Contribute to American Composers Alliance

December 19, 2020

Dear Friends of ACA,

When I think of the American Composers Alliance, I think of Aaron Copland, our first president, and founding members Vladimir Ussachevsky, Otto Luening, and Edgard Varèse. These composers worked diligently to keep ACA as a place where their music would be made available to the public as soon as it was completed and kept secure for the future.

Today, ACA continues its original mission as the administrator for a catalog that has grown to nearly 14,000 titles – one of the largest for American classical music.  This year, ACA composers have added over 80 new works to American Composers Edition (BMI) and American Concert Editions (ASCAP).

Worldwide sales and licensing demand for ACA composers’ chamber music, operas, choral music, orchestral and band scores, anthologies, genre collections, multimedia works and recordings continue to increase every year, and ACA has added more staff.  ACA’s celebrated holdings of music by composers of color have been viewed, requested, and performed this year at rates that have topped all previous activity for these works in our catalog. The momentum keeps growing. 

ACA has been stable through many decades, but no nonprofit is secure in these times. 

In March, ACA created Shelter Recordings as an immediate response to help support the players in our orbit who lost jobs due to the closing of the concert season. ACA could not achieve its mission without the intrepid, inspiring musicians that play new music.  

Over 50 ACA pieces are newly recorded since the program started. This year we have created many new score collections and anthologies and have initiated collaborations with other organizations such as the National Orchestral Institute + Festival, the Charlotte New Music Festival, and Castle of Our Skins.

Expanding the catalog and managing projects with artists comes with increased costs and budget strain. We have persevered this year due to the incredible generosity of volunteers and the kindness of donors. 

I’m asking each person reading this to confirm your support of ACA this year, to help keep ACA strong through these difficult times as we strive forward. Without your support, many of the special ACA programs for composers and performing artists will not be possible.

I hope you will join me in supporting the American Composers Alliance with a tax-deductible donation for 2020.  If each reader of this letter contributed $25-50 this year, we would be able to continue the momentum without losses of service through 2021. Please let us hear from you. We wish everyone a safe and peaceful holiday season.

Thank you very much,

Steven C. Sacco, ACA board member,
with fundraising committee members
Alice Shields, Brian Schober, and Christopher Shultis

Fundraising levels:

$25   Solo and songs
$50   Sonata and duos
$100  Trio and quartets 
$250-499 Orchestral and symphony
$500-999 Concerto virtuoso
$1000+ Copland legacy donor

Paypal Giving Fund (online payments to charities, no fees)

Our mailing address:

American Composers Alliance
PO Box 1108
New York, NY 10040

ACA is a platinum-rated charitable nonprofit organization - see Guidestar

ACA operates on charitable year-end contributions, ongoing annual support from businesses and private donors, microdonations, Amazon Smile, Paypal Giving Fund, Network for Good, Non-profit foundation support, Government arts grants, gifts of appreciated stock, gifts from Donor-advised funds, gifts of copyright from composers and estates, in-kind donations of time and expertise, and the sales, rentals, and licensing fees collected on behalf of the ACA music catalog.  

 

Honoring our Support Community for 2020

Copland Legacy Donors
BMI
Alison Nowak and Robert Cane
Jewish Community Foundation 
Aaron Copland Fund
Jonatha Ceely
 

Concerto Virtuosos
Noel Zahler
Network for Good
Edward Jacobs
Nelda Nelson-Eaton
Beth Wiemann
David Froom
David Liptak
Barbara Jazwinski
Darleen Mitchell
 

Orchestral and Symphony
Mark Zuckerman
Joel Gressel
Donald M. Wilson
Phillip Rhodes
Jan Gilbert

Trios and Quartets
Alice Shields
Gordon Family Charitable Trust
Marc Diamond
Karl Weigl Foundation
Christopher Shultis
Thomas L. Read
Marilyn Shrude
Joel Eric Suben
Marcia Ferritto
Brian Schober
Pam Tillis

Sonata and Duos
Martin Boykan
Henry Skolnick
Jody  Rockmaker
Michael Dellaira
Raymond Nagem
John D. McDonald
 

Solo and Songs
Elizabeth R. Austin
Elliott Miles McKinley
Lewis Nielson
Wallace McClain Cheatham
Richard McCandless
Francine Trester
Jason Gray
Amazon Smile
Paypal Give at Checkout