New York · Nonprofit
COMPOSERS NOW INC
COMPOSERS NOW INC (New York) receives grants from 14 organizations whose IRS filings report $795,250 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($300,000). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $338k
- Funders on record
- 14
- Grants received
- $795k
- Net assets
- $170k
What Composers Now Inc does
Mission
Composers now empowers all living composers, celebrates the diversity of their voices, and honors the significance of their artistic contributions to the cultural fabric of society.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The first commission program supports young composers young composers by fostering their artistic and creative growth. Composers in middle school to high schools ages, nominated by luna composition lab and ny philharmonic, are evaluated by a jury. Chosen composers receive a composers now commission and have their works premiered at cn's festival opening event. 2024 winner is devon gates, bassist, vocalist and composer from atlanta georgia. Her composer mentor is yosvany terry.
$93,041 spent$2,546 earned by the program45% of program spendingThe cheswatyr commissions was created and produced by composers now with underwriting for the cheswatyr foundation. The award commemorates cece wasserman and foregrounds her legacy of empowering living composers. In fy24, the 2023 commission awardee, alyssa regent, presented her world premier, "the island before open waters" at the forum, columbia university in october 2023. Bora yoon served as her mentor. Composers now awarded spanish composer milena casado with the commission. She will present her world premier in november 2024, at the forum at columbia university.
$51,787 spent25% of program spendingDialogues, is an innovative initiative hosted by the org's founder & artistic director, tania leon. Each dialogue opens with inspiring performances, followed by thought-provoking town-hall style conversations, culminating in meaningful exchanges, among composers, performers and audiences. The composers highlight the rich cultural diversity of nyc. In fy24 cn brought dialogues to audiences in queens, the bronx and brooklyn. Dialogues no. 12 showcased composers wang lu, fernando otero and laurie spiegel. Bargemusic in brooklyn hosted this dialogue. Dialogues no. 13 featured victoria cheah, susie ibarra, and kamala sankaram. Cn partnered with bronx arts ensemble and the van cortlandt part alliance. With the support of a grant from the mellon foundation cn took dialogues on the road - dialogues 14 was hosted at the miami light project in miami florida. This dialogue was co-hosted by orlando garcia and featured yissy garcia, juraj kojs and milly turner. Dialogue no 15 was held in chicago, il at pianoforte. The co-host was coco elysees and the featured composers were edward wilkerson jr., sophie mcmillian-myers, and kari watson. Dialogues no. 16 held in sept 2024 was held at laguardia…
$62,146 spent30% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $206,974.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2022, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2022, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2022 to 2023, from $66k to $257k (+288%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2022 0% · 2023 0% · 2024 10% · 2025 3%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
99% of COMPOSERS NOW INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (64% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 4 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Board chair
Tania J Leon
Board chair & artistic director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 7 funders, grant income rose $1k → $287k.
1 of 14 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 5% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of COMPOSERS NOW INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
COMPOSERS NOW INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 38% of grant income and the top three 77%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2020 32% · 2021 57% · 2022 81% · 2023 52% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
29% of COMPOSERS NOW INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 64% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
89% of COMPOSERS NOW INC's grant income comes from New York funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $41k arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
COMPOSERS NOW INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Government funding COMPOSERS NOW INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $15k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$15k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like COMPOSERS NOW INC
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In New York
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
79% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for COMPOSERS NOW INC: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds COMPOSERS NOW INC?
- COMPOSERS NOW INC (New York) receives grants from 14 organizations whose IRS filings report $795,250 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($300,000). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does COMPOSERS NOW INC have?
- IRS filings report 14 organizations giving $795,250 in grants to COMPOSERS NOW INC, 9 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of COMPOSERS NOW INC?
- THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $300,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like COMPOSERS NOW INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2022–2025), and the filings of 14 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing