Press Archives - American Composers Forum

Jelloslave (aka Purple Orange) to Perform Works by Winners of the 2018 American Composers Forum Showcase

Monday, April 16th, 2018

Jelloslave (aka Purple Orange), hailed by Rebecca Lang of the Star Tribune as “…an infectious, mysterious melee of genres.” partners with the American Composers Forum to present three works by the winners of the 2018 ACF Showcase national competition on Saturday, June 2 at the Open Eye Figure Theatre in Minneapolis, MN. Composers Robin Holcomb (Seattle, […]

John Nuechterlein to Retire as President & CEO of American Composers Forum

Wednesday, April 11th, 2018

John Nuechterlein has announced that he will retire as President/CEO of the American Composers Forum effective December 31, 2018. He shared the news recently with Forum board and staff, noting the decision to move on came slowly over the past few months. “The Forum is an extraordinary ecosystem of creative, imaginative people,” Nuechterlein says. “I feel privileged to have […]

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 […]

2017 McKnight Composer Fellows and Visiting Composers Announced

Wednesday, May 31st, 2017

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, acknowledge excellence in the field of music composition. The four fellows were chosen from a pool of 55 applicants. In another McKnight funded […]

Winners of the NextNotes High School Composition Awards Nominate Educators for Recognition

Wednesday, May 24th, 2017

The American Composers Forum (ACF), in partnership with MakeMusic®, is proud to acknowledge the influential teachers of the 2017 NextNotes® High School Composition Awards winners. NextNotes is a national program designed to nurture the next generation of creative voices in music composition regardless of musical style. The following winners were selected for their compositional skills […]

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 […]

Auburn Junior High Choir to Perform World Premiere of Choral Work by Composer Rosephanye Powell

Wednesday, May 3rd, 2017

While the school year kicks into overdrive with end-of-year activities, students in Teresa Rhyne’s select girls’ choral class will have a rare opportunity: they will perform the world-premiere performance of a new work by internationally known, local composer Rosephanye Powell. The piece, “When I Sing”, was written as the eighth piece for ChoralQuest®, a series […]

American Composers Forum Announces Winners of the NextNotes High School Composition Awards

Monday, May 1st, 2017

The American Composers Forum (ACF) is pleased to announce the winners of the third annual NextNotes®High School Composition Awards. NextNotes is a new, national program designed to nurture the next generation of creative voices in music composition regardless of musical style. Awards encourage and recognize the creative and talented composers with mentorship, scholarship funds and […]

Teacher Greg Beyer and Student Alexis C. Lamb Collaborate on innova Album MeiaMeia

Thursday, April 6th, 2017

written by Michael Cyrs The results of a teacher and student coming together have no constant. There may be anything from an exchange of words to complete silence for a sixty-minute lesson. There may be an endless dialogue about what notes go where, how to play this section without screwing up the next, or simply […]

Charles Amirkhanian, Donald Nally and The Crossing, The International Alliance for Women in Music to Receive Champion of New Music Awards

Thursday, March 9th, 2017

The American Composers Forum (ACF) Board of Directors has voted to present its 2017 Champion of New Music award to three outstanding recipients: percussionist, radio producer, and artistic director of Other Minds Charles Amirkhanian; advocacy organization The International Alliance for Women in Music; and conductor and professional chamber choir Donald Nally and The Crossing at […]

ACF Announces a New Season of Landmark to Lowertown

Friday, December 9th, 2016

SAINT PAUL, MN (December, 2016) – The American Composers Forum is pleased to announce our 3rd season of Landmark to Lowertown: weekday, lunchtime concerts of new music held in the beautiful public spaces of downtown Saint Paul. Continuing the tradition, this season’s composer/performers are past awardees of the Minnesota Emerging Composer Award (MECA), which recognizes […]

Composer Rosephanye Powell Commissioned to Write New Piece for Auburn Junior High School Choir

Thursday, December 8th, 2016

ACF is thrilled to announce that composer Dr. Rosephanye Powell has been selected as the 2016-2017 ChoralQuest® composer. Powell will work with choir director Teresa Rhyne at Auburn Junior High in Auburn, AL. Auburn Junior High was selected by the composer to host the residency due to its strong music program, talented leadership, and excellence […]

Composers Selected for 2016 Jerome Fund for New Music & Minnesota Emerging Composer Award (MECA)

Wednesday, November 23rd, 2016

ST. 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 35th year, JFund supports the production of new works by emerging composers in a variety […]

Meet New Board Member: Chris Osgood

Thursday, September 8th, 2016

ACF’s 2016 summer development intern, Henry Dykstal, conducted a series of interviews with our incoming cohort of board members. First up is Chris Osgood. After reading his interview, learn even more about him here. 1. How did music come into your life as something you wanted to pursue as your life’s calling? As a kid in […]

Faith Partners Residency Composers Announced

Friday, August 26th, 2016

SAINT PAUL, MN (August 24, 2016) – The American Composers Forum is pleased to announce the next cycle of Faith Partnerscomposers-in-residence. This nationally recognized program brings together composers and communities of multiple faith traditions for the creation of new sacred music and the reinvigoration of worship. Gary Ruschman has been selected by the consortium of […]

Saad Haddad: Family Is Everything

Saturday, May 7th, 2016

written by Tim Hansen A couple of years ago Californian-based composer Saad Haddad was accepted into the prestigious masters program at Juilliard. Like countless young composers before him, it would mean uprooting from home and hurling himself into the maelstrom of New York City. It’s exciting, but tough, and more than one young artist has […]

John Keston: Musical Synthesis and Sonic Environments

Monday, April 20th, 2015

By Tim Hansen On a bare hill overlooking the village of Burnley in Lancashire, England, stands the Singing Ringing Tree, an array of galvanised steel pipes stacked in a swirled sculpture to resemble a stylised broad-boughed tree. Standing alone on this otherwise empty hill it is visually striking enough, but it’s when the wind picks […]

Doyle Armbrust and the Spektral Quartet

Monday, January 12th, 2015

How did Spektral¹s involvement in Behind the Wallpaper come about, and is there anything to keep in mind or listen for when we hear it February 23? Behind the Wallpaper came about like the vast majority of our commissions do…we were keen to work with a specific composer. Alex Temple, who is based in Chicago, and has […]

Erin Rogers: A composer and her role in interplanetary warfare

Monday, October 27th, 2014

Written by Tim Hansen Until a few years ago, composer, saxophonist and JFund awardee Erin Rogers did not have an especial bent towards science fiction; a childhood smattered with the occasional Star Trek re-run after school was about as far as it went. Then, shortly after moving to New York City in 2005 “broke but […]

Christopher Cresswell: Stone Seeking Warmth

Tuesday, July 22nd, 2014

Written by Tim Hansen When Christopher Cresswell was in the third grade, his teacher asked his class to write about what they wanted to be when they grew up. Ten year old Cresswell had two aspirations: to be a country singer and a baseball player. Sadly, we’ll never get to witness Cresswell’s induction into the […]

My Collaborations with Penelope Freeh: A Brief History

Sunday, July 20th, 2014

by Jocelyn Hagen Growing up as an only child in the country, outside a small town in North Dakota, allowed me to spend a lot of time inside my head. Being creative was a part of my everyday life, just as it is now. Through the years I became very comfortable in my mostly singular […]

Danielle Schwob: The Electrical Eclectic

Monday, May 12th, 2014

Written by Tim Hansen Fresh-faced young wannabe composers arriving at college are told in Composing 101: find your voice. Refine it down. Success means choosing a niche and painstakingly carving it out of the musical landscape bit by bit, like Andy Dufresne’s prison-cell wall inThe Shawshank Redemption, until you have your own tiny, specialised musical […]