The winners of the 46th annual ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/ Virgil Thomson Awards for outstanding print, broadcast and new media coverage of music were announced today. The winners will be honored at a special invitation-only ceremony and reception on Wednesday, November 12th at the New York Institute of Technology Auditorium (1871 Broadway) in Manhattan.
The Awards were established in 1967 to honor the memory of composer, critic and commentator Deems Taylor, who died in 1966 after a distinguished career that included six years as President of ASCAP. The Awards have been renamed this year to also honor the memory of Virgil Thomson (1896 – 1989), one of the leading American composers and critics, and a former member of the ASCAP board of directors. The 46th ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Awards are made possible by the generous support of ASCAP, The ASCAP Foundation and the Virgil Thomson Foundation.
The ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/ Virgil Thomson Television Broadcast Award honors Six by Sondheim, an hbo documentary program that provides an unprecedented, in-depth look at the work of Broadway lyricist and composer Stephen Sondheim. Receiving honors are Sondheim, Director and Executive Producer James Lapine, Executive Producer Frank Rich, and Executive Producer for HBO, Shelia Nevins.
The ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Radio Broadcast Award honors the program, “Cadenza,” one of many outstanding offerings heard on The Classical Network, WWFM, based in Trenton, New Jersey; David Osenberg, “Cadenza” host and WWFM Musical Director.
The ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Multimedia Award recognizes the inter-related components of the Caffé Lena History Project:
Book: Caffé Lena: Inside America’s Legendary Folk Coffeehouse, Jocelyn Arem, Editor, published by powerhouse Books
CD Box Set: Live at Caffé Lena:Music from America’s Legendary Coffeehouse,1967-2013, Jocelyn Arem & Steve Rosenthal, Liner Notes Tompkins Square Records
Website: caffelenahistory.org
The Nicolas Slonimsky Award for Outstanding Musical Biographyin the concert music field honors Kerry McCarthy for her book Byrd, published by Oxford University Press. This award was established to honor the memory of Slonimsky (1894-1995), the Russian-American composer, conductor, musicologist and critic.
The Timothy White Award for Outstanding Musical Biographyin the pop music field recognizes Duke:A Life of Duke Ellington, written Terry Teachout and published by Gotham Books. This award honors the memory of the late Tim White (1952 – 2002), the author of many acclaimed musical biographies and an Editor-in-Chief of Billboard magazine.
The Béla Bartók Award for Outstanding Ethnomusicology Book honors Alejandro L. Madrid and Robin D. Moore for their book, Danzón: Circum-Caribbean Dialogues in Music and Dance (Currents in Latin American and Iberian Music), published by Oxford University Press. The award was established in memory of the great Hungarian composer, pianist and ethnomusicologist, Béla Bartók (1881-1945).
The Virgil Thomson Award for Outstanding Music Criticism recognizes Drew Massey for his book, John Kirkpatrick, American Music, and the Printed Page, published by University of Rochester Press.
