News Archives - American Composers Forum

Now Accepting Submissions for NextNotes High School Music Creator Awards

Thursday, September 12th, 2019

Back to school, back to finding the next creative voices in music! The American Composers Forum is calling all musicians to the sixth annual American Composers Forum NextNotes® High School Music Creator Awards. NextNotes is a national program designed to nurture the next generation of creative voices in music – in any style! All-expenses-paid opportunity to work with mentors […]

American Composers Forum and AACM Announce Three Composers Selected For 2019-2020 ACF | connect Program Elizabeth A. Baker, Adegoke Steve Colson, and Rudresh Mahanthappa

Wednesday, August 28th, 2019

2019/2020 ACF connect selected composers Elizabeth A. Baker, Adegoke Steve Colson, Rudresh Mahanthappa

ACF to Award Composers Commissions to Have World Premieres Performed by the Great Black Music Ensemble, Part of AACM’s 55th Anniversary Season The American Composers Forum (ACF) and the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) today announce the three composers selected as participants for the third annual ACF | connect program, in partnership […]

2019 Bay Area Composer Residency Awardee Announced

Tuesday, July 30th, 2019

ST. PAUL, MN – American Composers Forum (ACF) announced today that Oakland-based artist Julie Herndon has been awarded the organization’s first Bay Area Composer Residency award. Herndon will receive $10,000 to organize and lead Soundvoice, a collaboration with Center for New Music and Code Tenderloin, also based in the Bay Area. During the summer of […]

American Composers Forum Partners with Roomful of Teeth in World Premieres by Mingjia Chen, Mary Kouyoumdjian,and Peter S. Shin at MASS MoCA, August 23

Friday, July 12th, 2019

On Friday, August 23, 2019 at 8pm, the American Composers Forum partners with GRAMMY-winning vocal project Roomful of Teeth in world premieres by Mingjia Chen, Mary Kouyoumdjian, and Peter S. Shin at MASS MoCA. Celebrating Roomful of Teeth’s ten years of re-imagining the potential of the human voice, the program includes both a retrospective of […]

2019 McKnight Composer Fellows and McKnight Visiting Composers Announced

Wednesday, June 12th, 2019

2019 McKnight Fellows And McKnight Visiting

ST. PAUL, MN – The American Composers Forum (ACF) today announced the recipients of this year’s McKnight Fellowships for Composers, funded by the McKnight Foundation. These awards, which include $25,000 in unrestricted funds for each recipient, are an investment in the artistic and professional development of the selected artists. The four fellows were chosen from […]

American Composers Forum Announced Winners of the NextNotes® High School Awards

Monday, April 22nd, 2019

Download PDF Press Release Here The American Composers Forum (ACF) is thrilled to announce the winners of the fifth annual NextNotes® High School Composition Awards. NextNotes is a national program designed to nurture the next generation of creative voices in music composition inclusive of all musical styles. Awards encourage and recognize the creative and talented […]

American Composers Forum Connect Program (ACF | connect) Partners with the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians™ (AACM)

Monday, April 1st, 2019

ACF to Award Three Commissions for Composers to Have World Premieres Performed by Great Black Music Ensemble, Part of AACM’s 55th Anniversary Season The American Composers Forum Connect Program (ACF | connect) today announces its partnership with the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) and the Great Black Music Ensemble for the 2019-20 […]

Minneapolis Guitar Quartet to Perform Works by Winners of the 2019 American Composers Forum Showcase

Thursday, March 28th, 2019

ST. PAUL, MN – Minneapolis Guitar Quartet, hailed by Classical Guitar Magazine as “Flawless, musical and witty, this quartet is able to do anything it sets its mind on,” partners with the American Composers Forum to present three works by the winners of the 2019 ACF Showcase national competition. Composers Clarice Assad (Chicago, IL), Paul Brantley […]

Composers Selected for 2018 Minnesota Emerging Composer Award (MECA)

Tuesday, December 18th, 2018

ST. PAUL, MN – The AmericanComposers Forum is pleased to announce the results of the Minnesota Emerging Composer Awards (MECA), supported with funds from the Jerome Foundation. Three area creative musicians have been selected to receive Minnesota Emerging Composer Awards (MECA). Each selected musician will receive $3,000 to pursue a new project that will help […]

January Composer Meet-Ups in the Bay Area

Monday, December 10th, 2018

In keeping with our mission to nurture the creative spirit of composers and communities, ACF is pleased to launch a new Composer Residency for the Bay Area, in partnership with the Center for New Music in San Francisco. More details below. In advance of this new program, ACF staff be in town to host two FREE […]

Composers Selected for 2018 ACF | Create Program

Tuesday, December 4th, 2018

SAINT PAUL, MN – The American Composers Forum is pleased to announce the results of the ACF | Create program (formerly JFund – Jerome Fund for New Music). With funding from the Jerome Foundation, the American Composers Forum now in its 40th year of commissioning and supporting the production of new works by early career composers […]

American Composers Forum and Roomful of Teeth Announce Three Composers Selected for ACF CONNECT

Monday, May 7th, 2018

Three composers have been selected as participants for the second annual ACF CONNECT program offered by the American Composers Forum (ACF) in partnership with the GRAMMY-winning eight-voice ensemble Roomful of Teeth. Recognized for reimagining the expressive potential of the human voice and forging a new repertoire without borders, Roomful of Teeth is an excellent match […]

Composers Selected for 2017 Jerome Fund for New Music & Minnesota Emerging Composer Award (MECA)

Thursday, November 30th, 2017

SAINT PAUL, MN – The American Composers Forum is pleased to announce the results of two programs supported with funds from the Jerome Foundation; The Jerome Fund for New Music (JFund) and the Minnesota Emerging Composer Award (MECA). Now in its 36th year, JFund supports the production of new works by emerging composers in […]

Rhythm, Melody, and Dissonance: Trevor Babb’s Guitar

Monday, October 30th, 2017

By Michael Cyrs Close your eyes, turn out the lights, and listen to Trevor Babb’s “Septet.” Each guitar note paints a different color of a landscape in your dream. Dozens of other strings come in, and trees form around a pasture. After 90 seconds, the notes climb up the scale as the sun shines down […]

Letter from Steven Homestead, New ACF-Los Angeles President

Tuesday, October 3rd, 2017

I am humbled and excited to announce that as of September 1st, I begin my term as the next President of the American Composers Forum of Los Angeles. In addition, Alicia Byer begins serving as ACF-LA Secretary and Treasurer. She steps into this leadership position having most recently run ACF-LA’s music education program. We join […]

2017 Champion of New Music Charles Amirkhanian

Tuesday, June 6th, 2017

ACF President John Nuechterlein and ACF Board member Vivian Fung presented the 2017 Champion of New Music Award to Charles Amirkhanian, Executive and Artistic Director of the Other Minds Festival in San Francisco. The occasion was a concert on May 20, 2017 featuring the music of Lou Harrison to mark the centennial of his birth […]

Healing & Hope Through Song Composer and Poet Announced

Monday, May 22nd, 2017

The American Composers Forum is pleased to announce a new community residency program with Giving Voice Chorus (GVC), Giving Voice Initiative (GVI), and the MacPhail Center for Music in Minneapolis. Composer Victor Zupanc and poet Louisa Castner will collaborate to create a new choral work to be premiered by GVC singers in spring 2018. This […]

American Composers Forum and the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble Announce Three Composers Selected for ACF CONNECT

Thursday, May 18th, 2017

Three composers have been selected as participants for the first annual ACF CONNECT program offered by the American Composers Forum (ACF) in partnership with the highly acclaimed Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble (PNME). Long recognized for its world-class performances and commitment to new work beyond the premiere, PNME is a perfect match for the ACF CONNECT […]

New ACF Partnerships: Make Music Day & Young Composer Contest with Make Music, Inc.

Monday, May 8th, 2017

ACF is excited to be a new national partner in Make Music Day, and we want you, the ACF community, to participate! Make Music Day is free celebration of music around the world each June 21st. Launched in 1982 in France as the Fête de la Musique, it is now held on the same day […]

ACF Delegation to Havana: In Review

Sunday, January 10th, 2016

The invitation to showcase American composers at the Havana Contemporary Music Festival was, quite frankly, one of the most extraordinary opportunities in the history of ACF. We have grown measurably from our early roots, and it was a great honor to present the work of ten American composers who represent such a wide range of […]

høle in the skY: Kathy McTavish

Thursday, November 20th, 2014

By Tim Hansen Composers are generally a diversely intellectual bunch. In addition to their music training, it’s common for them to have undertaken some other form of study or have an abiding curiosity in a non-musical field that gives a specific flavour to their art. JFund awardee Kathy McTavish has a C.V. that, when compared […]

A small party for those with big amibitions

Monday, December 3rd, 2012

Written by Tim Hansen American Composers Forum held a friendly soiree in New York this November for ACF members, hosted by president John Nuechterlein. The night was an informal opportunity for members to meet and network with each other, learn about some of the upcoming opportunities ACF has in the pipes, and for Nuechterlein to […]