With the rising public health concerns about the coronavirus (COVID-19), the American Composers Forum (ACF) is committed to the health and wellness of our large national community. We are paying […]
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Learning through the Ears: Reflections on Heard in Havana In 2014, President Barack Obama announced that his administration would begin the process of normalizing relations between the United States and […]
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Jasper Talwani comes from a musical family but his journey to music was anything but a straight path. His parents studied music at different parts of their lives and wanted […]
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When Gene Angelo Nucal was less than 5 years old, he stumbled upon the instruments that were readily available in his house; piano and strings, primarily. He felt immediately drawn to them and began to experiment. His parents, seeing this, decided they should get him lessons so he would know what he was doing.
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Helen Feng is a recipient of the 2020 NextNotes High School Music Creator Award Helen Feng has perfect pitch. When she was very young, her parents encouraged her to take […]
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Rohan Srinivasan is a recipient of the 2020 NextNotes High School Music Creator Award Rohan Srinivasan is a curious listener and is already an accomplished award winning composer as a […]
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KiMani Bridges is very interested in how things work. In 5th grade she picked up the flute, the instrument her mom played when she was younger, and began her exploration into the workings of that instrument.
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Charlotte Weinstein found an old cello her mother had and she also knew that her mother truly enjoyed the sound of the cello. So she started experimenting with it. It was rough going initially as she tried to figure out proper bowing technique. Eventually that love for experimentation grew into a love for improvisation and composition.
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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 […]
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On Friday, June 12, CEO Vanessa Rose accepted the League of American Orchestras’ Gold Baton Award on behalf of ACF at their conference’s closing event (online). Read her acceptance speech […]
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The American Composers Forum (ACF) and New Music USA will jointly receive the League of American Orchestras’ highest honor, the Gold Baton, the League announced today. ACF President and CEO […]
Continue ReadingThis one-hour, interactive session with legal experts covers topics for musicians and performing artists including: – Addressing current contracts tied to event dates in the next 6-12 months. – Advice […]
Continue ReadingThe American Composers Forum (ACF), in partnership with MakeMusic®, is proud to acknowledge the influential teachers of the 2020 NextNotes® High School Composition Awards winners. NextNotes is a national program […]
Continue ReadingMatt “Nur-D” Allen shares advice and experience on concert streaming, which services you can use and their different qualities, a few technical options to increase quality, and a few ways […]
Continue ReadingJames Patrick from Slam Academy led this free intro to music production webinar, which walked participants through how to compose a piece of music within your digital audio workstation, focusing mostly […]
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Visualizing the Visceral: a conversation between multimedia visual artist Yuliya Lanina and composer/vocalist Bora Yoon. This dialogue was curated by SXSW to be presented as a panel on Experiential Storytelling. Unfortunately, SXSW was cancelled due to the Covid-19 Global Pandemic. However, we are able to offer it as part of our Resonance Series.
Continue ReadingKyle King from Slam Academy led this free webinar with practical tips for anyone interested in launching a podcast. It focused on getting professional sounding podcasts with the smallest amount of […]
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This month Jen Shyu, dynamic performer, bandleader, and current ACF ChoralQuest® Composer-in-Residence shares her story of growing up in rural Illinois, her 50 state multi-tiered tour, and her project with William Alexander Middle School MS 51 in Brooklyn, New York.
Continue ReadingJames Patrick from Slam Academy led this free webinar with advice for how to set up an affordable home composition studio. He covered the topics of: Hardware and software; recommended […]
Continue ReadingKyle King from Slam Academy leads this free webinar with practical tips for all musicians. Get advice about technical best practices for using your phone’s microphone and explore creative ways […]
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Download PDF Press Release here. The American Composers Forum (ACF) is thrilled to announce the winners of the sixth annual NextNotes® High School Music Creator Awards. NextNotes is a national […]
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The American Composers Forum is pleased to announce the results of the 2020 Minnesota Emerging Composer Awards (MECA), supported with funds from the Jerome Foundation. Three area music creators have […]
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ST. PAUL, MN – The American Composers Forum is pleased to announce the 2020 recipients of its ACF | create program (formerly JFund – Jerome Fund for New Music). For […]
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AMERICAN COMPOSERS FORUM and I CARE IF YOU LISTEN are launching a ten-month series entitled “Out of Context” to help our collective field open new channels for exploring and understanding […]
Continue ReadingTrudy Chan from Black Tea Music discusses various aspects of artist management—what to consider and what to expect when seeking a manager, the difference between a manager and a personal […]
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We are pleased to announce that composer Jen Shyu has been selected as our 2019-2020 ChoralQuest® composer. Shyu will work with choir director Mimi Broderick at William Alexander Middle School […]
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By Kris Kautzman, ACF Manager of Community Partnerships Earlier this year we announced1 that Oakland-based artist Julie Herndon is the recipient of ACF’s first Bay Area Composer Residency award, a […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
Continue ReadingEducators, we need your expertise! Our Education team is seeking feedback to make our curricular offerings even better. You can learn about our existing resources here. For many of our […]
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