AchordSM: a new Musical Alliance is the namesake of The Musical Alliance, created in 1918 by the founder and first editor of Musical America, John C. Freund. Freund called for an alliance to organize “all workers in the field [of music], from the man at the bench in a piano factory to the conductor of the great symphony.”
His efforts were part of a long tradition stretching back to the 1830s that sought to increase the role of music in American life. It inspired social activism by individuals and by local and national groups, who sought to introduce the broadest possible range of citizens to the joy found in making music. Achord will share with these pioneers their belief in music’s ability to facilitate transformational growth in individuals and to build community.
However, unlike that earlier alliance, Achord’s conception of music is as broad and as diverse as America itself. The musical activists of the last century hoped to enlist the broadest possible range of citizens in their campaign for a “musical America,” but limited their vision to promoting “good music”—what we call “classical music” today—and they worked to diminish and even suppress other types of music.