Support New World Records
Dear Friends of New World,
New World Records quietly celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2025 & is now the oldest non-profit company in the music business. Founded as a Bicentennial project by the Rockefeller Foundation in 1975 to tell the history of America through its music, the company evolved, with the steadfast support of the visionary philanthropist Francis Goelet, into a label dedicated to documenting and preserving the richness and diversity of America’s musical heritage. Fifty years and more than 600 titles later, it is one of the most important repositories of American music and an indispensable resource for anyone wishing to study the evolution of American concert music.
The support of the Francis Goelet Charitable Lead Trust enabled the label to undertake a broad spectrum of projects that had little commercial appeal but lasting musical value. A breathtaking range of American composers and compositional styles is represented, to wit—Julius Eastman’s paradigm-shifting Unjust Malaise, Ben Johnston’s complete string quartets, one of the peaks of American music; Music from the ONCE Festival 1961–1966, Music for Merce 1952–2009, Julius Hemphill: The Boyé Multi-National Crusade for Harmony, The Art of David Tudor (1963–1992), and MEV 40 (1967–2007), to name just a few of the highlights.
The series of recordings by the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra, documenting American theater music of the early twentieth century, is another landmark achievement, culminating in the world-premiere recording of the first-ever historically authentic orchestration of Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha, released in a handsome book package designed by cartoonist and ragtime enthusiast Chris Ware.
Alas, the Goelet Trust’s long-standing support came to a planned end four years ago and New World has had to make the necessary adjustment to continue its work in a radically changed environment where streaming is now the primary mode of music consumption. In spite of its diminished resources, the company perseveres in its core mission.
As we move forward into our 51st year your tax-deductible gift to New World will buttress our efforts to enhance and maintain this precious legacy of music into the future. Thanks very much for your past and future support.
Happy holidays,
Paul M. Tai
A&R Director