35th Annual ASCAP Deems Taylor Awards

The Society honored the winners of the 35th Annual ASCAP Deems Taylor Awards for outstanding print, broadcast and new media coverage of music on December 4th. The winners were honored at a special reception hosted by ASCAP President and Chairman Marilyn Bergman at Lincoln Center in New York City. Over the years, tens of thousands of dollars have been distributed in cash prizes to winning authors, journalists and broadcast producers and personalities.

The ASCAP Deems Taylor Radio Broadcast Award honored the widely-syndicated National Public Radio program, Fresh Air, and was presented to program host/co-Executive producer Terry Gross and co-Executive Producer Danny Miller; and producing station WHYY Radio, Philadelphia. Cited in the Television Broadcast category was Evening at Pops: "Fiddlers Three" produced by Bill Cosel, WGBH-TV and the Boston Pops Orchestra; honored as well were Boston Pops Conductor Keith Lockhart; and Chris Brubeck, composer of Interplay (which was commissioned for the "Fiddlers Three" telecast.) The ASCAP Deems Taylor Internet Award honored the outstanding web site,www. musicalamerica. com, Susan A. Elliott, Editor.

A newly established ASCAP Deems Taylor honor, The Timothy White Award for Outstanding Musical Biography cited Charles R. Cross for his book, Heavier than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain, published by Hyperion. The new award honors the memory of Billboard Magazine editor Timothy White, who passed away earlier this year. Mr. White was himself a former Deems Taylor recipient, and was the writer of acclaimed biographies of Bob Marley, Brian Wilson and James Taylor.

In addition, ASCAP Deems Taylor Special Recognition Awards were presented to Francis Davis for Like Young: Jazz, Pop, Youth and Middle Age, published by Da Capo Press; Ned Rorem for A Ned Rorem Reader, published by Yale University Press; William A. Shack for his book Harlem In Montmartre: A Paris Jazz Story Between The Great Wars, published by University of California Press; Fred Lerdahl for Tonal Pitch Space, published by Oxford University Press; and Geoffrey Himes for his article "Born on the Bayou" published by No Depression Magazine; and "Sweet Inspiration" published by Baltimore City Paper; and Tom Piazza for "Note In A Bottle" published by The Oxford American.

Special performances were given by jazz pianist Cyrus Chestnut (the subject of Geoffrey Himes' article, "Sweet Inspiration"), and duo Sruli and Lisa (who performed a Lubavitcher Chanukah song to celebrate Ellen Koskoff's Music in Lubavitcher Life).