Atlantic Canadian Composers' Association/Association des Compositeurs Canadiens de l'Atlantique

Atlantic Canadian Composers' Association/Association des Compositeurs Canadiens de l'Atlantique

Atlantic Canadian Composers' Association/Association des Compositeurs Canadiens de l'Atlantique (ACCA). Organization formed in 1979, through the initiative of Clifford Ford, at that time on the faculty of Dalhousie University. In the words of Alexander Tilley, in the introduction to the association's catalogue Composers of Atlantic Canada '81 (Halifax 1981), ACCA was formed 'to meet the need perceived by many composers in the Atlantic region for an association that could speak for them in ways that the nationally oriented Canadian League of Composers then seemed unable to undertake'. The 20 composers included in the 1981 catalogue were Gordon Callon, Dennis Farrell, Clifford Ford, Terrence Hill, Adrian Hoffman, Trevor Morgan Jones, Walter Kemp, Peter Riddle, Herb Schoales, Owen Stephens, Paul Théberge, Alexander Tilley, Steve Tittle, and Timothy Watters (in Nova Scotia); James Code, Richard Gibson, and Michael Miller (in New Brunswick); Michael Parker and Brian Sexton (in Newfoundland); and Hubert Tersteeg (in Prince Edward Island). This list demonstrates the dependence of the composer in Atlantic Canada upon educational institutions, for most were either school music teachers or connected in some way with universities. ACCA has served its mandate through the 1981 catalogue, a newsletter, annual concerts of members' works (broadcast from either CBC Halifax or Radio-Canada Moncton), and a double record album of chamber music. A second recording, of choral music, was planned in 1991. By its 10th anniversary the association's membership remained constant in number; new composers who had joined the organization included Robert Bauer and Sandy Moore (in Nova Scotia), and Norman Learo, Roger Cormier, Alasdair MacLean, and Daniel Silverberg (in New Brunswick). The Halifax charter members of ACCA (Bauer, Moore, Tittle) had already contributed to the performance of new music through NOVA MUSIC, and have been involved in its successor Upstream.