The American Composers Orchestra (ACO), founded in 1975 by Francis Thorne, Dennis Russell Davies, Paul Lustig Dunkel, and Nicolas Roussakis, is based in New York City dedicated to contemporary American music. They gave their inaugural performance on February 7, 1977, at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, with Davies as the founding music director until November 2002. Notable milestones include Steven Sloane taking over as music director in November 2002 and George Manahan assuming the role in January 2010. The ACO performed works by over five hundred American composers, including more than one hundred world premieres, launched initiatives such as Underwood New Music Readings and EarShot, and received awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, BMI, and ASCAP. Among its recordings are releases on labels like ARGO, CRI, ECM, Point, Phoenix USA, MusicMasters, Nonesuch, Tzadik, and New World Records.
