French composer Darius Milhaud joined the Music Department faculty in 1941. Milhaud, who taught at Mills until 1971, established Mills as an internationally recognized training-ground for composers. Many of Mills's graduates—such as Steve Reich, Richard Wernick, William Bolcom, Leland Smith, and Janice Giteck—have gone on to distinguished careers. Milhaud's presence at Mills help attract leading composers from both Europe and the United States and over the years the Mills faculty has included Leon Kirchner, Luciano Berio, Lou Harrison, Pauline Oliveros, Morton Subotnick, Iannis Xenakis, Anthony Braxton, Gordon Mumma, Frederic Rzewski, and many others.

In 1966, a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation allowed the San Francisco Tape Center, founded by Ramon Sender and Morton Subotnick) to move to Mills. Composer Pauline Oliveros became the first director of what was later re-named the Center for Contemporary Music. Since then the CCM has played a leading role in the development of electro-acoustic and computer music.

David Behrman and Robert Ashley became co-directors of CCM in 1978. Behrman, a former member of the Sonic Arts Union (a group that included Ashley, Gordon Mumma, and Alvin Lucier) is known for his work in live electronic music and an emphasis on the performance of live electronic music remains at Mills today. Ashley's major contribution was the development of a new genre of twentieth-century opera. Facing the financial obstacles preventing the performance of modern operatic works, he composed a series of operas intended for television several of which have now been performed in concert versions around the world. They involve a collaborative effort that utilizes a multi-media presentation with video, electronic music, improvisation, and a spontaneous vocal style that is somewhere between speech and song.

Terry Riley was also active at Mills during the 1970s. Along with Steve Reich, and La Monte Young, he was a pioneer in the minimalist movement. Riley was a student of the North Indian master vocalist Pandit Pran Nath, who was also a faculty member at Mills during the 1970s. Riley has gone on to become a leading advocate for the fusion of Western and Eastern musical traditions.

"World music" has also been a major interest of composer Lou Harrison, who returned to Mills during the 1980s. Harrison, a direct link to the early experimentalist tradition exemplified by Henry Cowell and Charles Ives, is a pioneer in American gamelan music. He has written a variety of works for Western instruments and gamelan as well as many chamber works and four symphonies.

The 1980s were largely inspired by David Rosenboom and Anthony Braxton. Rosenboom, who is famous for his research on "brain wave" music, was director of the CCM from 1981-1990. His works have involved multi-media, theater, interactive electronics and improvisation. Together with Braxton and percussion virtuoso William Winant he formed the group Challenge—a performer collective that unites interactive electronics and improvisation music with musical perspectives from around the world.

Braxton is a major figure in the evolution of an Afro-American music often called "free jazz." His impact on the history of "free jazz" is indisputable. Braxton's music synthesizes both Afro-American and European influences, incorporating such divergent influences as Charlie Parker, Albert Ayler, John Cage, and Karlheinz Stockhausen. Braxton is a prolific composer and author. He has written more than 350 compositions including several operas and works for multiple orchestras as well as eight books on music and philosophy.

In the 1990s, the tradition for musical innovation continues to prosper at Mills. In 1975, the College created the Darius Milhaud Chair in Composition, now occupied by composer Alvin Curran. A former member of the legendary improvisatory group, Musica Elettronica Viva, Curran is one of the world's leading composers of live electronic music and large-scale environmental sound works. Curran has recently composed several large-scale works that use the radio itself as a massive musical instrument. 1985-Piece for Peace , written for several choruses, bands, and soloists, combines simultaneous radio broadcasts from Holland, Germany, and Italy. In his many fine works for conventional instruments, his musical style is eclectic, a fascinating fusion of such diverse influences as John Cage, Giacinto Scelsi, Charles Ives, Thelonius Monk, and Spike Jones.

Maggi Payne and Chris Brown are presently co-directors of CCM. Payne is a composer, performer, interdisciplinary artist, and recording engineer. Brown is an instrument builder, a pianist, and a composer. He has developed live electronic performance systems for interactive computer music and is a specialist in improvisational music and twentieth-century performance practice.

In 1993, Maryanne Amacher, one of the World's most distinguished woman composers visited Mills as the first Rosekrans Artist in Residence. Amacher has been experimenting with the acoustical properties of various architectural spaces for the past twenty years. Her concerns include not only the actual musical materials (which range from environmental to electronically produced sounds), but also the way these materials are perceived by the listener.

1994 was yet another exciting year at Mills. In February there was a remarkable performance by Musica Elettronica Viva featuring George Lewis, Alvin Curran, Frederic Rzewski, and Richard Teitelbaum (who had to perform via telephone hook-up to the concert Hall because a severe snow storm on the East Coast made it impossible to travel to Mills). Frederic Rzewski, an internationally renowned composer and pianist who presently is on the faculty at the Leige Conservatory, was the Rosekrans Artist in Residence in 1994. Rzewski performed his own music at a solo piano recital that as highly acclaimed by the San Francisco press. In April, 1994 composer/performer David Tudor visited Mills. Tudor was a close associate of John Cage and is the music director of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company.