American Music Center and Meet The Composer, Two of America’s Leading New Music Organizations, Announce Merger Plans

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American Composers Forum Will Assume Membership and Professional Development Services From American Music Center

The American Music Center (AMC) and Meet The Composer (MTC), two of America’s three leading organizations in the field of new music, announced today their intention to merge into a new advocacy and service organization. New Music USA will reach composers, performers, and listeners in all 50 states and project a more visible and audible profile for new American music all over the world.

New Music USA will operate in two broad program areas: grant-making and media. The media programs will embrace new media in its many forms as a vehicle for connecting musicians and audience members. The grant-making programs will build on the rich histories of support within each organization by working to galvanize composers, ensembles, and communities to create, embrace and disseminate the varied and vibrant new music of today. The American Composers Forum will take on AMC’s former membership services, addressing the stated desire of composers across the country for a single comprehensive membership resource.

Based in New York City, New Music USA is expected to open for business before the end of 2011 with Ed Harsh, current President of Meet The Composer, as its President and CEO. He will work in tandem through the end of the year with American Music Center’s President and CEO, Joanne Hubbard Cossa, who has already announced that she will retire in December.

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