[3] SNM was founded in 1971 by Neva Pilgrim with the main purpose of promoting contemporary music in the Central New York Region.
[4] SNM commissions new works, and advocates for composers through Society News (their in-house print and digital publication) and via their radio show, Fresh Ink[5] on WCNY-FM.
[6] SNM provides regional musicians with opportunities to perform music by their peers.
Since its inception, SNM has commissioned new works by over fifty composers from the Central New York region, including faculty from Syracuse University, the Eastman School of Music, Cornell University, and many other schools in the area.
The annual award honors the memory of American composer Brian Israel "who died of leukemia at the age of 35 in 1986.