American Composers Orchestra
Lucy Yao is a highly accomplished Creative Director at Chromic Duo, where expertise in event production and marketing has led to significant brand partnerships with cultural institutions and universities since January 2019. In addition to this role, Lucy serves as a Teaching Artist for the American Composers Orchestra and as a Vocal Coach at The New School. Previously, Lucy held the position of Director of Communications at Contemporaneous, successfully enhancing media partnerships and fundraising efforts. Educationally, Lucy possesses a Master’s degree in Piano Performance from Manhattan School of Music and a Graduate Professional Diploma in Contemporary Performance from Berklee College of Music, among other qualifications including a Disciplined Agile Scrum Master certification.
American Composers Orchestra
American Composers Orchestra (ACO), founded in 1977, is dedicated to the creation, celebration, performance, and promotion of orchestral music by American composers. With a commitment to diversity, disruption, and discovery, ACO produces concerts, middle school through college composer education programs, and composer advancement programs to foster a community of creators, audiences, performers, collaborators, and funders. American Composers Orchestra (ACO) has premiered works by 800 American composers, including over 350 world premieres and commissioned works. These recordings are available on platforms like ARGO, CRI, ECM, and Nonesuch. Since 1991, ACO’s EarShot has offered new music Readings in NYC, expanding to national Readings in partnership with orchestras nationwide. EarShot has included the Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute, CoLABoratory, Pathways, and more. Composers who participated in Readings have won prestigious awards such as the Pulitzer, Grammy, and more. EarShot now includes orchestral readings, CoLABoratory fellowships, consortium commissions, professional development, commissioning/consortia, and, starting in 2023, publishing. EarShot's goal is to broaden the definition and role of the composer and build replicable models for co-created projects between composers, artists, and community partners. ACO's Sonic Spark program has brought composers and musical teaching artists into NYC public schools since 1999, using composition to foster student creativity and achievement. ACO has received awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, BMI, and ASCAP.