Filled with performances and inspiring presentations, the upcoming ASCAP Foundation Honors 2021 online event promises to delight audiences near and far while recognizing this year’s gifted award winners. On Tuesday, December 14, acclaimed music creators and rising stars will share the virtual stage to celebrate The Foundation’s 2021 award and scholarship recipients at 6:00 PM ET on The ASCAP Foundation YouTube channel.
Concurrently, The ASCAP Foundation is hosting a virtual holiday auction to raise funds for its educational programs, featuring donations from top ASCAP members including Billie Eilish, Lil Baby, Ne-Yo, Chris Stapleton and more. The auction is now live through Wednesday, Dec. 15 with some items still available through Friday, Dec. 17, and can be found at charitybuzz.com/support/ASCAPFoundation.
Highlights from The Foundation Honors ceremony will include Peggy Lee Songwriter Award recipient Molly Brown accepting her honor from Lee’s granddaughter Holly Foster Wells and performing Brown’s song “White Horses,” and eminent jazz composer Marcus Miller presenting a third Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award to saxophonist, composer and producer Eddie Codrington, who will perform “Zero Hand.”
Later, musical theatre legend Stephen Schwartz will bestow lyricists Jason Ma and Daniel Mertzlufft with ASCAP Foundation Harold Adamson Lyric Awards for musical theatre. A second set of Harold Adamson Lyric Awards for rhythm & soul music will be presented to songwriters Mark Borino, Jai Sessions and Jesse “Jesediah” Sgambati, participants in The Collective, an ASCAP Urban songwriting workshop, by Grammy-nominated workshop mentor Autumn Rowe. The trio will also perform their song, “Complacent.”
Other creators taking the virtual stage are acclaimed composer and conductor Tania León, who awards composer Nina Shekhar with the Rudolf Nissim Prize; and playwright/lyricist Sara Cooper and orchestrator/arranger Lynne Shankel, who receive the Lucille and Jack Yellen Award from composer and Foundation Board member Dan Foliart, and introduce their song “Perpetual Sunshine,” performed by students of the Baldwin Wallace Music Theatre Program.
The celebratory program will also feature The ASCAP Foundation Mariana & Paul Williams Sunlight of the Spirit Award, presented by Foundation Board President Williams to the music industry-driven non-profit organization Road Recovery; The ASCAP Foundation Michelle & Dean Kay Award, given to Emmy-winning film and TV composer Denise Santos; and The ASCAP Foundation Joan & Irwin Robinson Scholarship, awarded to music business undergraduate student Jessica Bisola Omokheyeke.
“It is a privilege for The ASCAP Foundation to champion these remarkable emerging songwriters and composers,” said ASCAP Foundation Executive Director Nicole George-Middleton. “From jazz to musical theatre to rhythm & soul and more, the future of music is here and we are committed to providing the education and recognition that up-and-coming talents need to take the next step in their careers.”
Individuals who would like to RSVP and/or purchase a donation-based ticket to the event to support the new generation of composers and songwriters can visit bit.ly/FoundationHonors21.
A complete list of 2021 ASCAP Foundation Scholarship and Award recipients can be found at bit.ly/FoundationHonorees21.
