Goals

• To act as an educational forum for the promotion and development of high standards of music criticism.
• To hold meetings and symposia at which discussion, criticism and an exchange of ideas occur. 
• To enhance public awareness of, and engagement with, classical music in North America.

MCANA is a small but influential organization founded in 1956. Early members included leading critics such as Paul Hume of the Washington Post, Irving Lowens of the Saturday Review, Miles Kastendieck of the New York Herald Tribune and Harold C. Schonberg of the New York Times. Current members include contributors to the Wall Street Journal, Gramophone and Financial Times, as well as such leading online publications as New York Classical Review, Ludwig van Toronto and Chicago on the Aisle. MCANA also welcomes annotators and editors who specialize in classical music.

Activities

Annual conferences with panels/workshops organized in tandem with summer festivals, professional events or performances of exceptional interest.

MCANA Institutes – Educational seminars to promote high standards of music criticism. Foundation support over the years has included grants from the Ford Foundation, the Corbett Foundation and in-kind support from the Van Cliburn Competition, the Juilliard School, the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Lincoln Center and the Luminato Toronto Festival of Arts & Creativity.