Carnegie Hall

In 1977, a collective of fearless New York City musicians came together to form the American Composers Orchestra (ACO), an ensemble dedicated to the creation, celebration, performance, and promotion of orchestral music by American composers. With more than 40 years of commitment to artistry, creativity, community, and equity, ACO has blossomed into a national institution that not only cultivates and develops the careers of living composers, but also provides composers a direct pipeline to partnerships with many of America’s major symphony orchestras. Learn more about this unique ensemble’s legacy and impact, and its exciting future ahead.

Expanding the Definition of American Orchestral Music

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Curtis Stewart, ACO continues to expand the definition of American orchestral music to ensure an inclusive and vibrant future. As the name suggests, American Composers Orchestra celebrates and increases awareness of the infinite variety of American orchestral music and composers, reflecting diversity of gender, ethnicity, geography, age, style, and aesthetic. This mission has been central to the organization throughout its leadership, which has included music and artistic directors Derek Bermel, Robert Beasel, and Dennis Russell Davies.

ACO’s EarShot CoLABoratory Fellowships advance the work of composers whose music is experimental or rooted in musical traditions underrepresented in the orchestral repertoire; ACO’s 2024 EarShot open call for scores focused on American vernacular in symphonic writing; and the Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute created pathways for jazz artists to write for orchestra.

Through the “Sonidos de las Americas” festival, which ran from 1994 to 1999, ACO celebrated composers and music native to and created in North, Central, and South America. ACO’s focus on music from the Americas continued with an EarShot Reading partnership recently completed with the Aguascalientes Symphony Orchestra in Mexico, and concert programs that included Brazilian forró musicians, Argentinian composer Guillermo Klein, and many others.

Spearheading Commissions and Premieres

Through its annual series presented by Carnegie Hall since 1987, ACO serves as a New York City hub where the most forward-thinking experimental American musicians come together to hone and realize new art. By developing talent, championing established composers, and identifying underrepresented voices, ACO showcases contemporary techniques and approaches in American symphonic writing.

To date, ACO has performed music by 800 American composers, including over 350 world premieres and newly commissioned works. Carnegie Hall has set the stage for ACO to present 200 of these world premieres, including co-commissions of works by Laurie Anderson, Theo Bleckmann, Valerie Coleman, Philip Glass, Yvette Janine Jackson, Han Lash, Mehmet Ali Sanlikol, Pauchi Sasaki, Judith Shatin, Trevor Weston, Conrad Winslow, and Yehudi Wyner. In addition to these landmarks, ACO has performed 40 US premieres and more than 130 New York premieres at Carnegie Hall, which include two co-commissioned works by Lisa Bielawa that featured violinist Jennifer Koh, and Du Yun with guest artists Helga Davis, Ali Sethi, and Shayna Dunkelman.

Advancing Composers Across the Country

Now encompassing all of ACO’s composer advancement initiatives, EarShot is the nation’s first ongoing, systematic program for developing relationships between composers and orchestras. Through orchestral readings, CoLABoratory residencies, consortium commissions, publishing, and professional development, EarShot ensures a vibrant musical future by investing in creativity today.

Many EarShot composers receive commissions from ACO that are premiered at Carnegie Hall. Recent EarShot-commissioned and developed works brought to life at the Hall include those by Carlos Bandera, inti figgis-vizueta, Yvette Janine Jackson, Dai Wei, Jack Hughes, and many others.

Serving more than 350 composers since inception, ACO Readings in NYC began in 1991 and have since been offered in partnership with orchestras across the country in collaboration with the League of American Orchestras, New Music USA, and the American Composers Forum. EarShot composers have gone on to win every major composition award, including the Pulitzer, Grammy, Grawemeyer, American Academy of Arts and Letters, and Rome Prize.

An Outstanding Contributor to American Music

ACO has received numerous awards for its work, including those from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and BMI, recognizing the orchestra’s outstanding contribution to American music. ASCAP has awarded ACO its annual prize for adventurous programming 35 times, singling out ACO as “the orchestra that has done the most for new American music in the United States.” In 2001, ACO received the inaugural MetLife Award for Excellence in Audience Engagement and a proclamation from the New York City Council in 2006.

Promoting Education for Composers of All Ages

For 30 years, ACO’s educational programs have positioned music composition as a gateway to creative thinking, problem solving, and self-expression. The ensemble’s long-term Sonic Spark residencies nurture imagination through creative rituals and play and cultivating personal, social, and academic growth. Sonic Spark serves students at every stage of creative development, including those who have never played an instrument before, are learning to write music for the first time, or are on track to develop high-level careers as performers and composers.

In 2023, ACO began partnering with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s education department to offer a virtual Sonic Spark Lab class. Through these classes, students in New York City and Detroit worked together in real time under the guidance of composer–teaching artist Trevor New, using “Cohere Touch,” the low-latency, digitally-connected learning environment that New developed.

Photography by Fadi Kheir and Alfred Kan; selected artifacts courtesy of the Carnegie Hall Rose Archives.