It was just over six months into Vanessa Reed’s tenure as President and CEO of New Music USA when pandemic shut-downs dropped the curtain on music performances in mid-March 2020, leaving composers, ensembles and musicians without opportunities to support themselves. By the end of the month, the organization had teamed up with artists and composers to launch a solidarity fund that eventually would distribute $500,000 to freelance artists in the field.
That was just one example of the initiatives that the organization has created over the past six years to help those in the new music field, which ranges from experimental to jazz to contemporary classical and more. In addition to expanding existing programs that support small artist-led organizations and commission works from composers from historically underrepresented groups, New Music USA also launched initiatives in the fields of jazz and film music.
Reed announced this month that she will be stepping down in May in order to become President and CEO of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and A Tempo host Rachel Katz chats with her about these and other efforts to nurture new music and its creators.
