ACF | Create Awardee Performance- Muyassar Kurdi
2024-10-13 14:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York)
As part of Muyassar Kurdi’s ACF | Create 2024 commission
For Hind Rajab
A duo with Lucie Vitkova at Prospect Park, Center Dr/East Dr 11238, under the bridge
Closest Trains at B/Q/S at Prospect Park
Free and open to the public.

OrQuestra Youth Program Premiere
2024-12-16 19:00 - 22:00 (America/New_York) | Coral Springs Center for the Arts, 2855 Coral Springs Drive, Coral Springs, FL, 33065, United States
Sarah A. Ruff is the latest composer to take part in ACF’s “Quest” Youth Program residencies (BandQuest, ChoralQuest, ChamberQuest). Her work is spearheading a new pillar of the programs called OrQuestra, as she will be the first composer in ACF’s residencies to collaborate with and write for a young orchestra. Ruff is a pianist, violinist and composer and teaches as an Assistant Professor of Music at Oakwood University.
For more than 20 years, American Composers Forum has been commissioning the development of new works for young musicians and intergenerational ensembles. Building from the success of the BandQuest® and ChoralQuest® series, we have added “ChamberQuest” and “OrQuestra,” two new series that expand the development into collaborations with chamber ensembles and orchestras. These series offer challenging and captivating pieces at different levels, and bring forward stories, a range of musical approaches, and unique ideas that are as fascinating to learn about as they are great pieces to perform.

The BandQuest®, ChoralQuest, ChamberQuest, and OrQuestra series are commissioned and published by the American Composers Forum (ACF). ACF supports and advocates for individuals and groups creating music today by demonstrating the vitality and relevance of their art. We connect artists with collaborators, organizations, audiences, and resources. Through storytelling, publications, recordings, hosted gatherings, and industry leadership, we activate equitable opportunities for artists. We provide direct funding and mentorship to a broad and diverse field of music creators, highlighting those who have been historically excluded from participation.

Dialogues Series: ACF 2024 McKnight Fellows Showcase
2025-01-15 19:00 - 21:00 (America/Chicago) | Luminary Arts Center, 700 N 1st St, Minneapolis, MN, 55401, United States
American Composers Forum and Composers Now present an evening of music and conversation featuring three of ACF’s 2024 McKnight Composer Fellows: IOSIS (Alex Bissen), Leyna Marika Papach, and Sivan Cohen Elias.
Launched in 2015 by Composers Now, “Dialogues” offers a forum for the meaningful exchange of ideas between composers, performers, and audiences. The panel discussion hosted by Tania León (Founder & Artistic Director, Composers Now) and Vanessa Rose (Executive Director, ACF) will center on the role of art in community building.
This event is free with registration. REGISTER HERE.

NAMM Panel - Music Careers: Exploring the Possible and Probable
2025-01-23 10:30 - 11:30 (America/Los_Angeles)
For many, a love of music makes us ask – could this be a career? While performance opportunities exist today, tens of thousands of music professionals also find rewarding careers beyond the stage and studio. This panel of award-winning musicians will discuss the exciting and surprising career paths they’ve carved in artist management, composition for film and TV, non-profits, product development, education, and more. Join us for a conversation about learning to be optimistic, exploring the industry at a deeper level, and realizing that there is tremendous potential out there; it just might not be where we expected.
Panelists:
Vanessa Rose: Executive Director, American Composers Forum
Scott LeGere: ACF Board member and Music Business faculty at Augsburg University
Alex Oana: VP Marketing: Sound Vision Works
Yudu Gray Jr: Co-CEO, 24/7 Artists
Marlowe Teichman: Musician & Photographer, MARLOWE

View the full event schedule here: https://www.namm.org/thenammshow/sessions

The Great Northern - Mary Prescott: Mother Tongue
2025-01-30 18:00 (America/Chicago) | Public Functionary, 1500 Jackson St NE Studio 144, Minneapolis, MN, 55413, United States
Supported by Minnesota Humanities
In partnership with Public Functionary
In partnership with American Composers Forum
Join us for an evening of film, food, and conversation with Minnesota composer Mary Prescott at the premiere of Mother Tongue. This film screening and artist talk explores the deep connections between food, community, and family.
In September 2024, Prescott and The Great Northern hosted a potluck dinner with five artists, writers, and community leaders—José Luis, Ifrah Mansour, Kate Beane, Kao Kalia Yang, and Eyenga Bokamba. Each guest brought a family dish, sharing the stories and cultural significance behind their recipes. This intimate gathering was captured in a short documentary film that we are thrilled to share with you for the first time.

The work and conversations documented in Mother Tongue will form the foundation for Ancestral Table, a large-scale performance artwork by Mary Prescott that will celebrate her maternal Thai heritage. This exciting project is set to be a highlight of our 2026 festival programming.
As part of the experience, you’ll also have the opportunity to sample food from some of the featured participants. Don’t miss this celebration of our diverse culinary traditions.

The Great Northern - Floresta: Soundbath
2025-01-31 18:00 - 20:00, 2025-02-01 15:00 - 17:00, 2025-02-01 17:00 - 19:00 (America/Chicago) | Public Functionary, 1500 Jackson St NE Studio 144, Minneapolis, MN, 55413, United States
By Angélica Negrón, Darian Donovan Thomas, and Raquel Acevedo Klein
Copresented with Public Functionary
In partnership with American Composers Forum

Floresta was originally commissioned and presented by the Brooklyn Botanical Garden in 2023 and will be reconceived for Minnesota winter as part of The Great Northern 2025.

Inspired by trees’ underground communication network, composers/performers Angélica Negrón, Darian Donovan Thomas, and Raquel Acevedo Klein collaborate in an evening of live unfolding soundscapes using voices, violin, plants, flowers, bells, synths, accordion, water, found objects, and mechanical percussion. Moving fluidly between dreamy immersive soundscapes and more dynamic, rhythmically driven compositions, the trio will explore a wide range of musical ideas. Floresta also stars nature itself as a featured performer as MIDI Sprout technology translates biodata from plants into music.
The program will include excerpts from the three composers/performers: Negrón’s symphony Sinfonía Isleña and site specific choral piece Chorus of the Forest; Acevedo Klein’s entrancing Wisteria and rhythmically playful Amaryllis; and Darian Donovan Thomas’ elastic and heartfelt Safe Space from his forthcoming album, and Olana, his immersive installation soundscape—plus a rework of Negrón’s Planeaciones (part of For the Birds: The Birdsong Project, Vol. 1) and a special cover of Björk’s All is Full of Love.

ACF at the CMA Conference: Anatomy of a Commission Legal Considerations
2025-02-13 | InterContinental Houston, 6750 Main St, Houston, TX, 77030, United States
Bringing to life our “Anatomy of a Commission” digital resource library, composers and their collaborators are invited to join entertainment lawyer Ari Solotoff, BMI’s Deirdre Chadwick, Iva Micanovic of Donemus Publishing, and ACF’s Carolina Heredia to discuss frequently asked questions—and things you didn’t know to ask—about licensing, copyright, and other items.
View the full conference program and register HERE.
This session is supported in part with a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, in addition to Augusta Gross and Leslie Samuels, and the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.

ACF at the CMA Conference: Recomposing American Music
2025-02-14 | InterContinental Houston, 6750 Main St, Houston, TX, 77030, United States
What is “American music?” and what does “American” mean? Consider the power of music: its historical role in inspiring, oppressing, protesting, and celebrating people and events. In 2026, the U.S. will recognize the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence — an opportunity to address the complexity of this anniversary historically and today. This session invites anyone creating, performing, sharing, and programming music around this occasion to join us in engaging and deeper inquiry as we seek to answer these questions.
This is an interactive workshop to discuss how to strategically develop context and highlight the stories of those who have been silenced, ignored, or erased in the name of “independence.” Featured speakers include Vanessa Rose and Carolina Heredia from ACF, Ashleigh Gordon from Castle of our Skins, Hyeyung Sol Yoon from Del Sol Quartet, and Armando Castellano from Quinteto Latino.
View the full conference program and register HERE.
This session is supported in part with a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, in addition to Augusta Gross and Leslie Samuels, and the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.

"Follow the Music for Systemic Change" Panel at the League of American Orchestras Conference
2025-06-12 09:00 - 10:00 (America/Denver) | Hyatt Regency Salt Lake City, 170 S W Temple St, Salt Lake City, UT, 84101, United States
Speaker(s): Lee Bynum, Faculty, Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy; Antonio C. Cuyler, Ph.D., Professor of Music, Entrepreneurship & Leadership, University of Michigan; Vanessa Rose, CEO, American Composers Forum; Loki Karuna, Executive Director, American Composers Forum; and Ari Solotoff, Attorney, Drummond Woodsum
Music is a powerful source of engagement, emotion, and artistic expression. However, an artist’s performance or an orchestra’s concert program is also a form of speech (whether explicit or implicit) rooted in the history and context of today’s world. As a result, an orchestra’s charitable and artistic purposes may appear to be at odds with maintaining a neutral or objective position as a publicly-funded nonprofit and tax-exempt organization. How can orchestras continue to demonstrate why symphonic music matters, when they must also attempt to remain institutionally neutral as artistic enterprises? Or, should they? Drawing from their lived experiences in and around orchestras, session leaders will highlight successes, challenges, and the degree to which orchestras can embrace freedom of creative expression as a pathway for transformation, while also adhering to advocacy constraints, anti-discrimination laws and policies, and other internal and external forces.
REGISTER HERE

ACF I Create Performance: Alicia Waller & The Excursion
2025-06-28 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago) | Chelsea Table & Stage, 152 West 26th Street, New York, New York, 10001, United States
Alicia Waller is a 2021 ACF I Create Award Recipient and innova artist
Join vocalist and composer, Alicia Waller, for an expansive evening of music as she brings her signature blend of jazz, soul, and vernacular sound to Chelsea Table & Stage. Waller will perform with her ensemble Alicia Waller & The Excursion to create a live recording that will serve as the companion release to her debut studio album, “Louder Then.” Audiences will be invited to participate in the memorable occasion, sitting in for a live recording of the project’s eight original songs that were written to capture nuances of the American Dream amidst a feminist backdrop. “Louder Then” is intended as an artistic demand, musically articulating a woman’s desire for, and pursuit of, equal shares in an inequitable world.
Waller will additionally perform selections from her acclaimed EP, “Some Hidden Treasure” (2020). Known for the luminous warmth of her voice and captivating approach to soul, she creates a rich, expressive sound that has been praised as a synthesis of splendor and depth.
Featuring:
Alicia Waller, Vocals
Marcos Varela, Bass
Willerm Delisfort, Piano
Philippe Clement, Guitar
Elijah Jamal Balbed, Saxophone
Jerome Gillespie II, Drums
Alicia Waller & The Excursion is a recipient of a 2025 grant from Chamber Music America’s Artistic Projects program, funded through the generosity of The Howard Gilman Foundation, for the Performance.
