American Composers Orchestra
Encyclopedia
The American Composers Orchestra (ACO) is an American orchestra based in New York City
. It is the only orchestra in the world dedicated solely to the creation, performance, preservation, and promulgation of music by American composers. Through its concerts at Carnegie Hall
and other venues, recordings, radio broadcasts, educational programs, New Music Readings and commissions, ACO identifies today's brightest emerging composers, champions prominent established composers as well as those lesser-known, and increases regional, national and international awareness of the infinite variety of American orchestral music, reflecting geographic, stylistic, and temporal diversity. ACO also serves as an incubator of ideas, research and talent, as a catalyst for growth and change among orchestras, and as an advocate for American composers and their music. To date, ACO has performed music by 500 American composers, including more than 100 world premieres and newly commissioned works.
The group was conceived in 1975 by Francis Thorne
and Dennis Russell Davies
, and gave its first performance in 1977.
Among the honors ACO has received are special awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and from BMI recognizing the orchestra’s outstanding contribution to American music. ASCAP has awarded its annual prize for adventurous programming 29 times, singling out ACO as “the orchestra that has done the most for new American music in the United States.” ACO received the inaugural METLife Award for Excellence in Audience Engagement, and a proclamation from the New York City Council. ACO recordings are available on ARGO, CRI, ECM, Point, Phoenix USA, MusicMasters, Nonesuch, Tzadik, and New World Records. More information about American Composers Orchestra is available online at http://www.americancomposers.org.
The orchestra gives an annual concert series at Carnegie Hall and at the Annenberg Center in Philadelphia. Its first concert was given on February 7, 1977 at Alice Tully Hall
at Lincoln Center.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. It is the only orchestra in the world dedicated solely to the creation, performance, preservation, and promulgation of music by American composers. Through its concerts at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
and other venues, recordings, radio broadcasts, educational programs, New Music Readings and commissions, ACO identifies today's brightest emerging composers, champions prominent established composers as well as those lesser-known, and increases regional, national and international awareness of the infinite variety of American orchestral music, reflecting geographic, stylistic, and temporal diversity. ACO also serves as an incubator of ideas, research and talent, as a catalyst for growth and change among orchestras, and as an advocate for American composers and their music. To date, ACO has performed music by 500 American composers, including more than 100 world premieres and newly commissioned works.
The group was conceived in 1975 by Francis Thorne
Francis Thorne
Francis Thorne is an American composer of contemporary classical music and grandson of the writer Gustav Kobbé.-Life:...
and Dennis Russell Davies
Dennis Russell Davies
Dennis Russell Davies is an American conductor and pianist. He studied piano and conducting at the Juilliard School where he received his doctorate...
, and gave its first performance in 1977.
Among the honors ACO has received are special awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and from BMI recognizing the orchestra’s outstanding contribution to American music. ASCAP has awarded its annual prize for adventurous programming 29 times, singling out ACO as “the orchestra that has done the most for new American music in the United States.” ACO received the inaugural METLife Award for Excellence in Audience Engagement, and a proclamation from the New York City Council. ACO recordings are available on ARGO, CRI, ECM, Point, Phoenix USA, MusicMasters, Nonesuch, Tzadik, and New World Records. More information about American Composers Orchestra is available online at http://www.americancomposers.org.
The orchestra gives an annual concert series at Carnegie Hall and at the Annenberg Center in Philadelphia. Its first concert was given on February 7, 1977 at Alice Tully Hall
Alice Tully Hall
Alice Tully Hall is a concert hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. It is named for Alice Tully, a New York performer and philanthropist whose donations assisted in the construction of the hall...
at Lincoln Center.
Listening
See also
- San Francisco Composers Chamber OrchestraSan Francisco Composers Chamber OrchestraThe San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra is a chamber orchestra based in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 2002 and is dedicated to the performance of contemporary classical music, most often works by the orchestra's members...