ARTISTRY, CREATIVITY, OPPORTUNITY
Who we are. The American Composers Orchestra (ACO) is a national discovery and development pipeline for new orchestral music, focused on bringing the full spectrum of American music to orchestral stages, providing a gateway to the orchestral composition and performance process, and amplifying the expressive power of orchestral music to enable a vibrant future for all Americans. We've made incredible strides over the past 4+ decades, and we are just getting started.
What we do. For composers of all experience levels, we offer an end-to-end composition accelerator to get you from idea to performance in partnership with orchestras nationwide. For orchestral commissioners, we offer a comprehensive suite of resources and relationships to realize your artistic vision. For students and educators, we offer an array of programs and resources designed to nurture creativity through music composition and improvisation. For our country, we bring new works into the world that represent the American experience through the imagination of today’s composers.
Meet ACO
Founded in 1977 by a collective of fearless musicians based in NYC, the American Composers Orchestra expands the definition of American orchestral music to ensure a vibrant and inclusive future. Over more than 40 years committed to artistry, creativity, community, and equity, ACO has blossomed into a national institution that cultivates and develops the careers of living composers, providing a direct pipeline to meaningful partnerships with orchestras across the country.
Our Work
Through ground-breaking performances and nationwide initiatives, ACO continually works to expand the definition of American orchestral music and ensure a vibrant and inclusive future.
Composer Advancement
For over 40 years, ACO has discovered and developed the careers of composers whose work expands the definition of American orchestral music. Our national EarShot composer advancement initiatives are the nation’s first ongoing, systemic program for building relationships between composers and orchestras through Readings, CoLABoratory fellowships, consortium commissions, and professional development.
Performances and Events
Join us for electrifying performances featuring world premiere works by artists whose creativity knows no bounds. The American Composers Orchestra performs at Carnegie Hall, the DiMenna Center for Classical Music, the Apollo Theater, and beyond.
Educational Programs
For 30 years, ACO has positioned music composition as a gateway to creative thinking, problem solving, and self-expression. Our long-term Sonic Spark residencies nurture the imagination through creative rituals and play, cultivating personal, social, and academic growth. Sonic Spark serves students at all levels of experience, including those who have never played an instrument before, are learning to write music for the first time, or are on track to develop high level careers in the field.
Featured Artists
Alexander Timofeev
Philadelphia-based composer and pianist Alex Timofeev combines Eastern European and American musical influences in works for opera, orchestra, and chamber ensemble. His career began at 19 with a performance of his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra alongside the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Moldova, and his honors include ACO’s 2017 Audience Choice Award and Commission. ACO presented the world premiere of his five-movement Fantasme No. 2 at Hello, America: We Gather Here on October 27, 2026, at Carnegie Hall.
Mexican composer Marie Gabrielle Blix writes for film, dance, and the concert stage, drawing on her training in composition, film scoring, and conducting at Berklee College of Music. Her orchestral work Terra Fungorum depicts the forms, textures, and continual growth of fungi through shifting orchestral colors and an expanding ostinato. Blix presented the work through ACO’s EarShot Readings with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra on October 28, 2026, at the University of Arizona.
Cleo Reed is a Brooklyn-based composer, performer, and multidisciplinary artist working across songwriting, electronic production, instrument-making, installation, and participatory art. Their 2025 double album CUNTRY draws from folk, blues, country, hip-hop, and experimental electronic music to examine labor and Black American experience. Reed will introduce the related EP Is This How Empires Die? in a listening program and public dialogue on November 3, 2026, at Silence Please in New York.
