Raise Up! 2024 American Composers Orchestra Gala & Creative Catalyst Awards
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“For a young composer of orchestral music, the greatest challenge is getting one’s works played and heard. Addressing that challenge is… American Composers Orchestra.” – The Dallas Morning News
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New York, NY (September 10, 2024) – Called an “essential organization” (The New York Times) with “an expansive vision of orchestral composition” (Represent Classical), the American Composers Orchestra (ACO) presents an evening of honors and top-tier performances during its third annual Gala and Creative Catalyst Awards on October 15, 2024 at 6:00PM at Bryant Park Grill in New York City. ACO’s gala, co-chaired by Dr. Indira Etwaroo, Melin Tan-Geller, MD, and Lana Turner, honors the contributions of creatives working in the contemporary orchestral music space whose impact will resonate for years to come.
This year’s gala embraces a theme of “Raise Up!” as ACO celebrates a trio of musical visionaries: Regina Carter, MacArthur Fellow, Doris Duke Award recipient, and multi-GRAMMY® Award-nominated violinist; Hollis King, Emeritus Creative Director and VP, Verve Group; and the BMI Foundation, a non-profit organization supporting creators of American music through awards, scholarships, grants, and commissions. The three honorees have been selected as exemplars of core ACO values: artistry, creativity, community, and equity.
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Gala supporters will enjoy an evening of original music from leading artists while learning how their contributions drive innovation and excellence in the field. The ACO gala offers businesses and individuals the opportunity to build relationships and identify opportunities for collaboration with other guests, all while supporting ACO’s mission.
Proceeds from the gala will support ACO’s full suite of programs, including EarShot Readings, the invaluable mentorship program for emerging composers to hear their scores rehearsed and performed by top U.S. orchestras across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico; EarShot CoLABoratory Fellowships, a platform for composers whose work is experimental and/or rooted in musical traditions underrepresented in the orchestral repertoire; and Sonic Spark Lab, programs ranging from middle school to college-aged student that offer musical training and composing instruction to more than 500 students in New York City and Detroit. In addition, ACO has professional audio and video recordings of all New York City-based engagements for its orchestra, including programs at Carnegie Hall and New York-based EarShot Readings.
In the spirit of supporting American composers through ACO's national EarShot composer advancement programs, orchestral performances, and educational initiatives, the gala will “Raise Up!” celebrating new music, new connections, and new ideas catalyzed by communal presence.
Featuring narratives surrounding what American orchestral music can truly be and do, performances include an original composition by Regina Carter, sound sculpting by Apache violinist Laura Ortman, Gospel-inspired bass virtuoso Kebra-Seyoun Charles, the infectious collective energy of Harlem Samba, the warm vocal stylings of Claudia Acuña, and the smooth tunes of the Sam Bardfeld Band.
In the evening’s honorees, ACO has selected luminaries representing the artistry, technology, and humanitarian impact contained in music. GRAMMY®-nominated artist Regina Carter explores the voice of the violin in a wide range of genres. A 2023 recipient of the NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship, as well as a past recipient of the MacArthur "Genius Grant" award and a Doris Duke Artist Award, she tours with her own group and has appeared frequently as a guest soloist. Carter is Professor of Music at UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. She has also served three times as a jurist for the Pulitzer Prize for music. Her current project, Gone in a Phrase of Air, is a collection of original and reimagined music exploring our country’s numerous communities—predominantly African American—displaced and dispossessed in the name of urban renewal.
Hollis King is former Vice President and creative director at the Verve Music Group, the largest jazz record label in the world. He studied advertising and design at New York City Community College and later transferred to the School of Visual Art where he studied with legendary artist Milton Glaser. King worked at several design studios before entering the music industry, as a graphic designer at GRP Records, later becoming creative director. He then joined the Verve Music Group, a division of Universal Music Company, and worked with some of the greatest musicians of all time. King has received numerous achievement awards and citations as well as five GRAMMY® nominations. Currently, Hollis runs his own creative company, sits on an executive board, and regularly lectures at FIT, SVA, Art Directors Club, and Society of Illustrators.
BMI Foundation, founded in 1985, supports the creation, performance, and study of American music through awards, scholarships, grants, and commissions. The final selections for these programs are entrusted to panels made up of some of the world's most distinguished artists and musicians. BMI Foundation awards career grants based on annual competitions for songwriters and composers across all genres of music, as well as scholarships to high schoolers with a desire to study music creation or performance. The Foundation also provides grants annually to music and arts education nonprofits around the country. Organizations supported by the Foundation range from classical music ensembles specializing in contemporary works to programs providing music and arts education in our schools, to institutions designed to preserve and encourage indigenous American music such as jazz and blues.
Program Information
Raise Up! 2024 American Composers Orchestra Gala & Creative Catalyst Awards
Tuesday, October 15, 2024 at 6:00pm
Bryant Park Grill | New York, NY
Sponsorship Levels and Ticket Information
Tickets: For sponsorship levels and ticket information, visit the gala web page or email Lyndsay Werking at lyndsay@americancomposers.org.
Link: www.americancomposers.org/performances-events/2024-gala-and-creative-catalyst-awards
Program:
6:00pm – Cocktail Hour
7:00pm – Awards Ceremony & Performances
7:30pm – Dinner & Dessert
Composers/Performers:
Honorary Committee
Clarice Assad, Composer, Vocalist, & Multi-Instrumentalist
Ralph C. Bumbaca, NYC Market President, TD Bank
Amy Cassello, Artistic Director, BAM
Shirleena Celestine, Global Lead Inclusive Products & Services Apple Music, Podcast, Beats, Shazam, Video, and Sports
Katie Ferguson, Head of Classical, Platoon
Ralph Jackson & David Leisner
Emil J. Kang, Program Director for Arts and Culture, Mellon Foundation
Samantha Levin & Adina Sales, Co-Founders, Ode to Joy
Tito Muñoz, Conductor
Gala Committee
Alberta Arthurs
Derek Bermel* & Andrea Pinto Correia
Atif Bhanjee*
Thomas Brener*
Jane Cavalier*
Scott Dunn* and Robbie Moray
Indira Etwaroo
Lisa Evanson Washburn*
Michael Fehrman* & Andrea Luciano
Corey Field
Marilyn Go* & Richard Dolan
Todd Gordon & Susan Feder
Augusta Gross* & Leslie Samuels
Benjamin Hildner*
Jonathan Holland*
Hollis King
Chris* & Libby Lando
Tess Mateo* & Gary Brewster
Annette McEvoy* & Harold Bronheim
Melissa Ngan*
Deborah Sherman*
Karen Slack*
Toyin Spellman-Diaz*
David Geller & Melin Tan-Geller*
Judith R. Thoyer
Sameera* & Christian Troesch
Geoffroy van Raemdonck*
Melinda Wagner* & James Saporito
André J. Washington*
Richard Weinert
Frederick Wertheim* & Angelo Chan
Shinian Ye*
*indicates ACO Board Member
About American Composers Orchestra
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. Over more than 40 years committed 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.
In addition to its annual season, presented by Carnegie Hall since 1987, the 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, established composers, and underrepresented voices, increasing the regional, national, and international awareness of the infinite variety of American orchestral music.
ACO produces national educational programs for all ages, and composer advancement programs to foster a community of creators, audience, performers, collaborators, and funders – all dedicated to American composition.
To date, ACO has performed music by 800 American composers, including over 350 world premieres and newly commissioned works. Recent and notable commissioned composers include John Luther Adams, Andy Akiho, Clarice Assad, Carlos Bandera, Courtney Bryan, Valerie Coleman, Dai Wei, Du Yun, inti figgis-vizueta, Marcus Gilmore, Vijay Iyer, Yvette Janine Jackson, Joan La Barbara, Steve Lehman, Tania León, Paula Matthusen, Trevor New, Mendi + Keith Obadike, Ellen Reid, Daniel Bernard Roumain, Carlos Simon, Henry Threadgill, and many more.
Now encompassing all of ACO’s composer advancement initiatives, EarShot is the first ongoing, systematic program for developing relationships between composers and orchestras on the national level. Through orchestral readings, CoLABoratory fellowships, consortium commissions, publishing, and professional development, EarShot ensures a vibrant musical future by investing in creativity today. Serving over 350 composers since inception, ACO Readings in NYC began in 1991, and since 2008, national Readings have been offered in partnership with orchestras across the country in collaboration with American Composers Forum, the League of American Orchestras, and New Music USA. EarShot Readings composers have gone on to win every major composition award, including the Pulitzer, GRAMMY®, Grawemeyer, American Academy of Arts and Letters, and Rome Prizes.
ACO has received numerous awards for its work, including those from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and from BMI Foundation, Inc., 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.” ACO received the inaugural MetLife Award for Excellence in Audience Engagement, and a proclamation from the New York City Council. Learn more at www.americancomposers.org.
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