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ACF | connect

The American Composers Forum has offered a National Composition Contest in partnership with prominent American ensembles since 2010. We are pleased to announce the launch of a new, enhanced version of this program called ACF | connect.

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ACF | create

The American Composers Forum (ACF) champions composers and other creative musicmakers, and boosts their careers with professional opportunities. Our ACF | Create formerly known as the Jerome Fund for New Music (Jfund) supports the creation, presentation, and subsequent life of a new work. This program is for early career composers that reside in Minnesota or the five boroughs of New York City.

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ACF Composer Residency: Bay Area

In keeping with our mission to nurture the creative spirit of composers and communities, ACF is pleased to offer this $10,000 grant for a Bay Area music creator to develop and lead a community residency project.

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Artist Equity Summit May 2021: Twin Cities Arts Leaders

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BandQuest®

BandQuest®, an exciting series of new music and accompanying curricula for band, is a program published by the American Composers Forum. The series was started as a response to feedback from music educators that there is a pressing need for new, fresh band music.

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ChoralQuest®

ChoralQuest® is an exciting series of new music and accompanying curricula for middle-level choir, is a program published by the American Composers Forum. The series was started as a response to feedback from music educators that there is a pressing need for new, fresh choral music.

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Composing Inclusion

Composing Inclusion is a partnership between ACF, The Juilliard School’s Preparatory Division, and the New York Philharmonic. This new commissioning collaboration brings together multiple generations, musical levels, perspectives, and community members in the creation and performance of new music. Composing Inclusion is generously funded by a grant from the Sphinx Venture Fund.

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Landmark to Lowertown

Weekday performances of new music held in the beautiful public spaces of downtown Saint Paul. L2L shows feature original music by winners of the MN Emerging Composer Award (MECA). All concerts in this series are free and open to the public.

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McKnight Composer Fellowships

The American Composers Forum is pleased to announce the 2024 McKnight Composer Fellowships. This program is made possible by the generous support of The McKnight Foundation.

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McKnight Visiting Composer Residencies

The American Composers Forum is pleased to announce the 2024 McKnight Visiting Composers Residency Program. This program is made possible by the generous support of The McKnight Foundation.

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Minnesota Music Creator Awards

As a complement to our long-running commissioning program, American Composers Forum (ACF) is seeking to expand our reach by identifying and supporting artists we might not have supported or connected with in the past.

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Music of the Unsung America

Founded by musician, social entrepreneur, and Miami native Portia Dunkley, Music of the Unsung America addresses the need for more diverse representation in the Western classical music arts in South Florida. With a matching grant from the The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation’s 2019 Knight Arts Challenge and support from the American Composers Forum’s ACF | connect program, Music of the Unsung America is an annual multi-event concert and conversation series that will feature a culturally-diverse chamber and orchestral ensembles, spotlighting works by Black composers and utilizing historic Black spaces as performance venues.

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NextNotes Lab

NextNotes Lab is a student-driven offshoot of the flagship NextNotes® High School Composition Awards program. Whereas NextNotes is nationwide, NextNotes Lab focuses on the Twin Cities community of young composers.

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NextNotes® High School Music Creator Awards (Past Program)

ACF is currently reviewing its youth programs to determine the vital ways we can lift up our youth and build intergenerational programming in different communities. Our hope is that young creators consider starting composer clubs via our NextNotes Lab Toolkit resource until we can once again offer meaningful mentorship opportunities for the next generation of creators. If you are a high school age creator, please contact us about other programs that may be right for you.

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Racial Equity for Artists: Musical Creators Leading Change

As an organization dedicated to living musical creators and cultivating a community for their work to thrive in, ACF strives to be diverse, inclusive, and equitable like many in our shared ecosystem. To do so, however, we must acknowledge the historical exclusion of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) artists in the musical world - particularly Western European-based classical music - and provide a platform to the very artists we seek to support. We invite our community of artists, partners, colleagues, and leaders to join us in listening, learning, and discovering tangible ideas to activate more racially inclusive and equitable opportunities for creative musical artists today.