AMC 2000 Letters of Distinction: Composers Recordings Inc. (CRI)

Composers Recordings Inc. (CRI), founded in 1954 by Otto Luening, Douglas Moore, and Oliver Daniel, has released over 600 full-length recordings, representing well over 1,000 compositions in all styles and genres of contemporary American music. Hundreds of American composers have had their first recording released on CRI, making the label a mainstay of career development and audience contact for generations of composers. Of the 37 Pulitzer Prize-winning composers on the label, 27 were recorded by CRI before winning the award. CRI has also been at the forefront of recording experimental music, and has been an important advocate of women composers as well, starting from its first release in 1954, which featured the music of Marion Bauer. CRI is unique in the recording industry because of its in-print policy, a tenet of the label since its founding. Currently, it is possible to obtain from the label's New York City offices any CRI recording, whether on LP or cassette as quantities exist, or on a special order cassette. CRI currently releases approximately twenty-five compact discs a year, both new digital recordings and reissues from the back catalogue, reprogrammed and digitally remastered for extended play discs. Through radio broadcasts, sales to consumers, and availability at lending libraries, CRI discs reach an estimated annual audience of one million music enthusiasts of a diversity of backgrounds and incomes. Under the direction of Executive Director Joseph R. Dalton, CRI has issued three programmatic series: Emergency Music, introducing "emerging" composers and musicians who draw on pop and minimalist styles; eXchange/Music at the Crossroads, presenting artists whose work is a direct expression of their cultural heritage; and CRI American Masters, featuring our nation's finest composers in recordings from the historic CRI catalogue.