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New Music Equity Action (NMEA) is an assembly of composers, performers, and administrators in the USA who work in new music. The group has no fixed membership, and participation in all group activities is open to anyone in the field. NMEA began meeting in June 2020 in order to rectify the legacy of White supremacy and racism in new music, and to actively participate in its replacement with a more diverse and equitable future.

We meet weekly as a large group and also meet on an ad hoc basis in sub-groups with particular focuses like education, communications, or the NMEA Pledge. We also work between meetings over Slack. Decision-making and authorship of all documents is collective, with each public-facing decision requiring consent of those present at the large meeting where it is proposed. Contents of this website and NMEA’s work in general are subject to the ongoing consent of the collective membership and are subject to periodic revision.

NMEA is not a lobbying group or a selective membership organization. It is a platform for any and all members of the new music community to work collectively to transform the norms of our field towards greater equity.

Get Involved!

Join our mailing list in the top menu of this page to hear about upcoming meetings.

Read our pledge, and add yourself to the list of signatories.

Email us if you have questions.

Current Projects

Here are a few examples of our recent focuses:

  • The Pledge. We have developed a pledge to guide musicians in our community on the best practices for working towards a more just and equitable field, and to create solidarity and accountability for this work.

  • Education Initiatives. We are developing guidlines for participants in contingent educational spaces such as master classes and guest lectures, which are especially prone to microaggressions and other racist behaviors.

  • Social Media. We are building a presence on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter in order to amplify the voices of artists from marginalized groups and stand in solidarity with them, to follow current developments and spread the word about our work.

  • Resources. In the process of building our pledge, we have also developed an expansive how-to guide and bibliography to assist in bringing the signees to the pledge from vision to practical action and work.

Upcoming Meetings

Large Group: Sharing Your Cultural Equity Plan and Demographics Information, July 21 8pm EDT

Accessibility Teach-In: Disability Justice tools for concerts + events. Tueday August 17th, 6-7:30 pm EDT on Zoom. Register for the Accessibility Teach-In

Social Media

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Instagram

Twitter