Nabokov, Nicolas [Nikolay]

National Arts Centre Orchestra.

Orchestra established in Ottawa, Canada, in 1969.

National Association for American Composers and Conductors.

New York organization founded in 1933. See New York, §6.

National Association of Composers, USA.

American organization. It was founded in 1933 as the National Association for American Composers and Conductors under the guidance of the composer and conductor Henry Hadley ‘to arrange and encourage performances of works by American composers and to help develop understanding and friendly cooperation between composers and conductors’. To this end, regular seasons of concerts devoted to American music were for many years its major activity. The 5000 works presented during its first 40 years included 2000 premières and many performances of early works, some from the pre-Revolutionary period. In later years, under its president Leon Barzin, the final concert of each season was given by a full orchestra in Carnegie Hall as part of the American Music Festival mounted by the radio station WNYC. Other presidents over the years have included Lawrence Tibbett, Sigmund Spaeth and Robert Russell Bennett. The organization established an archive of American music at the New York Public Library and held an annual concert and reception at which the Henry Hadley Medal was awarded to individuals or institutions for ‘distinguished services to American music’. It also co-sponsored the Lado Composition Competition and, in the 1950s, arranged orchestral ‘reading concerts’ for trial performances of works by member composers. At the height of its activities, the association had 1200 members in 48 states. It became considerably less active after the death in 1971 of Inez Barbour (Mrs Henry) Hadley, who had been the guiding spirit and benefactor since her husband’s death in 1937. In 1975 the association was reorganized by John Vincent, professor of composition at UCLA, and changed its name to National Association of Composers, USA; it had about 600 members in 1998. It sponsors annual competitions for young composers and performers, as well as concerts in New York, Los Angeles and its regional chapter areas. The Annual Bulletin published by the earlier association between 1933 and 1970 was superseded by the quarterly journal Composer/USA in 1976. In 1994 this in turn was succeeded by the Bulletin, published three times a year and containing information on members’ activities and opportunities for composers, as well as feature articles.

JOHN SHEPARD/R

National Endowment for the Arts [NEA].

An independent grant-making agency established in 1965 by the US Congress (together with the National Endowment for the Humanities) to foster excellence, diversity and vitality in the arts and to broaden public appreciation of the arts. The endowment provides funding to individuals and non-profit organizations in the categories of dance, design education, expansion arts (community centres etc.), folk and traditional arts, international arts, literature, media arts (radio, television, film), museums, music, musical theatre, opera, presenting, theatre and the visual arts. The agency’s programmes relating to music include fellowships; support for professional training and career development for musicians, music festivals and recordings; and funding for chamber, jazz, choral and orchestral ensembles. Many NEA grants require additional matching funds from local sources.

The endowment is headed by a chairman and the National Council for the Arts, comprised of 26 distinguished private citizens widely recognized in the appropriate disciplines. Both the chairman and the council are appointed by the President of the USA subject to Senate confirmation. Beginning in the 1980s political controversies surrounding a small number of projects partially funded by the NEA – notably an exhibition of photographs by Robert Mapplethorpe – undermined Congressional support for federal funding of the arts, and the agency’s appropriation was greatly reduced.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

M. Straight: Twigs for an Eagle’s Nest: Government and the Arts, 1965–1978 (New York, 1979)

F. Taylor and A.L. Barresi: The Arts at a New Frontier: the National Endowment for the Arts (New York, 1984)

R. Bolton, ed.: Culture Wars: Documents from the Recent Controversies in the Arts (New York, 1992)

J.W. Ziegler: Arts in Crisis: the National Endowment for the Arts versus America (Pennington, NJ, 1994)

National Endowment for the Humanities [NEH].

An independent grant-making agency established in 1965 by the US Congress (together with the National Endowment for the Arts) to promote scholarship in the humanities. Areas funded by the NEH include the history, criticism and theory of the arts; the study of language; linguistics; literature; history; jurisprudence; philosophy; archaeology; comparative religion and ethics; aspects of the social sciences; and the human environment, with particular emphasis on the relevance of the humanities to the current conditions of national life. Grants are awarded for independent study, summer research seminars, humanities projects in libraries and museums, youth activities in the humanities, scholarly publications, educational materials and many other projects. The endowment has four main divisions (Education Programs, Public Programs, Research Programs and Preservation and Access), as well as the Federal-State Partnership and the Office of Challenge Grants. Some of its grants require matching funds from other sources. Like the arts endowment, the NEH is headed by a chairman and the 26-member National Council for the Humanities; both are appointed by the President of the USA subject to Senate confirmation. The agency has published the journal Humanitas since 1969.