Home / UNEVEN MEASURES

UNEVEN MEASURES

The centennial anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment provides an opportunity for the American Composers Forum (ACF) and I CARE IF YOU LISTEN (ICIYL) to celebrate this historic moment while highlighting the complexity of women’s suffrage and exclusion to participation, even in 2020. From August 18 (the ratification date) through the presidential election on November 3, ACF and ICIYL will invite today’s women, trans, and nonbinary artists to share what the 19th Amendment means to them through UNEVEN MEASURES, a series dedicated to advancing intersectional gender equity in 2020, prioritizing racial equity.

This webpage will be updated with additional programs and dates as they become available. Stay tuned!

Amplifying the Work of Women Artists.

ListN Up weekly playlists curated by artists and with their own narrative about why they love this music (theirs and those that inspired them).

Amanda Gookin

Nina Shekhar

Sarah Kirkland Snider

Classically Black Podcast

Du Yun

Kamala Sankaram

Sugar Vendil

Yvette Janine Jackson

Miya Masaoka

Susie Ibarra

Engaging with Women, Trans and Nonbinary Artists and Arts Leaders.

ACF’s ongoing story series, Resonance, by Sun Yun Shin focusing on the stories of Black, Indigenous, and Latinx trans/women artists.

The Healing Culture Work of Composer and Vocalist Mankwe Ndosi

What does the 19^th Amendment mean to you? (Part One)

Part One features contributions by JoAnn Falletta, Libby Larsen, Paola Prestini, Alex Temple, Alysia Lee, Angelica Negron, Natalie Calma, Aeryn Santillan, Nebal Maysaud, Wang Jie.

What does the 19th Amendment mean to you? (Part Two)

Part Two features contributions by Anne LeBaron, brin solomon, Chrysanthe Tan, Jenny Bilfield, Kristy Edmunds, Michelle Ramos, Stacy Garrop, Stephanie Lamprea, Tania León, and X. Lee.

Five Questions interviews with artists on icareifyoulisten.com.

Juhi Bansal

Yaz Lancaster

Jennifer Jolley

Vanessa Reed

Mari Esabel Valverde

Elena Moon Park

Queen Drea

In October, ACF’s Racial Equity Study Group will feature Tiffany Cross’ new book Say It Louder! Black Voters, White Narratives, and Saving Our Democracy in a discussion with the book’s editor, Patrik Henry Bass, Senior Editor, Amistad at HarperCollins Publishers.

Say It Louder! is Tiffany Cross’ explosive examination of how America’s composition was designed to exclude Black voters, but paradoxically would likely cease to exist without them. With multiple tentacles stretching into the cable news echo chamber, campaign leadership, and Black voter data, Cross creates a wrinkle in time with a reflective look at the timeless efforts endlessly attempting to deny people of color the right to vote—a basic tenet of American democracy.

Purchase the book: Say It Louder!

Driving Gender Equity

UNEVEN MEASURES Roundtable Series

This month, I CARE IF YOU LISTEN and American Composers Forum will host a series of Zoom roundtable discussions on gender equity in the contemporary arts as part of our shared UNEVEN MEASURES series. Through interviews, collaborative essays, artist-curated playlists, and live discussions, UNEVEN MEASURES marks the centennial anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment while recognizing the complexity of women’s suffrage and barriers to participation that still exist today.

Transformative Power: Women Leading

October 8th 3:00pm EDT, 2:00pm CDT, 1:00pm MDT, 12:00pm PDT

Gabriela Lena Frank: Composer, Founder, Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music

Lisa Funderburke Hoffman: Executive Director, Alliance of Artist Communities,

Stephen Miles: Composer, ACF Board Co-Chair, Former Provost, New Music, New College

Mankwe Ndosi: Musicmaker, performer, educator, and culture weaver

Vanessa Rose (facilitator): President & CEO, American Composers Forum

Understanding Intersectionality

October 16th 2:00pm EDT, 1:00pm CDT, 12:00pm MDT, 11:00am PST

Mary Kouyoumdjian: Composer/Documentarian

inti figgis-vizueta: Composer

Jennifer Koh: Violinist

Melissa Dunphy: Composer

Amanda Cook (facilitator): Editor-in-chief, I CARE IF YOU LISTEN

Advocating for Gender Equity

October 19th 5:00pm EDT, 4:00pm CDT, 3:00pm MDT, 2:00pm PDT

Sarah Cahill: Pianist, Writer, & Producer,

Terri Lyne Carrington: Drummer, Producer, and Founder & Artistic Director, Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice

Niloufar Nourbakhsh: Composer, Pianist, Founder, Iranian Female Composers Association

Nirmala Rajasekar: Veena virtuoso, educator, ACF Board Co-Chair

Aiden Feltkamp (facilitator): Librettist, Director of Emerging Composers and Diversity, American Composers Orchestra

UNEVEN MEASURES is supported by a generous grant from The Elizabeth & Michel Sorel Charitable Organization Inc., established in 1996 by pianist Claudette Sorel and named for her parents. The Sorel Organization is committed to supporting gender equity in music and addressing systemic inequities by providing greater visibility for women musicians from underrepresented communities. Find out more at www.SorelMusic.org.

We are thankful for our promotional partnership with the New York Philharmonic, whose Project 19 is the largest women-only commissioning project in history and was born of the conviction that an orchestra can participate in conversations about social imperatives and even change the status quo. Find out more at www.nyphil.org.

National Regional

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.

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.

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.

McKnight Composer Fellowships

The American Composers Forum is pleased to announce the 2025 McKnight Composer Fellowships. This program is made possible by the generous support of The McKnight Foundation.

McKnight Visiting Composer Residencies

The American Composers Forum is pleased to announce the 2025 McKnight Visiting Composers Residency Program. This program is made possible by the generous support of The McKnight Foundation.