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Musical ensemble founded by American composer Steve Reich

Steve Reich and Musicians, sometimes credited as the Steve Reich Ensemble, is a musical ensemble founded and led by the American composer Steve Reich (born 1936). The group has premiered and performed many of Reich's works both nationally and internationally. Original members included Steve Chambers (pianist), Arthur Murphy (pianist), Jon Gibson (reed player), and Reich himself. In 1974, Reich began work on Music for 18 Musicians, which was his first attempt at writing for a larger ensemble. The group premiered this piece at The Town Hall in New York City in 1976, and made the premier recording of it on ECM Records in 1978. This piece is considered a pivotal point in Reich's career, marking a distinct shift toward harmony being brought to the forefront ahead of the rhythmically based style of his previous works. During this period, the group usually gave private performances of pieces they were rehearsing in lofts and small galleries in New York City prior to the public premieres. The invited audiences for these small concerts often included artists like Sol LeWitt and Richard Serra, as well as other musicians and composers such as Philip Glass, Morton Feldman, and John Cage. Bob Becker, Russell Hartenberger, and Garry Kvistad all played on the award winning recording. In 2006–2007, Reich's 70th birthday was honored with a series of multiple concerts held at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

By organizing an ensemble of his own with which to perform his works, Reich, like fellow minimalist composer Philip Glass with his group, altered the traditional route by which classical composers sought to have their music disseminated. The composer led ensemble became a new model which was to be highly influential on the creation of groups such as Bang on a Can.

From 1966 until Reich composed Music for 18 Musicians, the ensemble's size steadily increased from 4 to 18 players. The ensemble's instrumentation varies according to the piece being performed. Many compositions consist primarily of tuned percussion (marimbas, vibraphones, glockenspiels) and voices, as well as bowed string instruments, bass clarinets, and electronic organs. Other ensembles feature more original instrumentation, or only the human body as in the case of pieces like Clapping Music.