Taking Note
A Study of Composers and New Music in the United States
2009, 90 pages. American Music Center, 30 West 26th Street, Suite 1001 New York, NY, 10010, 212-366-5260, www.amc.net
http://www.amc.net/takingnote/taking note.pdf
In this effort, American Music Center (AMC) and American Composers Forum (ACF) jointly commissioned the Research Center for Arts and Culture (RCAC) at Teachers College Columbia University, which has a 25-year history of conducting artist-research. The motivation for this investigation was a need for accurate information on the new music ecology and composers in particular in the United States in order for organizations to serve them better.
Through a four-part methodology, the RCAC conducted 90 in-the-field interviews with composers and related experts including board members of the American Music Center and the American Composers Forum, directors of national music service organizations, performers, conductors, presenters, funders, music publishers, licensing organizations, and a variety of other professionals and stakeholders in the new music field. In addition, the RCAC conducted an online survey of composers, which was returned by 1,347 respondents, and created eleven “spotlights” to illustrate models in different areas of the new music field. Finally, preliminary findings were presented in June 2008 at the National Performing Arts Convention (NPAC) in Denver, followed by in-depth feedback sessions.