Winners of ASCAP’s annual awards for the year’s most outstanding music writing and broadcasts include biographies of film composers John Williams and Bernard Herrmann, as well as a documentary about cult R&B artist Swamp Dogg, liner notes for an archival release from Frank Zappa, YouTube podcasts by Rick Beato, and books about Broadway musicals and Black opera innovators.
These diverse writings are among the recipients of the 77th annual ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Awards, voted on by a select committee of four ASCAP members to recognize the best in books, articles, notes, and publishing programs related to all types of music.
Prominent biographies of the film composer were Tim Greiving’s “John Williams: A Composer’s Life,” the first biography of Hollywood’s most accomplished living composer, which won the Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Book Award for concert music, and Steven C. Smith’s “Hitchcock and Herrmann: The Friendship and the Scores that Changed Cinema,” the author’s second book about Herrmann (with a twist that makes it the story of his greatest composer in both respects). filmmaker collaborator) was awarded a special recognition award in the same category.
Another book award in the field of concert music, outside the field of film music, was given to Lucy Caplan for her work “Dreaming in Ensemble: How Black Artists Transformed American Opera”. The awards for books in the field of pop music were given to Gayle Wald for her book “This Is Rhythm: Ella Jenkins, Children’s Music, and the Long Civil Rights Movement” and to James O’Leary for his book “The Middlebrow Musical: Among Broadway and Opera in 1940s America”.
Among the articles that earned recognition from the ASCAP jury were an article by Ben Sisario of the New York Times about efforts to salvage decaying master tapes, a story by Esteban Meneses about Mexican symphony composers, and an article by Max Keller of the New York Times about cellists discussing the proper way to hold their instruments. A piece by Gabriel Kahana on Atlantic won an award for outstanding music criticism.
The best broadcast award went to Gail Wein for her podcast series “Classical Gas”; Beato was deemed worthy of a special award for his YouTube series “Everything Music”.
Percussionist Ruth Komanoff Underwood was given a sheet music award for her personal essay included in the boxed set “Cheaper than Cheep.” 1974 live concert film of Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention.
The broadcast/media award for pop went to directors Isaac Gale, Ryan Olson and David McMurry for their documentary “Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Pained.”
Judges for this year’s awards were Robbie Fulks, Julie Flanders, Carman Moore and Betsy Schramm.
The full list of winners provided by ASCAP:
Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Broadcast/Media Award in pop music director Isaac Gale rewards Ryan Olson and David McMurry with the documentary film “Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted,” which tells the unique story of the musical creative life of legendary cult R&B musician Jerry “Swamp Dogg” Williams and his roommates surrounding his pool in Los Angeles, opening in 2025.
Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Broadcast/Media Award in concert music honors radio host and producer Gail Wein for “Classical Gas,” a 2025 series of podcast interviews with classical musicians available on multiple platforms, produced by Classical Voice North America.
The Special Recognition Award in the above category went to Rick Beato for his 2025 YouTube series “Everything Music,” which explores music, technology, and the issues facing music creators in today’s industry.
ASCAP Foundation Paul Williams “Lener Loved His Notes” Award percussionist Ruth Komanoff honors Underwood for her personal essay in ZAPPA RECORDS/UMe for Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention’s live box set “Cheaper than Cheep,” taken from the 1974 concert film.
Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Book Awards in pop music Submitted to Gayle Wald for “This Is Rhythm: Ella Jenkins, Children’s Music, and the Long Civil Rights Movement,” the life story of the “first lady of children’s music,” published by the University of Chicago Press.
James O’Leary’s “The Middlebrow Musical: Among Broadway and Opera in 1940s America,” published by Oxford University Press, explores how musicals such as Oklahoma!, Beggar’s Holiday, and Street Scene embraced weighty stories in ways not seen before 1943.
Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Book Awards in concert music go to:
Lucy Caplan’s article, “Dreaming in Ensemble: How Black Artists Transformed American Opera,” describes black innovations in American opera during the Harlem Renaissance and is published by Harvard University Press.
Tim Greiving for “John Williams: A Composer’s Life,” the first biography of one of the most important film composers of all time, published by Oxford University Press.
The Special Recognition Award in the above category went to Steven C. Smith for “Hitchcock and Herrmann: The Friendship and Soundtracks That Changed Cinema,” published by Oxford University Press.
Winners of the Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Prize for Essays Those published in 2025 are as follows:
The Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award for an essay in pop music went to Ben Sisario for “‘Race Against Time’ to Save Decaying Tapes of Music Legends,” published by The New York Times, about complex efforts to restore analog tapes with original recordings by Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and more.
The Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Prize for an essay in concert music was awarded to Esteban Meneses for “Revolución: Mexican Composers on the Rise,” a look at Mexican composers whose works have been performed, commissioned and recorded by orchestras around the world, published by Symphony Magazine.
The Special Recognition Award in the above category went to Max Keller for his book “Does It Matter How the Cello is Arranged? It’s a Century-Old Debate” published by The New York Times.
Outstanding Music Critic Virgil Thomson Award His article titled “A Love Letter to Music Listings”, published by The Atlantic, was presented to Gabriel Kahane.