To the grant administrators at the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA):

It has come to our attention through our correspondences with agents of the NEA that the NEA’s grants for arts projects does not have a panel dedicated to New Music, and that most applications in the New Music genre are being reviewed by the Classical Music panel. 

We, the undersigned, petition the NEA to establish a dedicated panel for evaluating proposals for arts projects featuring New Music, which we define loosely as music by composers and sound artists working in an experimental, avant-garde, Modernist, or post-tonal practice. The New Music genre may also be referred to as Neue Musik, Contemporary Classical Music, or Contemporary Art Music, and contains many subgenres, including Spectralism, New Complexity, Minimalism, Fluxus, Noise, and Neo-Dada, among others. New Music emphasizes radical artistic risk taking, and thus it is difficult to pin down exactly what it can or can’t be, but aspects might include serialism, irregular meter, graphic notation, performance art, computer music, electroacoustic music, extended techniques, prepared or invented instruments, microtonality, noise, aleatoric aspects, among many other features. 

New Music embodies the creativity, diversity, and spirit of our times, reflecting the ever-evolving nature of human expression. It is a disservice to New Music artists, ensembles, and organizations for their music to be judged by the same criterion as Classical music. Project proposals featuring New Music should undergo a comprehensive and informed review process undertaken by a panel of composers and performers with experience in and enthusiasm for New Music. 

Thank you for your attention to this matter.