composer and flutist Peter Kotik by organizing a group of musicians of the fellows at the Center of the Creative and Performing Arts, SUNY/Buffalo. The S.E.M. Ensemble has established itself as one of the distinguished ensembles for new music in the U.S. The ensemble continues to perform a yearly series of concerts at the Paula Cooper Gallery in New York and in its own space in Brooklyn Heights, Willow Place Auditorium. The S.E.M. Ensemble has held festivals at The Kitchen in 1972, 1975, and 1976.