Winners of the annual awards given by ASCAP for the year’s most outstanding musical writing and broadcasting have included biographies of film composers John Williams and Bernard Herrmann, as well as a documentary about iconic R&B artist Swamp Dogg, liner notes for an archival release from Frank Zappa, Rick Beato’s YouTube podcast, and books about Broadway musicals and black opera innovators.
These individual compositions are among the recipients of the 77th annual ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Awards, voted on by a selection committee of four ASCAP members to recognize the best in books, articles, liner notes and broadcast programs about all forms of music.
Biographies of film composers being recognized include Tim Greaving’s “John Williams: A Composer’s Life,” the first biography about Hollywood’s most successful living composer, which received the Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Book Award in the field of concert music, and Steven C. Smith’s “Hitchcock and Herrmann: The Friendship and Film Scores that Changed Cinema,” the author’s second book about Herrmann (with a twist that makes it Doubles their story). Greatest Filmmaking Associate), who was given a special recognition award in the same category.
Another book award in the concert music field, outside the realm of film music, went to Lucy Caplan for “Dreaming in Ensemble: How Black Artists Transformed American Opera.” Awards for books in the pop music field went to Gail Wald for “This Is Rhythm: Ella Jenkins, Children’s Music, and the Long Civil Rights Movement” and to James O’Leary for The Middlebrow Musical: Between Broadway and Opera in 1940 America.
Among the articles that received recognition from the ASCAP judges were an article by Ben Sicario of the New York Times about efforts to save decayed master tapes, a story by Esteban Meneses about Mexican symphonic musicians, and an article by Max Keller of the New York Times about cellists debating the correct way to hold their instruments. A piece by Gabriel Kahana in The Atlantic received the award for outstanding music criticism.
The top broadcast award went to Gail Wayne for her podcast series “Classical Gas,” while Beato received a special recognition honor for her YouTube series “Everything Music.”
The liner notes award went to percussionist Ruth Komanoff Underwood for her personal essay included on the boxed set of “Cheaper Than Cheap”. A 1974 live concert film by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention.
A broadcast/media award in the pop field went to directors Isaac Gale, Ryan Olson and David McMurry for their documentary “Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Penned.”
The judges for this year’s honor were Robbie Fulks, Julie Flanders, Carmen Moore and Betsy Schramm.
The full list of winners, as provided by ASCAP:
Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Broadcast/Media Award in Pop Music Recognizes directors Isaac Gale, Ryan Olson and David McMurry for their documentary film “Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted”, released in 2025, a unique story of the musically creative lives of legendary cult R&B musician Jerry “Swamp Dogg” Williams and his housemates around their pool in Los Angeles.
Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Broadcast/Media Award in Concert Music Recognizes radio host and producer Gail Wayne for “Classical Gas,” produced by Classical Voice North America, a 2025 podcast series of interviews with classical composers available on multiple platforms.
A special recognition award in the above category goes to Rick Beato for his 2025 YouTube series, “Everything Music”, which explored music, technology and the issues facing music creators in today’s industry.
ASCAP Foundation Paul Williams “Loved the Liner Notes” Award Percussionist Ruth Komanoff Underwood was honored for her personal essay for “Cheaper Than Cheap”, a live box set of the 1974 concert film of Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention on Zappa Records/UMI.
Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Book Awards in Pop Music Introducing: Gail Wald, the life story of “the first lady of children’s music,” for “This Is Rhythm: Ella Jenkins, Children’s Music, and the Long Civil Rights Movement,” published by the University of Chicago Press.
James O’Leary for “The Middlebrow Musical: Between Broadway and Opera in 1940 America”, exploring how musicals such as Oklahoma!, Beggar’s Holiday, and Street Scene adapted weighty stories in ways not seen before 1943, published by Oxford University Press.
Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Book Awards in Concert Music Go:
Lucy Caplan for “Dreaming in Ensemble: How Black Artists Transformed American Opera”, an account of black innovation in American opera during the Harlem Renaissance, published by Harvard University Press.
Tim Greving 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 goes to Steven C. Smith for “Hitchcock and Herrmann: The Friendship and Film Scores that Changed Cinema”, published by Oxford University Press.
Recipients of the Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award for Articles Published in 2025 are as follows:
The Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award for an article in the pop music field goes to Ben Cesario, “The ‘Race Against Time’ to Save Music Legends’ Decaying Tapes”, on the complex efforts to restore analog tapes with original recordings from Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and more, published by The New York Times.
The Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award for an article in the concert music field goes to Esteban Meneses, “Revolution: Mexican Composers on the Rise”, a look at Mexican composers whose works are being performed, commissioned and recorded by orchestras around the world, published by Symphony Magazine.
The Special Recognition Award in the above category goes to Max Keller, “Does It Matter How a Cello Is Conducted? It’s an Age-Old Debate,” published by The New York Times.
Virgil Thomson Award for Outstanding Music Criticism Gabriel Kahane is featured for his article, “A Love Letter to Music Listings”, published by The Atlantic.