State Champ Radio ASCAP Foundation
Trending on Billboard
Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” was the earworm of 2024, an inescapable pop smash that miraculously retained its charm even after hundreds of listens. But did you ever think a scholarly look at the song would win a Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award?
One just did. The 2025 Virgil Thomson Award for outstanding music criticism in the pop music field is presented to Dan Charnas for his Slate article “The Musical History Lesson Buried Beneath the Song of the Summer.” ASCAP says the article looks at “the popular but ‘nameless’ musical genre that is the foundation” for Carpenter’s smash. (For the record, the song, which Carpenter co-wrote with Amy Allen, Steph Jones and Julian Bunetta, ranked fourth on Billboard’s 2024 Song of the Summer chart.)
The winners of the 56th annual ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Awards were announced Thursday (Oct. 30). Awards are presented for outstanding books, articles, liner notes and broadcast programs on the subject of music. Established in 1967 to honor the memory of composer, critic and former ASCAP president Deems Taylor, the awards are made possible by the support of the Virgil Thomson Foundation.
Here are this year’s other winners:
Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award recipients for articles published in 2024:
The award for an article in the pop music field goes to Robert Michael Marovich for his article on the prolific Black songwriter Ted Jarrett, “The Black Songwriter Who Took Nashville by Storm,” published by Zocalo Public Square.
The award for an article in the concert music field goes to Jonathan Kregor for his article “Remembering Clara Wieck in Vienna: Gender, Genius, and Genre in the Post-Beethoven Biedermeier,” published in Women’s Agency in Schubert’s Vienna.
The award for outstanding music criticism in the concert music field is presented to Kevin Bartig for his article, “Olin Downes and the Soviets,” published by the Journal of the American Musicological Society.
A runner-up award in the above category goes to Andy Zax for “Extinctophonics: The Game of Jim,” published in Third Man Records & Books’ Maggot Brain.
Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Broadcast/Media Award in pop music:
Director Alex Stapleton, writer Stephen Witt and producer Philip Byron for their documentary, How Music Got Free. The Paramount+ film tells the story of how technology-driven disruption changed music in the late ‘90s and early 2000s. Additional producers included Marshall “Eminem” Mathers, LeBron James, Paul Rosenberg, Maverick Carter, Jamal Henderson, Steve Berman, James Chapman, Bruce Gillmer, John Janick, Dan Sacks, Bridgette Theriault, James Thayer, Naomi Wright, Steve Stoute, Anthony Seyler, Stevenson Waite, Michael Maniaci and Malik Johnson.
Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Broadcast/Media Award in concert music:
Producer David Osenberg for the weekly program “Sounds Choral,” a production of WWFM, The Classical Network. The program explores the choral art form and is hosted by a rotating roster of choral conductors, composers and scholars including Ryan Brandau, Gabriel Crouch, Jason Max Ferdinand, Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek, Christopher Jackson, James Jordan, Amanda Quist, Steven Sametz, Deborah Simpkin-King and Ethan Sperry.
ASCAP Foundation Paul Williams “Loved the Liner Notes” Award:
Lauren Du Graf for “Alice Coltrane: The Artist in Ascension” from The Carnegie Hall Concert on Impulse Records.
Runner-up awards in the above category are also given to Elizabeth Nelson for “Hours in the Colosseum: Notes on the 1974 Tour” from The 1974 Live Recordings by Bob Dylan & The Band on Sony Legacy and Shana L. Redmond for Paul Robeson – Voice of Freedom: His Complete Columbia, RCA, HMV and Victor Recordings on Sony Classical.
The “Loved the Liner Notes” Award was established in 2016 and is funded by ASCAP Foundation President Paul Williams.
Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Book Awards in pop music:
Joe Boyd for And the Roots of Rhythm Remain, a history of music from all over the world that influenced jazz, rhythm & blues and rock ‘n’ roll, published by Faber & Faber
Brian Wright for The Bastard Instrument: A Cultural History of the Electric Bass, published by University of Michigan Press.
A runner-up award in this category goes to Sheila Curran Bernard for Bring Judgment Day: Reclaiming Lead Belly’s Truths from Jim Crow’s Lies, published by Cambridge University Press.
Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Book Award in concert music:
David Suisman for Instrument of War: Music and the Making of America’s Soldiers, published by University of Chicago Press.
A runner-up award in this category goes to Mikel Rouse for The World Got Away: A Memoir, published by University of Illinois Press.
More information about The ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Awards is available at their site.
In a perfect world, major career honors would be nicely spaced out. But sometimes, they bunch up. Case in point: On June 10, just two days before he receives the Johnny Mercer Award at the annual Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) gala, legendary Broadway composer Stephen Schwartz will receive the ASCAP Foundation Champion Award, recognizing his humanitarian efforts and contributions.
There will also be a second honoree at the ASCAP Foundation event: artist and music education advocate Chandrika Tandon, who won her first Grammy in February for best new age, ambient, or chant album for Triveni.
Trending on Billboard
While the close proximity of the two events may be less than ideal, the ASCAP Foundation event appears to be a very different kind of evening — namely, smaller and more intimate. Where the SHOF dinner and gala will be held at the Marriott Marquis Hotel, the ASCAP Foundation “cocktail celebration” will take place at the New York home of Tony-winning composer Adam Guettel (Floyd Collins, The Light in the Piazza, To Kill a Mockingbird, Days of Wine and Roses).
Composers and lyricists (and EGOT recipients) Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (Dear Evan Hansen, La La Land) will perform a tribute to Schwartz. Composer, pianist and singer-songwriter Emily Bear (Moana 2, The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical) will perform and talk about her creative journey and The ASCAP Foundation.
The ASCAP Foundation Champion Award recognizes ASCAP members who have made a significant impact through social action and humanitarian efforts. Previous recipients include Billy Joel, Natalie Merchant, Judy Collins, Arlo Guthrie and Ne-Yo.
Founded in 1975, The ASCAP Foundation has supported American music creators through music education, talent development and humanitarian programs for five decades.
ASCAP Foundation president Paul Williams said in a statement, “As we celebrate 50 years of The ASCAP Foundation’s work empowering music creators and uplifting communities, it is an honor to recognize Stephen and Chandrika — two extraordinary individuals whose artistry and humanitarianism have inspired countless creatives. Their passion reflects the very spirit of our mission, and we are proud to honor them as Champions.”
Williams is on the board of directors of the SHOF and is a past recipient of the Johnny Mercer Award. (The ASCAP Foundation news announcement doesn’t mention Schwartz’s SHOF honor.)
These aren’t Schwartz’s only awards this year. In February, he received the Icon Award at the 15th Guild of Music Supervisors Awards in Los Angeles, where he was honored alongside veteran music supervisor Bonnie Greenberg.
Tickets to the ASCAP Foundation’s 50th Anniversary Gala run $2,000 and can be purchased here.
Composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz will host two events at the 2025 ASCAP Foundation Musical Theatre Fest, which is returning for a third year at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, Calif., May 5-6. The fest offers a glimpse into the process and craft of musical theater with some of Broadway’s biggest composers.
On Monday, May 5, the fest will present “Songs From the Cutting Room Floor,” a look at unheard gems that didn’t make it into some of Broadway’s biggest shows. Schwartz, together with composers, lyricists and librettists Irene Sankoff & David Hein (Come From Away) and Karey Kirkpatrick (Something Rotten!, Mrs. Doubtfire), will perform and tell stories about songs that had to be sacrificed to better serve the musical. Additional performers will be announced.
The evening is presented with support from the Gary Geld Musical Theatre Foundation.
Trending on Billboard
On Tuesday, May 6, Schwartz hosts The ASCAP Foundation Musical Theatre & Librettist Workshop, featuring a double bill of new musicals. Composers will present excerpts from their new musicals. Following each presentation, Schwartz will host a feedback session with the writers and other masters of the craft.
The workshop will kick off with the creative team of Roslyn Catracchia and Peter Seibert, who will present an excerpt of their new musical Piney Needlesmith and the Road Less Traveled. For the second show, Julian Hornik, Khiyon Hursey and Mark Sonnenblick will present selections from their new musical, WEEKEND.
The concert and workshop double bill are free and open to the public. Reservations are required for both nights and are available at The Wallis’ website. The event is supported by the Kenward Elmslie Fund.
Schwartz, who wrote both music and lyrics to all the songs in Wicked, is set to receive the 2025 Johnny Mercer Award at the Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Gala on Thursday, June 12, at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.
The award presentation will come near the midpoint between the November 2024 release of Wicked, which quickly became the highest grossing film ever based on a Broadway musical, and the November 2025 release of a sequel, Wicked: For Good. Both films are based on the 2003 stage musical Wicked.
The ASCAP Foundation has announced the recipients of the 2025 Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Awards. Established in 2002, the program recognizes gifted young jazz composers, defined as up to the age of 30. It carries the name of music legend and ASCAP member Herb Alpert in recognition of The Herb Alpert Foundation’s multi-year financial commitment to the program. The recipients, who receive cash awards, are selected through a juried national competition.
“With The Herb Alpert Foundation’s unwavering support, the Young Jazz Composer Awards continue to elevate emerging voices of jazz, one of our most vital art forms,” ASCAP Foundation president Paul Williams said in a statement. “These gifted young composers are the future of the genre, and we are honored to be a part of their musical journey.”
Trending on Billboard
“The ASCAP Foundation has been dedicated to nurturing the musical talent of tomorrow for 50 years,” added ASCAP Foundation executive director Nicole George-Middleton. “We are incredibly grateful for the generous support of The Herb Alpert Foundation that allows us to do what we do best — uplift the next generation of music creators.”
The 2025 ASCAP Foundation Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award recipients are listed below with their age, current residence and place of origin:
Jonah Barnett, 25 of Washington, D.C. (Alexandria, Va.); Eli Feingold, 27 of Brooklyn, N.Y. (Marlboro, N.J.); Michael Hilgendorf, 26 of New York (Chesterfield, Mich.); Benedict Koh, 25 of Boston (Singapore); Aditi Malhotra, 27 of Boston (New Delhi, India); Giovanni Martinez, 20 of New York (Jacksonville, Fla.); Alan Montaño, 20 of Brighton, Mass. (Concord, Calif.); Bakhari S. Nokuri, 19 of Los Angeles (Dayton, Md.); Marc Perez, 24 of Los Angeles; Artur Ponsà of Boston (Barcelona, Spain); Jahari Stampley, 25 of Chicago; Katie Webster, 24 of Brooklyn, N.Y. (Seattle); and Alejandra Williams-Maneri (Alejandra Sofia), 26 of Brooklyn, N.Y. (Barre, Mass.).
The restriction that recipients need to be under age 30 keeps the focus on young talent. Alpert reached his career peak at age 30 in 1965 with the release of Whipped Cream & Other Delights, his first of five No. 1 albums (all recorded with his Tijuana Brass ensemble) on the Billboard 200. Alpert and Jerry Moss had formed A&M Records three years earlier.
Additional funding for the program is provided by The ASCAP Foundation’s Bart Howard Fund. Howard, who died in 2004, is best known as the composer of the jazz standard “Fly Me to the Moon.”
The Herb Alpert Foundation, a non-profit, private foundation established in the early 1980s, makes significant annual contributions to a range of programs in the fields of arts, arts education, and compassion and well-being. Its funding is directed toward projects in which Herb and Lani Alpert and Foundation president Rona Sebastian play an active role. [The Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals.]
Founded in 1975, The ASCAP Foundation is a charitable organization dedicated to supporting American music creators and encouraging their development through music education, talent development and humanitarian programs.
Two-time Grammy winner Dennis Scott is the 15th recipient of The ASCAP Foundation’s Joe Raposo Children’s Music Award. Honoring the best in children’s music since 2010, the award is presented by the family of Joe Raposo, one of the co-creators of Sesame Street and the show’s longtime musical director. “I feel honored to be among […]
The winners of the 55th annual ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Awards for outstanding books, articles, liner notes and broadcast programs were announced on Friday (Oct. 31). They included works that explored such music greats as Donna Summer, Sinéad O’Connor, John Williams and Miles Davis.
The 2024 award recipients are as follows:
Trending on Billboard
The Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Broadcast/Media Award in pop music: Directors Roger Ross Williams and Brooklyn Sudano, for their HBO documentary, Love to Love You, Donna Summer.
The Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Broadcast/Media Award in concert music: Journalist and author Jon Burlingame for his interview with John Williams on the Disney Music Group podcast, Disney for Scores.
Additionally, a Special Recognition Award in the above category is given in memory of “the alt-country impresario” Jeremy Tepper, musician, producer, programmer and executive director of SiriusXM’s “Outlaw Country” and Willie’s Roadhouse” channels.
The ASCAP Foundation Paul Williams “Loved the Liner Notes” Award for pop music: Deanie Parker and Robert Gordon for “Scribble and Hum” from Written in Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos on Craft Recordings.
Special Recognition Awards in the above category are also given to Drew Daniel and M.C. Schmidt for Matmos: Return to Archive on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, and also Jeff Place and John W. Troutman for Playing for the Man at the Door: Field Recordings from the Collection of Mack McCormick, 1958-1971, on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.
The “Loved the Liner Notes” Award was established in 2016 and is funded by ASCAP Foundation president Paul Williams.
The Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Book Awards in pop music: John Szwed for Cosmic Scholar: The Life and Times of Harry Smith, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and also Allyson McCabe for Why Sinéad O’Connor Matters, published by University of Texas Press.
A Special Recognition Award in the above category goes to Henry Threadgill and Brent Hayes Edwards for Threadgill’s memoir Easily Slip Into Another World: A Life in Music, published by Alfred A. Knopf.
The Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Book Awards in concert music: Denise Von Glahn for Circle of Winners: How the Guggenheim Foundation Composition Awards Shaped American Musical Culture, published by University of Illinois Press, and also Lois Svard for The Musical Brain: What Students, Teachers and Performers Need to Know, published by Oxford University Press.
Special Recognition Awards in the above category are given to Dan Gutstein for Poor Gal: The Cultural History of Little Liza Jane, published by University Press of Mississippi, and also Howard Pollack for Samuel Barber: His Life and Legacy, published by University of Illinois Press.
The award recipients for articles published in 2023 are as follows:
The Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award for an article in the pop music field: Jeffrey Magee for his article “’Honor the Source’: Race, Representation and Intellectual Property in Jelly’s Last Jam,” published in the journal Studies in Musical Theatre.
The Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award for an article in the concert music field: Tina Frühauf for her article “The Dialectics of Nationalism: Jaromír Weinberger’s Schwanda the Bagpiper and Anti-Semitism in Interwar Europe,” published in Cambridge Opera Journal.
The Virgil Thomson Award for outstanding music criticism in the pop music field: Lewis Porter for his article, “Miles Davis Did Not Exactly Steal Tunes,” published by Playback with Lewis Porter! on Substack.
The Virgil Thomson Award for outstanding music criticism in the concert music field: Kerry O’Brien and William Robin for their work, “On Minimalism: Documenting a Musical Movement,” published by University of California Press.
Established in 1967 to honor the memory of composer, critic, commentator and former ASCAP president Deems Taylor, The ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Awards are made possible by the generous support of the Virgil Thomson Foundation. Thomson was a noted American composer and critic and a former member of the ASCAP board of directors.
Erin Osmon’s liner notes for Blondie — Against the Odds: 1974-1982 won an ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award on Tuesday (Oct. 31). The collection, which chronicled Blondie, which went from the underground New York punk scene to the pinnacle of the Billboard Hot 100, received a Grammy nomination for best historical album last year.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Two studies of jazz legend Louis Armstrong were honored. Director Sacha Jenkins was cited for his Apple TV+ documentary, Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues. Keith Hatschek was honored for his book The Real Ambassadors: Dave and Iola Brubeck and Louis Armstrong Challenge Segregation, published by University Press of Mississippi.
The ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Awards, now in their 54th year, are presented to outstanding books, articles, liner notes and broadcast programs on the subject of music.
Established in 1967 to honor the memory of composer, critic, commentator and former ASCAP president Deems Taylor, The ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Awards are made possible by the support of the Virgil Thomson Foundation. Virgil Thomson (1896 – 1989) was a leading American composer and critic, and a former member of the ASCAP board of directors.
The ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Awards judging panel is comprised of ASCAP members Daniel Felsenfeld, Dom Flemons, Terry Radigan, and Dalit Hadass Warshaw. Jim Steinblatt provided professional guidance and advice.
More information about The ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Awards is available here.
The 2023 award recipients are as follows:
The Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Broadcast/Media Award in pop music: Director Sacha Jenkins for his Apple TV+ documentary, Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues.
The Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Broadcast/Media Award in concert music: Writer and director Harry Lynch for his documentary, Florence Price and the American Migration, which aired on Now Hear This, a mini-series hosted by Scott Yoo on Great Performances, PBS.
The ASCAP Foundation Paul Williams “Loved the Liner Notes” Award for pop music: Erin Osmon for Blondie – Against the Odds: 1974-1982 by Erin Osmon on Universal Music Enterprises (UMC) and The Numero Group. The “Loved the Liner Notes” Award was established in 2016 and is funded by Paul Williams, president of The ASCAP Foundation.
The Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Book Awards in pop: Dan Charnas for his book, Dilla Time: The Life and Afterlife of J Dilla, the Hip-Hop Producer Who Reinvented Rhythm, published by MCD, a division of Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
Keith Hatschek for his book The Real Ambassadors: Dave and Iola Brubeck and Louis Armstrong Challenge Segregation, published by University Press of Mississippi.
Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Book Awards in the concert music field:
Amy C. Beal for Terrible Freedom: The Life and Work of Lucia Dlugoszewski, published by University of California Press.
Licia Carlson for Shared Musical Lives: Philosophy, Disability, and the Power of Sonification, published by Oxford University Press.
A Special Recognition Award is given to William Rothstein for The Musical Language of Italian Opera, 1813-1859, published by Oxford University Press.
The ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award recipients for articles published in 2022:
The Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award for an article in the pop music field is presented to Ted Olson for his article “The Life of Blind Alfred Reed,” published on Music of Our Mountains.com.
The Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award for an article in the concert music field goes to Jacek Blaszkiewicz for his article “Verdi, Auber and the Aida-type,” published by Cambridge Opera Journal.
The Virgil Thomson Award for Outstanding Music Criticism in the pop music field recognizes Ashley N. Kahn for his “The New Jazz Émigrés: Insights from noted artists living abroad,” published on WBGO.com.
The Virgil Thomson Award for Outstanding Music Criticism in the concert music field is presented to Nathan Platte for his article, “Mixed Motives: Soviet Symphonies and Propagandistic Duplicity in The Iron Curtain (1948),” published by Music & Politics.
-
Pages
