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No Thanks, I'll Explore On My Own
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Counterstream Radio
Inspect the unexpected
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Media on Demand
Browse Music and Interviews
Roberto Sierra: Globalizing Local Experiences
January 1 2019 / Conversations
By Frank J. Oteri
Composer Roberto Sierra frequently likes to tell the story of how, when he was growing up in Puerto Rico, he would hear Pablo Casals playing his cello on television while salsa recordings of the Fania All-Stars blared outside on the street. Most of Sierra’s music—which spans numerous works for soloists, chamber ensembles, and orchestra as well as his massive Missa Latina—has forged a synthesis of these two musical realms. But the question of what kinds of music are local or global is more complex than it might initially seem.
Project Grants: Helpful Tips from the Grants Team
This is the grants team here, with some friendly reminders about the upcoming project grants deadline. As you gear up to apply, here are a few points of advice and information...
Take Better Care of Yourself By Making Small Changes
January 9 2019 / Articles
By Rebecca Hass
If you’re an ambitious person (and I bet you are), you probably have lots of things on your list that you’re going to start “once you have time.” That can...

Winter 2019 Project Grants Round Now Open: Helpful hints and tips for applying

Making Your Work Samples the Best They Can Be
As our project grants are taking off, our grants team has some words of advice for applicants about work samples: Work samples aren’t just about showing your creativity to the...
Project Grants: Helpful Tips from the Grants Team
This is the grants team here, with some friendly reminders about the upcoming project grants deadline. As you gear up to apply, here are a few points of advice and information...
Panelist Criteria for Project Grants
Our project grants are open, and a lot of folks are already hard at work on their project pages. In addition to the extensive help text and articles we’ve provided...
Populating Your Public Profile
Represent yourself! Your public profile can be shared and changed at any time - like a pocket-sized personal website.
“What Happens After I Click Submit?”: Project Grants
Have you ever wondered about what happens in the 12-16 weeks between when a project grants deadline closes and when awards are announced? To help you understand what’s going on...
Project Grants on Music Publishing Podcast
Recently our Director of Grantmaking, Scott Winship, was featured on the Music Publishing Podcast. In these two sessions, Scott reviews and analyzes previous project grant applications, and offers more advice...
Let’s Break It Down: Project Grants
Since the beginning of project grants in the fall of 2013, we’ve been astounded by the quality of submissions we’ve received. The work we see each round reminds us of...
A New Approach to Work Samples
How to Share Your Work Samples At New Music USA we want everyone to hear the music of artists and organizations we support. That’s why we’re changing how we handle...
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Celebrating the History of the Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute

Day One in Minnesota: Meet the Cast and the Band
It was a marathon of various happenings that started this morning. After our breakfast meet-and-greet with Aaron and Beth, the Orchestra's artistic planning associate, we launched (and lurched) right into...
Day Three: Public Embarrassment and the Big Guns
I may be a workaholic, but even for me, yesterday was a stretch.
Day 3: Osmosis
Osmo Vänskä's focused questions made me think about my piece at a deeper level than I ever had. "What does 'With Bite' mean? That can be interpreted in so many...
Hello, My Name Is: Harnessing the Composer Network
A large part of this whole program is about relating to those who are presenting or hearing your music in a positive way, and learning how to benefit yourself through...
You Study, Practice, and Improve
Much of composing is just like any other skill or ability: you study, practice, and improve. Learning how instruments work and what is idiomatic is a long process that involves...
The 2009 Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute Blog: Composer Fine Print
By Spencer TopelI feel like we have been thrust into a posh boot camp for orchestral composers.
The Big Day (The 2011-2012 Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute Blog, Day 4)
I’ve never had a piece played to such a large audience before. The energy of the crowd felt overwhelmingly positive; there were a lot of different ages of people, and...
Rugged Individualism Meets the Orchestra—A Snapshot of the 2015 Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute
The hall was full, energetic, anxious for the Future Classics concert, the culmination of the Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute. But one must ask the question. If the appetite for new...
Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute Day 5/6/Concert
By Taylor BrizendineFeel free to call me a composer now; I'm down with it.
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On Our Calendar

Featured projects
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Intricate Machines: Rising American Composers team up with Aizuri Quartet
Showcasing the diversity and creativity of America’s new-music community through one of the oldest genres: the string quartet.
Spektral Quartet + Samuel Adams: On Distance
Chicago-based Spektral Quartet and composer Samuel Adams collaborate on a New Work.
BLUE
A new opera by Jeanine Tesori and Tazewell Thompson

The Latest from NewMusicBox
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Beyond the 88: More no-fear piano preparations
Alan Shockley dives in deeper with detailed video demos of even more piano preparations that will allow you to continue to explore without fear!
A Musical Oasis in an Icefield
I was expecting something cool but fairly low-key. This isn’t New York or LA, after all; Winnipeg is only the 7th most populous city in Canada (which has one tenth...
Are Operatic Voice Types Inherently Gendered?
If a mezzo-soprano and a countertenor share the same range and often the same roles, then why are they separate types? And why is there an obvious gender difference?
Beyond the 88: A No-Fear Beginner’s Guide to Preparing the Piano
Lots of pianists and composers are a bit intimidated by the idea of reaching inside the piano, or of inserting foreign objects into the instrument. For those who would like...
Take Better Care of Yourself By Making Small Changes
If you’re an ambitious person (and I bet you are), you probably have lots of things on your list that you’re going to start “once you have time.” That can...
Does Opera Need Gendered Voice Types?
My experience as a transgender nonbinary singer has led me to question the effectiveness of the voice type classifications that we currently have in place.
Devotion to a Personal Vision—Remembering George Walker (1922-2018)
In our day and age of dazzling musical talent that's available at the push of a button or the click of a link, the music and legacy of George Walker may...
Charlottesville and Citizen Artistry
It all started with a conversation. What could we possibly do as teachers and as artists to make things better? We wanted to do something more profound, more long-lasting and...
Roberto Sierra: Globalizing Local Experiences
Composer Roberto Sierra frequently likes to tell the story of how, when he was growing up in Puerto Rico, he would hear Pablo Casals playing his cello on television while...
The Collaborative Studio: Suggestions for Your Next Recording Project
Wrapping up his series on collaboration in the recording studio, Andrew Rodriguez offers five suggestions for those who may be new to the studio experience—either as a producer or performer—or...
Crowdsourcing Rehearsals—Part Two (the good part)
Here are some practical ideas to experiment with to be more inclusive and more student-focused during rehearsals with student ensembles. Disclaimer: You probably shouldn’t (well, just don’t) try all of...
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New Music Impact Fund

Jack Arts, Inc.
Named one of the top music venues in 2015 by New York City Jazz Record, JACK is an OBIE-winning performance venue in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn founded in 2012. We present...
Harvestworks
Founded in 1977 by experimental composers and sound artists, Harvestworks’ supports contemporary artists in the creation of art works achieved through new and evolving technologies. Through residencies and presentations, we...
Miolina
Miolina integrates the natural beauty and sound of violins, with a touch of boisterousness influenced by NYC and beyond. Always fostering new collaborations, they enjoy creating works with multi-disciplinary artists.
So Percussion
So Percussion is a percussion-based music organization that creates and presents new collaborative works to adventurous and curious audiences and educational initiatives to engaged students, while providing meaningful service to...
Arts for Art
Founded in 1996, Arts For Art (AFA) is a New York City based tax-exempt organization dedicated to the promotion and advancement of FreeJazz -- an American indigenous art form in...
Mivos Quartet
The Mivos Quartet is devoted to performing the works of living composers from a wide range of aesthetics, as well as working with guest artists, exploring multi-media projects, creating original...
TAK
TAK is a quintet that delivers energetic and virtuosic performances of new music. Dedicated to the commissioning of new works and direct collaboration with composers and other artists, TAK promotes...
Music at the Anthology, Inc. (MATA)
MATA presents, supports, and commissions the music of early career composers, regardless of style or aesthetic practice through an internationally-recognized spring Festival among other events.
JACK Quartet
Deemed "superheroes of the new music world", the JACK Quartet is dedicated to the performance, commissioning, and spread of new string quartet music around the globe.
Meet The Cohort »