The American Composers Alliance (ACA) is an American nonprofit composer service organization dedicated to the publishing and promoting of American

contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included seria ...

. Founded in 1937 by

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later a conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as "the Dean of American Com ...

Milton Adolphus Irving Milton Adolphus (January 27, 1913 – August 16, 1988) was an American pianist and composer. Biography Born in the Bronx, New York, and educated at Yale University, his classical compositions include over 200 orchestral, vocal and ...

Marion Bauer Marion Eugénie Bauer (15 August 1882 – 9 August 1955) was an American composer, teacher, writer, and music critic. She played an active role in shaping American musical identity in the early half of the twentieth century. As a composer, ...

and others, it is the oldest national organization of its kind, and represents over 200 member composers. The organization is based in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. From 1951, ACA presented the

Laurel Leaf Award The Laurel Leaf Award recognizes the achievement of an individual or group in encouraging and fostering American music. The award has been presented annually by the American Composers Alliance, from 1951 through at least 2012. Past recipients of th ...

to individuals and organizations in recognition of "distinguished achievement in fostering and encouraging American music." The American Composers Alliance publishes musical scores under the imprint American Composers Edition (ACE). From 2001 through 2013, ACA held an annual festival of American music presenting 6-8 concerts with more than 30 composers from across the country. Past festivals received favorable reviews from ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' and ''New Music Connoisseur''. In 2017, ACA celebrated its 80th anniversary.

Composers seeking services from American Composers Alliance must be affiliated with Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) or ASCAP. Any US citizen or US permanent resident may apply for membership. There are no stylistic requirements. The composer must be writing
contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included seria ...
, at a professional level. The composer submits electronically a minimum of two recent scores, two recordings (live or studio), a complete list of works (with instrumentation, duration, and premiere performance info),along with a bio, resume, or curriculum vitae that contains performance information for the last three years. A committee from ACA’s Board of Governors reviews this material and then makes a recommendation to the full Board, which determines acceptance for works into the ACA Catalog. The process can take from 2 to 3 months. If the composer's work is accepted into the ACA Catalog, an agreement, a Grant of Rights for the selected works, see
copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...
, is signed. This Agreement gives ACA administration and publishing rights. The Agreement may be terminated by the composer or by the ACA Board of Governors with reasonable notice. Control of copyright remains with the composer.

ACA Affiliated Composers as of 2019

* Adams, H. Leslie * Anderson, T. J. * Auerbach-Brown, Christopher * Austin, Elizabeth * Awad, Emil * Balazs, Frederic * Bassett, Leslie * Bauer, Ross * Beerman, Burton * Bell (Friou), Elizabeth * Berenholtz, Jim * Bevelander, Brian * Bliss, Marilyn * Block, Steven D. * Bottje, Will Gay *

Boykan, Martin Martin Boykan (April 12, 1931 – March 6, 2021) was an American composer known for his chamber music as well as music for larger ensembles. Biography Boykan was born in New York City. He studied composition first with Walter Piston at Harvard ...

Brooks, Richard
*

Cameron-Wolfe, Richard Richard Cameron-Wolfe is an American composer and pianist. Early life and education Cameron-Wolfe was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He studied at Oberlin College and Indiana University with Joseph Battista and Menahem Pressler (piano) and Bernard He ...

* Carl, Robert * Carlsen, Philip * Chenoweth, Gerald * Chow, Jun Yi * Cohen, Fred * Cory, Eleanor * Costinescu, Gheorghe * Davidson, Matthew de Lacey * Dellaira, Michael * Dillon, Lawrence * Flaherty, Tom * Froom, David * Gibson, John Grant * Gibson, Robert L. * Gilbert, Janet * Gordon, David E. * Greenbaum, Matthew * Greenberg, Laura * Gressel. Joel * Hall, Gregory * Hodkinson, Sydney * Howe, Hubert * Hutcheson, Jere * Jacobs, Edward S. * Jankowski, Loretta * Jazwinski, Barbara * Jones, David Evan * Karchin, Louis S. * Kim, Sunbin * Kreiger, Arthur * Kroeger, Karl * Lennon, John Anthony * Liptak , David * Lovendusky , James *

Raymond Luedeke Raymond Luedeke (born 1944) is an American / Canadian composer of contemporary classical music. Praised for his idiosyncratic instrumental writing and for his orchestration, Luedeke has more recently concentrated on works for music theatre. Althou ...

* Lundborg , Erik * McCandless, Richard * McKinley , Dr. Elliott Miles * McLoskey, Lansing * Melby, John * Meneely-Kyder, Sarah * Miller, Scott L * Moore, Dorothy Rudd * Newell, Robert Max * Nielson, Lewis J. * Nowak, Alison * Oliver, Harold * Perlongo, Daniel * Philo, Gary * Pisk, Paul * Rausch, Carlos * Read, Thomas L. * Rhodes, Phillip * Rockmaker, Jody * Rothkopf, Michael S. * Sacco, Steven Christopher * Sapp, Allen * Schneider, Gary * Schober, Brian * Schwartz, Elliott * Sherman, Elna *Shields, Alice * Shrude, Marilyn * Shultis, Christopher L. * Silsbee, Ann Loomis * Slayton, Michael * Sollberger, Harvey * Stallcop, Glenn * Suben, Joel Eric * Suber, Stephen Carter * Suskind, Joyce Hope * Tacke, Daniel * Taylor, Dean * Thomas, Andrew William * Thome, Mark (David) * Thompson, Robert Scott * Tillis, Frederick C. * Tower, Joan * Van Nostrand, Burr * Vogel, Roger C. * Welch, Matthew * Wellman, Samuel * Westergaard, Peter * Wiemann, Beth * Wilson, Donald M. * Wuorinen, Charles * Yttrehus, Rolv * Zahler, Noel * Ziolek, Eric * Zuckerman, Mark * Zupko, Ramon
'American Composers Alliance'

External links

*American Composers Alliance *Apply for Administrative and Publishing Services through American Composers Edition *Broadcast Music Incorporated *ACA on Facebook {{Authority control 1937 establishments in the United States Classical music in the United States Contemporary music organizations

ACA Affiliated Composers as of 2019

See also

External links