New Music USA Welcomes New Co-Chairs
Composer Juan Pablo Contreras and New Music Advocate Anne-Marie Spataru Unite Their Talents as New Music USA Embarks on a New Phase of Leadership
Joe Walker to Step Down as Chair
New York, NY (March 13, 2025) – New Music USA announces today that composer Juan Pablo Contreras and new music advocate Anne-Marie Spataru will become the new Co-Chairs of its Board of Directors, effective July 1, 2025. Contreras and Spataru, who have served on the New Music USA Board since 2024, have been engaged with the national organization since 2021 as a grantee and supporter, respectively. They will guide New Music USA into its next phase, as the organization’s Board launches a search for its next President & CEO. Outgoing Chair Joe Walker will remain on the Board to ensure a smooth transition.
The appointment of Contreras and Spataru returns New Music USA to the dual leadership model it debuted in 2020, when composer Reena Esmail and Joe Walker were elected Co-Chairs. The co-chair structure demonstrates New Music USA’s commitment to drawing from multiple perspectives and representing the experiences and needs of music creators in its leadership.
Outgoing New Music USA President & CEO Vanessa Reed says, “I extend my deepest thanks to Joe Walker for his board leadership and professional partnership over the past 5.5 years. With Joe’s generous support, we have expanded New Music USA’s national reach, particularly in LA where many of our Board Directors are based. We have also grown the scope of our grantmaking thanks to the Board and staff’s shared commitment to supporting creators who had not previously received New Music USA’s support. As I prepare my move back to the UK, I am confident that New Music USA will be in excellent hands with Juan Pablo Contreras and Anne-Marie Spataru, whose dedication to our field and commitment to the organization are unparalleled.”
Juan Pablo Conteras, incoming Co-Chair, adds, “I am truly honored to serve as New Music USA’s Co-Chair with Anne-Marie Spataru. As a composer and educator, I am very passionate about advocating for artists and helping them connect to the resources they need to create meaningful and sustainable careers. Being selected as a New Music USA ‘Amplifying Voices’ grantee in 2020 was a transformative experience that inspired me to join the organization and support my fellow musicians. As Co-Chair, I look forward to standing by our community every step of the way.”
“I look forward to beginning my Co-Chair service during this transitional period for New Music USA,” shares incoming Co-Chair Anne-Marie Spataru. “The strength of this organization lies in its deep commitment to supporting new music in all its forms and facilitating the kind of music discovery that draws me – and other donors – to this unique organization. The demand for New Music USA’s work is greater than ever, and I look forward to working with Juan Pablo Contreras and the rest of the New Music USA team to continue to deepen our impact across the United States.”
New Music USA thanks Joe Walker for his outstanding contributions to the organization over the past five years as Chair, and since 2011 as a member of the New Music USA Board.
Joe Walker says, “It has been an honor and a privilege to serve as New Music USA’s Chair for the past five years. Though my tenure as Chair is coming to an end, I remain deeply committed to New Music USA and its work: I will continue to serve on the Board and will be closely involved in the selection process for the organization’s next President & CEO. Thank you to Vanessa Reed, my Board colleagues, and the staff of New Music USA for an inspiring five years of work together. I look forward to working with our dynamic new Board leadership team, led by Juan Pablo and Anne-Marie.”
ABOUT THE INCOMING CO-CHAIRS
Anne-Marie Spataru will complete in June her three-year term as Chair of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Board which she joined in 2018. She joined the Ojai Music Festival Board of Governors in 2021. She retired from UCLA following a 30-year career in the management of significant campus construction projects. Since retirement she has served in volunteer leadership positions with several UCLA affiliated support groups including as board member for the Center for the Art of Performance (2013-20) and as President of Women and Philanthropy (2018-20) and Gold Shield Alumnae (2020-26).
Juan Pablo Contreras is a three-time Latin GRAMMY®-nominated composer who masterfully weaves Western classical and Mexican folk music into an exhilarating soundscape, crafting works with “orchestrations that bring [his] scores to splendid life” (Los Angeles Times). His most popular piece, Mariachitlán, has garnered an impressive 150 performances worldwide, including a notable rendition by the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. His works have been performed by 60 major orchestras in the United States, Mexico, Austria, Slovakia, Colombia, Spain, Argentina, and Venezuela. He is renowned as the first Mexican-born composer to sign a record deal with Universal Music, to serve as Sound Investment Composer for Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and to win the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise. Contreras is proud to be the first Mexican-born member of New Music USA’s Board of Directors.
ABOUT JOE WALKER
Joe Walker is a retired Investment Banker. He held various senior positions with JPMorgan over the course of a combined 28 years, including most recently Vice Chairman of Investment Banking, and he was a founding partner of KW Advisors. He serves as an Advisory Board member for Columbia University Irving Medical Center and UCI Beall Applied Innovation. He previously served on the University of California Regents Working Group on Innovation & Entrepreneurship. He is also on the Board of Directors for Roulette Intermedium (Treasurer) and served on the Board of Meet the Composer, a predecessor organization to New Music USA.
ABOUT NEW MUSIC USA
New Music USA is a national non-profit organization dedicated to advancing new music in all its forms. Our mission is to nurture a vibrant and inclusive community for artists and listeners by supporting the creation, performance, and appreciation of new music throughout the United States. Through responsive grant-making; skill-building; mentorship and convenings for creators from all backgrounds; and platforms designed to connect music-makers with organizations and their audiences, New Music USA works to ensure a thriving, connected, and equitable ecosystem for the music of our time. newmusicusa.org
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