$2M GRANT TO BOOST NEW MUSIC.(Living)

Byline: United Press International

The Lila Wallace- Reader's Digest Fund has given a $2 million grant for the commission of new music by American composers.

John Duffy, president of Meet the Composer Inc., which will administer the four-year grant, described it as "the largest single commitment ever made to the creation of works by U.S. composers."

"The Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund is a veritable Johnny Appleseed, sowing the vast, creative horizon of American music with new works for future generaions to savor," Duffy said.

The grant was made to help Meet the Composer continue its commissioning program in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. Duffy said he anticipates that the NEA will match the $2 million grant with a contribution of at least $800,000 over the next four years.

Since its inception in 1988, the program has dispensed $1.2 million to 60 symphony orchestras, chamber and jazz ensembles, opera and music theater companies, choruses, soloists, presenters and public radio stations for commissions to more than 100 composers.

The resulting compositions are guaranteed multiple performances in several cities. So far nearly 400 performances and broadcasts have taken place in 100 American cities and attendance at live concerts of the new music has topped 5 million, Meet the Composer reported.