[1] Founded in 1956, the MCANA is a member of the National Music Council and both publishes an annual newsletter and confers a Best New Opera award.

Numerous chief music critics have been associated with it; past presidents include Robert Commanday, Miles Kastendieck, Irving Lowens and Donald Rosenberg, while critics elected to lifetime memberships include Paul Hume, Paul Henry Lang, Harold C. Schonberg and Virgil Thomson.

[2] Critics associated in the MCANA's early history included Paul Hume, Miles Kastendieck, Irving Lowens and Harold C.

[2] Critics Hume, Paul Henry Lang, Schonberg and Virgil Thomson were given lifetime memberships.

[1] Its membership—which consists of not only critics, but also program annotators and radio producers—includes writers at The Baltimore Sun, the Chicago Tribune, The Cincinnati Enquirer, The Dallas Morning News, Musical America, NewMusicBox, The New York Times, The Plain Dealer, San Francisco Chronicle and The Wall Street Journal.