The purpose of this book is to document and reflect upon just what is possible when a substantial investment is made in creative artists — and when the private and public sectors join forces to do so. As you turn the pages of this book, I hope you will be moved by the incredible quality and diversity of the body of work created and the impact that the process of creating this work has had on composers, ensembles, presenters, and audiences throughout the world. When I look at what was accomplished, more than anything else, I am proudest of Meet The Composer’s ability to support excellence unencumbered by aesthetic rivalries. The body of work commissioned in this endeavor is the most vivid documentation of the musical crosscurrents that characterize our time.

Meet The Composer's commitment to commissioning new work began with The Reader’s Digest Commissioning Program. This program established forever Meet The Composer’s determination to enable the best musical minds of our time to produce their best work, and be paid as professionals. The initial support from the Wallace Funds remains the largest investment in the creation of new work ever made by any single individual or organization. It was an extraordinary and forward-thinking gesture that yielded equally extraordinary results; a gesture that is still yielding results today as the works that were created continue to be performed by the world’s premiere ensembles.

As Meet The Composer enters its fourth decade, I am honored to have been given this torch to carry forward. Our commitment to the commissioning of new works is stronger than ever before. Approximately 30 new works per year are brought into being through our current Commissioning Music/USA program, a partnership with the NEA; our resident composers are constantly creating new works for their residency partners all around the country; Meet The Composer is leading the charge to create a groundswell of patronage for composers by establishing and promoting innovative and strategic partnerships between individual patrons, composers, and performing organizations of all kinds to commission new work; and Meet The Composer is continuing to serve as the nation’s premiere information and financial resource for commissioning music.

The repertoire is being kept fresh, renewed and alive, and Meet The Composer is pleased to be at the forefront of this effort.