Tuesday (3/29) at MusicalAmerica.com, Susan Elliott writes, “Meet the Composer and the American Music Center, two New York-based organizations whose missions address the creation and dissemination of music by American composers, have announced their plan to merge into a single entity to be called New Music USA. Ed Harsh, current president of Meet the Composer, will serve as CEO. Joanne Hubbard Cossa, American Music Center’s chief, will retire. The two expect the new organization to be operational by year’s end, pending official approvals from both boards and the court. ‘We started discussions about this at the National Performing Arts Convention in Denver,’ said Cossa in a phone interview, recalling the 2008 meeting of all of the major performing-arts service groups, from Dance USA to Opera America, the Music Critics’ Association and the League of American Orchestras. … Consolidation seemed like the right idea. Both organizations serve the American composer, MTC largely through commissioning grants designed to bring composers closer to their potential audiences, AMC through its huge (50,000) searchable database of American works and by exposure through its online media outlets NewMusicBox and Counterstream Radio. … New Music USA will have a two-pronged focus: grant-making and media. The former will put money into the field, the latter will disseminate the results.”
Posted March 30, 2011
