American Conference of Cantor Cantors Establishes Friends of Transcontinental Music

In 2015, the American Conference of Cantors (ACC) announced the acquisition of Transcontinental Music Publications (TMP) from the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ). Our goal since making TMP part of the ACC has been to make it a home for the music of our movement and for musical achievement among the Jewish people as a whole. TMP continues to serve as an essential presence in Jewish musical life worldwide.

Getting us to this point has had its challenges and has required us to make difficult decisions and to expend large amounts of accrued financial resources to rebuild this gem of a company.

Since our acquisition of TMP, to date, the American Conference of Cantors has invested nearly $300,000 of unrestricted assets to financially support the ongoing work of TMP. These monies were expended in order to rebuild the company from the ground up - including extensive forensic accounting and legal work, insurance, design and creation of the new e-commerce website, staffing, advertising, as well as warehousing and distribution of the music of TMP.

To support the ongoing work of TMP, we have created the "Friends of Transcontinental Music (FTM)" and invite you to make a tax deductible financial commitment and become part of this new program today!

Through June 11, 2018, FTM has raised over $29,000 in cash and pledges.

Making TMP a part of our beloved organization has not been easy. When we received TMP from the URJ, much of the company that many of us remember had disappeared through years of changing priorities at the URJ. As a result, the acquisition of TMP required a great deal of work on our behalf by professionals dedicated to bringing TMP back to life in new and exciting ways. Since that time, you have all seen the results:

• A brand-new Transcontinental Music website with state of the art search features, the ability to print individual pieces of music on demand and making sure that the entirety of TMP's extensive catalog is available to all lovers of Jewish music.
• New Publications - From the Orlando and Boston Biennial Songbooks, Ruach, Shabbat Anthology 8, soon to be released "Songs of Protest and Hope" to the publication of the music of our movements great musical composers - Natalie Young, Noam Katz, Peri Smilow, Dan Nichols...and more to come!
• Watch for other new publications including newly published choral works and other songbooks in the coming months!
• The creation of J-License - The only music-licensing agency primarily serving the entire international Jewish community. Our primary mission is to encourage composers and authors of Jewish music and material to continue producing new works by compensating them fairly for the institutional use of their compositions. If your congregation is not yet a part of J-License, we urge you to join today.
• The accomplishments and achievements since acquiring TMP have been truly remarkable and are a tribute to the hard work and dedication of many members of the ACC especially by the TMP Chair Cantor Claire Franco and under professional leadership of Joe Eglash and Rachel Roth. Supported by the TMP editorial committee led by Cantor Leigh Korn, along with a score of volunteers, TMP is poised to find its new wings and take flight.

All donors to the Friends of Transcontinental Music will be acknowledged in accordance with the ACC Donor Recognition Policy and through future TMP publications. Visit our Donor Honor Roll for the inaugural list of FTM members.

To make a pledge and payment online, visit our secure website. Or, if you prefer to send a check, please download the pledge form.