Photo Flash: Edward Guo Honored by Associated Chamber Music Players

Associated Chamber Music Players (ACMP) presented the Helen Rice Award to Edward Guo, Founder of the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP) on September 24, 2018.

Finding music to play and then obtaining the parts used to be one of the major obstacles for amateur players in gaining access to the broadest range of chamber music.

That all changed in 2006 when Edward Guo, a composition sophomore at New England Conservatory, created IMSLP (the International Music Score Library Project). IMSLP is a vast virtual resource of public domain music that's accessible for download at the click of a button. Guo's initial motivation came from the desire to remove the barriers that prevent people from gaining access to classical music scores by making them more widely available on the Internet.

ACMP's own chamber music databased featuring more than 200,000 pieces is now aligned with the IMSLP library, thanks to the co-operation of Guo when the new ACMP website was established in 2016.

Because of his deep impact on revolutionizing the way players can access music through the creation of IMSLP, ACMP has awarded the 2018 Helen Rice Award to Edward Guo. The Helen Rice Award is given in memory of ACMP's founder in recognition of those who have moved the chamber music world in new directions.

The award was presented at an ACMP event in New York on September 24.

On receiving the award, Guo said "making scores widely accessible to musicians through technology has always been my goal. As IMSLP continues to explore new technology to serve musicians, I look forward to working closing with ACMP to make connections between players, music, and each other."

ACMP - Associated Chamber Music Players

The mission of ACMP - Associated Chamber Music Players - is to stimulate and expand the playing of chamber music for pleasure among musicians worldwide, of all backgrounds, ages and skill levels, by connecting people and supporting chamber music activities and education opportunities.

Since the organization began 70 years ago, ACMP has helped chamber music players find one another to share and play music together. More than 2,500 members come from every part of the world and share the love of making music with others.

In the 1990s, the ACMP Foundation was created, contributing more than four million dollars to support chamber music education and engagement programs for adult amateur players and community-based chamber music education programs for young musicians and others.

Photo Credit: Abby Verbosky