Meet The Composer 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 sought to enable composers to make a living writing music, and to increase their visible presence as creative artists. Since then, Meet The Composer has grown to become a national organization, serving composers of every kind of music throughout the United States.

Through a range of commissioning, residency, education, and audience interaction programs, Meet The Composer has revolutionized the environment for composers in this country, establishing broadly accepted standards of payment and opening the doors for them to work in cultural institutions of all kinds.

Meet The Composer's mission is to increase opportunities for composers by fostering the creation, performance, dissemination, and appreciation of their music. 

We accomplish this by:

• Supporting the creation of new work;
• Supporting direct contact between composers and audiences;
• Supporting collaborations between U.S.-based composers and artists of all disciplines living in and outside of the U.S.;
• Creating education programs that deepen understanding of composers and their work, and that help establish music composition as a basic part of U.S. education;
• Establishing innovative private and public sector partnerships that create new opportunities for composers.

With support from foundations, corporations, individual patrons and government sources, Meet The Composer designs programs that support composers writing in all styles of music. Meet The Composer projects have included classical, jazz, folk, electronic and many other styles of music. Major symphonic works, full-length operas, works for jazz ensemble, music for dance of all kinds, experimental music and theater projects, and chamber music of many instrumentations have all been created with support from Meet The Composer's programs.

Over the years, Meet The Composer has worked with thousands of artistic and civic organizations, helping them to develop and sustain a commitment to new music, and catalyzing partnerships that bring music by living American composers to their audiences. In rural communities, small towns, suburban centers, and urban neighborhoods, Meet The Composer-sponsored events put composers into direct personal and professional contact with people of all kinds.

Meet The Composer is frequently recognized for the excellence of its programs, and is the recipient of the New York State Governor's Award, the Business Committee for the Arts Award, the Arts and Business Council's Encore Award, and the American Symphony Orchestra League's prestigious Gold Baton Award.

---