The 250th anniversary of American independence, celebrated throughout 2026, offers unique opportunities to explore our country’s rich cultural heritage from fresh contemporary perspectives. Forging an American Musical Identity (FAMI) is a multi-year project dedicated to the discovery, interpretation, and celebration of music written in the United States during the long nineteenth century, as well as the performers, educators, congregations, publishers, impresarios, entrepreneurs, critics, and mystics who created a unique American musical experience. The music that was created, performed, and consumed during this period remains underexplored and underappreciated today, but is nevertheless an important part of our nation’s past, and should be celebrated as an important element of our own American musical and cultural heritage.

The “Resources” section of the FAMI website features a growing collection of information about nineteenth-century American composers and their works, including names of compositions and (when available) information about performing scores and links to recordings. 

Figures shown above: Francis Johnson (1792-1844), Margaret Ruthven Lang (1867-1972), George Bristow (1825-1898), 
Anthony Philip Heinrich (1781-1861), Amy Beach (1867-1944), Harry Burleigh (1866-1949)