International Society for Contemporary Music.

The League of Composers was co-founded in 1923 in New York by Claire Raphael Reis and several contemporary composers. Conceived as an alternative to the International Composers' Guild, the League's mission was to promote the composition and performance of contemporary music. By 1954, the League had commissioned 110 works by outstanding American and European composers (including Aaron Copland, Bela Bartók and Samuel Barber), sponsored American stage premières of Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, Oedipus Rex and The Wedding, and presented some of the first radio broadcasts of contemporary music sponsored by the Pan American Association of Composers. It also gave concerts and receptions honoring Arnold Schoenberg, Paul Hindemith, Darius Milhaud and other composers who had recently immigrated to the United States. Its quarterly Modern Music (1924-1946) contained critical reviews of new works and articles by leading composers. The executive directors of the League were Reis (1923-1948) and Copland (1948-1950).

The International Society for Contemporary Music was founded in 1922 after the Internationale Kammermusikaufführungen Salzburg, a festival of modern chamber music held as part of the Salzburg Festival. It was intended to help break down national barriers and personal interests and publicize and promote contemporary music 'regardless of aesthetic trends or the nationality, race, religion or political views of the composer'. These aims were to be pursued through annual music festivals in different countries. The first (1923) was restricted to chamber music; in 1924 and 1925 separate chamber and orchestral festivals were held, and from 1926 the festivals included various genres. The society's activities were also promoted by the autonomous national sections, numbering 46 in 1995. Each country is represented by one section.

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