Dear AMC members and friends,

You are cordially invited to attend the American Music Center’s Annual Meeting and Awards Ceremony on Monday, May 2, 2011 at the Chelsea Art Museum, 556 West 22nd Street in New York City. The doors will open at 5:00 p.m. The formal program will begin promptly at 5:30 p.m., followed by a reception. This festive event provides the new music community with a wonderful opportunity to come together and honor in person some of its most significant leaders. The following awards will be presented at this year's meeting:

Founders Award

John Harbison

We hope you will be able to join us in recognizing the invaluable contributions that these individuals and organizations have made to our field.

RSVP by April 25th. You can click here or call 212-366-5260 x99.

In addition to the awards that will be presented at the ceremony, William Bolcom will receive the 2011 Letter of Distinction. The award will be presented on another occasion.  

AMC Awards: History and Descriptions

The Founders Award, established in 1999, is named in honor of the six founders of the American Music Center: Aaron Copland, Howard Hansen, Marion Bauer, Otto Luening, Quincy Porter, and Harrison Kerr. It celebrates lifetime achievement in the field of new American music. Previous winners include: Elliott Carter, Lou Harrison, Milton Babbitt, Gunther Schuller, and Steve Reich. Last year’s honoree was Francis Thorne.

Since 1964, the American Music Center has annually awarded the Letter of Distinction to recognize those who have made a significant contribution to the field of contemporary American music. This year’s Letter of Distinction recipients join a celebrated group of individuals and organizations who have received this honor, including George Balanchine, Leonard Bernstein, Joan Tower, John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Morton Feldman, Laurie Anderson, Dizzy Gillespie, Michael Tilson Thomas, Virgil Thomson, Joan La Barbara, Randy Weston, the Kronos Quartet, Bang on a Can, Dawn Upshaw, Jack Beeson, Esa-Pekka Salonen, La Monte Young, and Meredith Monk.

The Trailblazer Award, instituted in 2003, honors those deserving of commendation and support for their early and mid-career efforts in championing new music. Previous winners have included Matt Haimovitz, eighth blackbird, Derek Bermel, and the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE).

The New Music Educator Award was established by the Board of Directors in the 2006 fiscal year. This award is open to conductors, professors, lecturers, academics, and others who have made important contributions in the realm of education, but might not always be well known to the rest of the new music community. Previous winners include musicologist Charles Hamm and the New World Symphony.

Click here for the Historical List of American Music Center Award Recipients.