American Composers Orchestra (ACO), now in its 40th season, is the only orchestra in the world dedicated to the creation, performance, promotion and celebration of music by American composers. ACO makes the creation of new opportunities for American composers and new American orchestral music its central purpose. Through concerts at Carnegie Hall and other venues, educational programs, New Music Readings, and commissions, ACO identifies today’s brightest emerging composers, champions prominent established composers as well as those lesser-known, and increases regional, national, and international awareness of the infinite variety of American orchestral music, reflecting geographic, stylistic, and temporal diversity. ACO also serves as an incubator of ideas, research, and talent, as a catalyst for growth and change among orchestras, and as an advocate for American composers and their music. Visit americancomposers.org for more information.

In his eighth season as music director of the American Composers Orchestra, the wide-ranging and versatile George Manahan has an esteemed career that embraces everything from opera to the concert stage, the traditional to the contemporary. In addition to his work with ACO, Manahan continues his commitment to working with young musicians as director of orchestral studies at the Manhattan School of Music as well as guest conductor at the Curtis Institute of Music. He also serves as music director of the Portland Opera. Manahan was music director at New York City Opera for 14 seasons. His recording activities include the premiere of Steve Reich’s Tehillim for ECM; Edward Thomas’s Desire Under the Elms, which was nominated for a Grammy; Joe Jackson’s Will Power; and Tobias Picker’s Emmeline. His enthusiasm for contemporary music continues today; he has conducted numerous world premieres, including Charles Wuorinen’s Haroun and the Sea of Stories and David Lang’s modern painters, as well as the New York premiere of Richard Danielpour’s Margaret Garner. As music director of the Richmond Symphony (Virginia) for 12 years, Manahan was honored four times by the American Society of Composers and Publishers (ASCAP) for his commitment to 20th-century music.

Avery Fisher Career Grant–winning violinist Tim Fain was featured on the soundtracks to the films Moonlight, 12 Years a Slave, and Black Swan, in which he also was seen on screen. Recipient of the Young Concert Artists International Award, he has appeared as soloist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music under the baton of Marin Alsop, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Pittsburgh Philharmonic, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, and Orquesta Nacional de España. His recitals have taken him to the world’s major music capitals. He has also toured with Musicians from Marlboro, as a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and around the globe in a duo-recital program with Philip Glass. He collaborated with Google on a music video for his composition Resonance, which introduced 360-degree stereoscopic virtual reality capability for YouTube and was recently shown at the Sundance Film Festival. Fain’s multimedia solo evening Portals premiered to sold-out audiences on both coasts and continues to travel around the world. Featuring a new work written for him by Philip Glass, Portals includes collaborations with Benjamin Millepied, Nicholas Britell, Fred Child, and the late Leonard Cohen. Fain has collaborated with an eclectic array of artists from Pinchas Zukerman and Mitsuko Uchida, to the Mark Morris Dance Group and New York City Ballet, to Iggy Pop and Rob Thomas. He has also performed for the Dalai Lama. His discography includes River of Light, Philip Glass: The Concerto Project IV with The Hague Philharmonic, Tim Fain Plays Philip Glass, and First Loves.