“Ed Harsh will resign as president of New Music USA as of the end of September, having presided over the organization since its origins in 2011 as a merger between Meet the Composer, of which he had been president since 2007, and the American Music Center,” writes Susan Elliott in Friday’s (6/1) Musical America (subscription required). “He will join the senior staff of the Kurt Weill Foundation part-time while working on a book about its namesake. His function, according to Harsh in a New Music USA blog, will be ‘to help advance the performance and visibility of Weill’s music around the world.’ Harsh’s impact on new music, on the local, national, and international levels, has been profound. During his tenure, Meet the Composer and New Music USA distributed a total of $10.9 million to artists and projects. He managed to double MTC’s endowment to $7 million by the time of the merger; currently New Music USA’s endowment stands at $15.5 million…. Harsh leaves the organization in sound financial shape; a search for his successor gets underway presently.” In addition to its core grants program, New Music USA offers targeted funding programs in support of new works: Music Alive, a program in partnership with the League of American Orchestras, offers immersive, three-year residencies for composers with orchestras.
Posted June 1, 2018
