The winners of the 55th annual ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Awards for outstanding books, articles, liner notes and broadcast programs on the subject of music give fans, readers and scholars rich new insights on legends of pop, film, jazz, country, concert music and more.
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. Virgil Thomson (1896 – 1989) was one of the leading American composers and critics of the 20th century and a former member of the ASCAP Board of Directors.
The 2024 award recipients are as follows:
The Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Broadcast/Media Award in pop musicrecognizes 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 recognizes journalist and author Jon Burlingame for his interview with scoring legend John Williams on the Disney Music Group podcast, Disney For Scores. Additionally, a Special Recognition Award 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 honors Deanie Parker and Robert Gordon for “Scribble and Hum” from Written in Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos on Craft Recordings.
Special Recognition Awardsin the above categoryare also given to:
- Drew Daniel and M.C. Schmidt for Matmos: Return to Archive on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.
- 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 are presented to:
- John Szwed for Cosmic Scholar: The Life and Times of Harry Smith, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
- 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 go to:
- Denise Von Glahn for Circle of Winners: How the Guggenheim Foundation Composition Awards Shaped American Musical Culture, published by University of Illinois Press.
- 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.
- Howard Pollack for Samuel Barber: His Life and Legacy, published by University of Illinois Press.
The award recipients for articles published in 2023are as follows:
- The Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award for an articlein the pop music field goes to 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 articlein the concert music field goes to 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 is presented to 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 is presented to Kerry O’Brien and William Robin for theirwork, “On Minimalism: Documenting a Musical Movement,” published by University of California Press.
The ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Awardsjudging panel is comprised of ASCAP members Stefania de Kenessey, Dom Flemons, Terry Radigan and Frank J. Oteri. Jim Steinblatt provided professional guidance and advice.
More information about The ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Awards is available at https://www.ascapfoundation.org/ascapfoundation/programs/awards/deems-taylor-virgil-thomson
