About ACA
The American Composers Alliance: Publisher, Administrator, and Archive
The American Composers Alliance (ACA) was formed in 1937 by Aaron Copland, Elliott Carter, Marc Blitzstein, Colin McPhee, Douglas Moore, Marion Bauer, and others, and began collecting scores of its member composers in the early 1940s. ACA would later found the record company CRI and the American Composers Orchestra in the 1970s.
The original mission was to make the music available to orchestras and performers, and to be sure that composers were compensated fairly and credited for performances of their work. ACA accepted music from composers under-represented in the mainstream at that time. ACA also welcomed, and still does, unusual and smaller or lesser-known works by well-known composers that were not considered lucrative enough for commercial publication by other publishers.
Over the years, ACA has developed as a support organization for American concert music, representing composers and estates through several generations of creative work. ACA now preserves historical works, introduces new works, and develops innovative ways to increase awareness, performance opportunities and public engagement with its unique and growing catalog. At ACA, we wish to preserve the materials entrusted to us as part of our history for tomorrow’s generations. Since 2000, ACA has managed its collection of scores and parts in collaboration with the University of Maryland’s Special Collections in Performing Arts (SCPA).
The curated catalog currently contains more than 12,000 compositions from 1905 to the present day.
ACA's Roles and Activities
ACA can serve as a co-administrator and distributor to support dissemination of composers' scores and approve requests for other uses of ACA music. ACA does not require copyright transfer. Composers maintain this copyright control and can leave ACA services at will with notification. A specific grant of rights is needed to allow ACA permission to represent a composer's works. ACA accepts applications from active composers and from composer estates with our legacy program, and coordinates effort in working with composers, performers, ensembles, record labels, distributors, estates, libraries, and the general public. ACA's work in these areas can be further explored in collected articles and essays, in ongoing news and events, in historical news and events. and in an overview of our history and archives.
Affiliated score imprints are American Composers Edition (BMI), Composers Facsimile Edition (BMI) and American Concert Editions (ASCAP). Support and administration services are provided for chamber music, choral music, arrangements, opera, dramatic, theatrical, electronic, film, orchestral and band music, which can be explored in our online catalog. ACA also sells and rents catalog products and licenses rights to musical works for recordings, web streaming, and documentary films; dance, dramatic uses, and chamber and orchestra performances; school classroom uses; audio and video recordings; and textbook and article reprints, arrangements, and new editions of music from the past.
ACA is funded by the generous contributions of Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI), the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, the National Endowment for the Arts, Amphion Foundation and Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, as well as by earned income from its catalog. The ongoing work continues to be supported by many organizations and individuals who value the preservation of this vast collection of American music. All income at ACA is used to fund the continued activities of the Alliance.
ACA board and staff is comprised of composers, industry professionals, researchers, teachers, and others in the 21st Century American musical landscape. ACA is an equal opportunity employer and publishing affiliate and does not discriminate or tolerate discrimination against any applicant for employment or for professional affiliation with ACA, because of age, sex, gender, disability, national origin, race, or veteran status.
Testimonials
“ACA has been a valuable asset in my career. It continues to support my music, provides access to scores for interested musicians, creates unique publications such as my Memory Book (2021), is always responsive to requests [...] They are by far the most significant supporter of modern music that I am aware of.”
"The American Composers Alliance is an invaluable aid to living composers, maintaining our music in a widely used catalog, providing licensing arrangements, compiling anthologies, notifying us of performance and recording opportunities, and providing continued accessibility for our music through a legacy program."
“ACA is a haven in a world where publishers can suppress composers’ works, as easily as promote them.”
“As Performing Arts Curator for Columbia University's Rare Book & Manuscript Library, my mission is not only to safeguard but also to promote the works of composers such as Ulysses Kay whose papers are at RBML.
The American Composers Alliance has been an enormous help in getting more of Kay's works published. In addition to ACA's mission to promote the music of living composers, they have also allowed a new generation to have access to more of Kay's compositions, when he cannot do that himself, having died in 1995. As a non-profit organization they understand that providing access to these otherwise lost works may not lead to great profits, their mission being much more aligned with that of Columbia, being also non-profit.
However, we are not a publishing house, and so being able to partner with ACA solves the problem of how to bring these scores to life. Otherwise, they sit quietly in their temperature and humidity-controlled storage, in acid-free folders and boxes, but do not live again to be heard in actual performance. The work of the ACA is a vital part of this mission.”
“ACA continues to be an indispensable ally to the Karl Weigl Foundation. In addition to its prescribed role in making the music of Karl and Vally Weigl available to musicians worldwide, ACA has, on a routine basis: taken initiatives to upgrade the Weigl catalog, provided suggestions on marketing and outreach, and helped resolve thorny issues relating to copyright and other publishers.
Most importantly, [ACA director] Gina has served as informed and willing counsel on a host of critical issues facing the KWF as custodians of the Weigl music legacy. In summary, ACA is closely aligned with our own goals — and we cannot imagine having a better partner.”
"ACA keeps one simple goal in mind: to support and promote American composers and their music. Today ACA continues its close affiliation with BMI. Together they strive to fortify the still tenuous position of
the American composer of concert music. With our musical research and development, our serious composers can follow their personal artistic visions."