An incomplete list of the guiding artists who have participated in CMS programs:
A
John Abercrombie, Barry Altschul, Maryanne Amacher, Ramsey Ameen, William Ames
B
Derek Bailey, A. Spencer Barefield, David Behrman, Ingrid Berger (Ingrid Sertso), Karl Berger, Ed Blackwell, Carla Bley, Lester Bowie, See AACM site., Anthony Braxton, Peter Brotzmann
C
John Cage, Baikida Carroll, Joseph Celli, Andrea Centazzo, Eugene Chadbourne, Larry Chernicoff, Don Cherry, Jay Clayton, Sara Cook, Jerome Cooper, Marilyn Crispell, Blondell Cummings, Alvin Curran
D
Z.M Dagar, Olu Dara, Anthony Davis, Donnie Davis, Thulani Davis, Jack DeJohnette, Paul De Marinas, Yaya Diallo, Robert Dick, Aiyb Dieng, Hamid Drake
E-F
James Emery, Douglas Ewart, See AACM site., Malachi Favors, See AACM site., Semith Firincioglu, Guilherme Franco, Becky Friend, Fred Frith, Paul & Limpe Fuchs
G
Allen Ginsberg, John Giorno, Jimmy Giuffre, Gene Golden, Andy Gonzalez, Jerry Gonzalez, Steve Gorn, Andre Goudbeek, Trilok Gurtu
H
Steve Haas, Charlie Haden, Mark Helias, Julius Hemphill, Dick Higgins, Gary Hill, Richard Hill, Anthony Holland, Dave Holland, William Hooker, Zakir Hussein
I-J
Abdullah Ibrahim, David Izenson, Michael Gregory Jackson, Ronald Shannon Jackson, Joseph Jarman, See AACM site., Ahmadu Jarr, Leroy Jenkins, See AACM site., Howard Johnson, Raymond Johnson, Rrata Christine Jones
K
Don Knaack, Steven Kolpan, Toshinori Kondo, Lee Konitz, Alhaji Bai Konte, Dembo Konte, Takehisa Kosugi, Peter Kowald, Garry Kvistad
L-M
Steve Lacy, Pheeroan ak Laff, Oliver Lake, Byard Lancaster, Jeanne Lee, George Lewis, Garrett List, Frank Lowe, Jimmy Lyons, Michael Lytle, Michael Mantler, Dumisani Maraire, John Marsh, Stu Martin, Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre, Harry Miller, Roscoe Mitchell, See AACM site., Louis Moholo, Butch Morris, Bob Moses, Don Moye, See AACM site., Sunny Murray
N-P
Pandit Pran Nath, Babatunde Olatunji, Pauline Oliveros, Ursula Oppens, Peter Orlovsky, Gerald Oshita, K. Paramjyoti, Evan Parker, J.D. Parran, Hannibal Peterson, Henri Pousser, John Prienenger
R-S
Vasant Rai, Steve Reich, Sam Rivers, Roswell Rudd, Adam Rudolph, George Russell, Frederic Rzewski, G.S. Sachdev, Ed Sanders, Lakshmi Shankar, Schoenberg String Quartet, Alan Silva, Ismet Siral, Leo Smith, Harvey Sollberger, Speculum Musicae, Foday Musa Suso, Steve Swallow
T-Z
Tamia, Cecil Taylor, John Tchicai, Richard Teitelbaum, Faruk Tekbilek, Haci Tekbilek, Yung Yung Tsuai, Erasto Vasconcelos, Nana Vasconcelos, Janine Pommy Vega, Murat Verdi, Collin Walcott, Ann Waldman, Carlos Ward, Philip Wilson, Gary Windo, John Zorn