Meet The Composer

Meet The Composer supports the creation of new musical work and the engagement of new work with people and communities throughout the United States. We are motivated by a core belief that interaction with a living composer and his or her music has the power to invigorate and inspire musicians and audiences alike. MTC was founded in 1974 as a project of the New York State Council on the Arts. Led by the visionary composer John Duffy, Meet The Composer soon became an independent organization dedicated to the idea of composers as active professionals with a central role in our country’s musical culture. In the more than thirty years since, MTC has grown to become a truly national organization, serving in all fifty states composers and audiences of a thrillingly broad range of new music. We create programs that are powerful lenses, focusing the generosity of institutions and individuals alike on work related to our central mission. All are designed to make available important resources—money, expertise, connectivity—to composers and those interested and engaged in their work. Our programs have played a key role in developing and sustaining a commitment to new music in thousands of artistic and civic organizations in rural communities, small towns, suburban centers, and urban neighborhoods coast to coast. Through our work, MTC has also established broadly accepted standards of payment for composers, helping to cement the position of composers as working professionals. Below are some key facts and figures reflecting the revolutionary impact MTC has had on the environment for composers in our country…