Access Contemporary Music

That project, Weekly Readings, would go on to get national press and put ACM on the map. Find out more about ACM on their website.

Access Contemporary Music has the mission of providing equitable access to the transformative power of music-making through concerts, commissions, lessons, digital media projects and storefront locations serving hyper-local communities. Access Contemporary Music (ACM) is dedicated to integrating musical creativity into everyday life by presenting the music of living composers at the highest qualit

y, fostering musical creativity in our storefront music schools and through commissions, and partnering with composers, festivals, universities and ensembles in cities throughout the world to build a global contemporary music network. ACM began in 2004 when composer, radio host and new music advocate Seth Boustead had the idea to assemble a group of musicians every week to read through, record and post music by living composers. From the Weekly Readings project grew another signature ACM program, the Composer Alive commissioning project in which a composer is commissioned to write a piece and send it ACM in short installments as she writes them. Each installment is recorded in front of a live audience and posted for the composer giving her the chance to experiment and to really know the ensemble. Additional ACM programs include the Sound of Silent Film Festival featuring newly composed scores performed live to modern silent films, Open House collaborations in Barcelona, Chicago and Milwaukee featuring commissioned pieces performed live in the buildings that inspired them and Global Connections, a series of partnerships with festivals and composers around the world including Korea, Japan, China, Mexico, France, Ireland, Spain and Canada among others. Today ACM operates on an annual budget of over a half million dollars and employs twenty five teachers and staff plus countless freelance musicians in Chicago, Barcelona, Mexico City, New York and Milwaukee every year. ACM has produced two films that have been shown on PBS and has been featured on WNYC, WFMT, WBEZ, WGN, WTTW's Chicago Tonight and Austin Public Radio.

04/02/2026

Our 21st Annual Sound of Silent Film is right around the corner! Join us for an evening of modern silent films with newly composed scores performed live at the Music Box Theatre next Wednesday, April 8th 7:30pm.

Get tickets while they last!

https://acmusic.org/events/sound-of-silent-film-festival-2026/

03/11/2026

Join us at All Saints' Episcopal Church Monday March 16th where we pair the meditation goal of cultivating inner peace with gorgeously spare music for solo piano inspired by Iceland’s serenely beautiful landscape.

Meditative Mondays is a unique experience combining a guided meditation with a live performance of music by some of the most important composers of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Each meditation has a specific goal, with music selected to reinforce that goal. Learn more about contemporary classical music masterpieces while advancing your health and wellness through meditation.

Meditation Guide Mamie Amin
from Katie Bellamy, LCPC and Associates

Seth Boustead piano

03/04/2026

Did you know ACM offers music lessons in four Chicago neighborhoods? We have affordable, creativity-driven music schools in Ravenswood, Rogers Park, Avondale and Lakeview.

Right now the schools are in the middle of our annual Practice-o-thon! Students are rewarded for getting into good practice habits and meeting their practice goals with prizes all while raising money for the ACM Scholarship Fund.

Follow the ACM School of Music Facebook and Instagram pages to keep up with the latest updates!

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555356227721

01/15/2026

Check out Seth Boustead receiving an award for Arts Advocacy from the Greater Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce!

Donate Now | Close the Gap! by Access Contemporary Music

12/29/2025

There's still time to contribute to our year end campaign and help us Close the Gap!

Donate here: https://secure.givelively.org/donate/access-contemporary-music/close-the-gap?fbclid=IwY2xjawO_hhBleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFMR3dYWjd5QnRvQmF6azZvc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHpuYAd8GmeoyAzb491FVP1AbLtjszIbS3yrHfDg8EZfo4cJKLupqnQpbh9wp_aem_iHiEYKwmpSXE0HeyMBYCDw

Donate Now | Close the Gap! by Access Contemporary Music Exactly one year ago we set the ambitious goal of transforming a long-empty former 7-Eleven at Clark and Southport into The CheckOut—a vibrant new home for chamber mus...

12/23/2025

We're getting close to reaching our year-end goal! Help us close the gap and complete our latest project - the CheckOut: Chicago's only chamber music venue in a former 7-Eleven!

https://secure.givelively.org/donate/access-contemporary-music/close-the-gap?fbclid=IwY2xjawOoPlBleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFaemU3TUJOOFR3V2M4Qm5kc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHl-jIUaJ5tAo5i-hSAhG-JNtKDOsjDIuP3p0RNs1kAfdv871iuWojGLWLVjp_aem_X6c84PmjzX8EPytVFtCkHA

12/17/2025

Tonight is an ACM event you won't want to miss at the CheckOut! Get your tickets now for Marianne Parker, Pianist Transit!

Acclaimed pianist Marianne Parker presents a fascinating program of piano music that seamlessly incorporates video as part of the overall musical tapestry.

A surreal Norwegian cooking show, Hitchcock fragments, an animated gem featuring paper cutout dolls, and Guy Maddin’s fever-dream short The Heart of the World all find new life in dialogue with the piano.

The program culminates in Dutch composer Michel van der Aa’s virtuosic showpiece in which the pianist interacts theatrically with the video projection in real time.

12/16/2025

We’re closing in on the halfway mark of our year-end fundraiser! Help us Close the Gap and complete our new chamber music venue—so we can grow affordable music lessons and continue delivering innovative, inspiring programming for our community.

12/11/2025

We've made it most of the way to our ambitious $500,000 goal for the CheckOut, but we need your help to close the gap! Donate now to help us complete our contribution to the Chicago music venue scene!

12/02/2025

Exactly one year ago we set the ambitious goal of transforming a long-empty former 7-Eleven at Clark and Southport into The CheckOut—a vibrant new home for chamber music performances of all kinds and music instruction.

Today, The CheckOut is open and already welcoming artists, audiences and students. The change from an abandoned storefront to a living, breathing cultural space has been extraordinary—and it’s only possible because of supporters like you.

But while the doors are open, our work isn’t finished.

We set the ambitious goal of raising $500,000 to bring this project to life and today we are just $10,000 away from that goal. Now we’re asking for your help to close that $10,000 gap.

Your contribution—no matter the size—directly supports the final phase of this exciting project. Every gift helps stabilize our launch, strengthen our programming, and ensure The CheckOut becomes the lasting cultural asset for Chicago that we envision it to be.

We are so close. With your help, we’ll get all the way there. Please make a donation today and help us Close the Gap!

Donate at https://secure.givelively.org/donate/access-contemporary-music/close-the-gap

Music by Amos Gillespie.

10/24/2025

You won't want to miss this concert from our friends at Chicago Composers Orchestra!

Can you believe that CCO is turning 15?! 🎂

Come celebrate the 15th season with us 🥳 - Tickets for refracted | mythos on sale now! Don’t miss out on a fabulous time and incredible music by Soomin Kim, Paul Novak, Alexa Rinn & Evan Williams 🎶

As always, $15 student tickets are available! 📚

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Location

Chicago

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Telephone

(773) 334-3650

Website

http://www.acmusic.org/

Address

1758 W Wilson Avenue
Chicago, IL
60640

Opening Hours

Monday	10am - 8pm
Tuesday	10am - 8pm
Wednesday	10am - 8pm
Thursday	10am - 8pm
Friday	11am - 6pm
Saturday	9am - 2pm
Sunday	9am - 2pm