The League of Composers, created in 1923, is the nation’s oldest organization devoted to contemporary music.

The League draws on a remarkably rich history, including such groundbreaking premieres as Schönberg’s Die Glückliche Hand, Béla Bartók’s Village Scenes, Samuel Barber’s Piano Sonata and Anton Webern’s Symphony for Chamber Orchestra. The League also sponsored the American premiere of Igor Stravinsky’s ballet Le Sacre du Printemps, many pieces by Aaron Copland, György Ligeti’s Horn Trio, Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Harlequin, and many works by former honorary Board Co-Chairs Elliott Carter and Milton Babbitt.

Our Mission

The League of Composers/ISCM seeks to have “new music” (20th and 21st-century music) play a more prominent role and obtain a more appreciated place in the lives of the concert music-loving public. The League’s mission is to engage audiences by presenting performances of new music of the highest caliber written by emerging and established living composers in the context of 20th and 21st-century masterpieces.