American Composers Orchestra Launches EarShot Composer Archive

EarShot, the National Orchestral Composition Discovery Network, announces the launch of the EarShot Composer Archive, a new database of audio excerpts, program notes, and score samples by more than 140 composers whose works have been performed through the EarShot Network, after selection through nationwide calls for scores. The EarShot Composer Archive is designed to allow orchestra personnel, conductors, and artistic administrators to easily search for new repertoire and composers as they plan their concert seasons. The archive is free and accessible to the public.

EarShot was founded in 2007, and is an initiative of American Composers Orchestra (ACO) in partnership with American Composers Forum, League of American Orchestras, and New Music USA (formerly the American Music Center and Meet The Composer). Both EarShot and the new Archive further ACO's commitment to serve as a catalyst, beyond its own performances, for the creation of new orchestral music, providing unprecedented opportunities for diverse American composers to make new work and for audiences to discover it.

"For ten years, ACO and EarShot have nurtured a generation of talented composers, sharing their work with orchestras throughout the country via live readings and performances," says ACO Artistic Director Derek Bermel. "We are thrilled to launch this online archive, which will facilitate further performances of their work and help us continue to proliferate new American music."

EarShot is the nation's first ongoing, systematic program for identifying emerging orchestral composers. ACO's artistic and administrative staff works with participating orchestras, assisting with planning, identifying composers through extensive nationwide calls, as well as program design and execution. EarShot offers participants career development in the form of mentorships and counsel, and increases awareness of these composers and access to their music throughout the industry.

Each year, orchestras host readings across the country. EarShot orchestras have included the New York Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Berkeley Symphony, Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Columbus Symphony, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, La Jolla Symphony, Memphis Symphony Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic, Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Pioneer Valley Symphony (MA), New York Youth Symphony, and the San Diego Symphony.

Visit the EarShot Composer Archive at www.americancomposers.org/earshotcomposerarchive.

About American Composers Orchestra
Founded in 1977, American Composers Orchestra is the only orchestra in the world dedicated to the creation, performance, preservation, and promulgation of music by American composers. ACO makes the creation of new opportunities for American composers and new American orchestral music its central purpose. Through concerts at Carnegie Hall and other venues, recordings, internet and radio broadcasts, educational programs, New Music Readings, and commissions, ACO identifies today's brightest emerging composers, champions prominent established composers as well as those lesser-known, and increases regional, national, and international awareness of the infinite variety of American orchestral music, reflecting geographic, stylistic, and temporal diversity. ACO also serves as an incubator of ideas, research, and talent, as a catalyst for growth and change among orchestras, and as an advocate for American composers and their music. For more information, visit www.americancomposers.org.

About American Composers Forum
The American Composers Forum is committed to supporting composers and developing new markets for their music. Through granting, commissioning, and performance programs, the Forum provides composers at all stages of their careers with valuable resources for professional and artistic development. By linking communities with composers and performers, the Forum fosters a demand for new music, enriches communities, and helps develop the next generation of composers, musicians, and music patrons. For more information, visit www.composersforum.org.

About the League of American Orchestras
The League of American Orchestras leads, supports, and champions America's orchestras and the vitality of the music they perform. Its diverse membership of more than 2,000 organizations and individuals across North America runs the gamut from world-renowned symphonies to community groups, from summer festivals to student and youth ensembles, from conservatories to libraries, from businesses serving orchestras to individuals who love symphonic music. The only national organization dedicated solely to the orchestral experience, the League is a nexus of knowledge and innovation, advocacy, and leadership advancement. Its conferences and events, award-winning Symphony magazine, website, and other publications inform people around the world about orchestral activity and developments. Founded in 1942 and chartered by Congress in 1962, the League links a national network of thousands of instrumentalists, conductors, managers and administrators, board members, volunteers, and business partners. For more information, visit www.americanorchestras.org.

About New Music USA
On November 8, 2011 a merger was completed between two eminent champions of new music in the United States: the American Music Center and Meet The Composer. The result is an exciting new organization that will serve music-makers and their audiences in the twenty-first century. Its mission is to increase opportunities for composers, performers and audiences by fostering the creation, dissemination, and enjoyment of new American music, both nationally and internationally. New Music USA places special emphasis on broadening the public community for the music and musicians they serve. New Music USA will maintain all core programming of AMC and MTC. For more information, visit www.newmusicusa.org.

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