John Williams biography wins 77th ASCAP music writing award

By Daniel Okafor

Tim Greiving’s “John Williams: A Composer’s Life” won a concert-music book award at the 77th ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Awards (prizes for writing and broadcasts about music).

The annual honors recognize the best in books, articles, liner notes (text accompanying a music release) and broadcast programs about all forms of music. A select committee of four ASCAP members chose the winners. ASCAP named Robbie Fulks, Julie Flanders, Carman Moore and Betsy Schramm as judges.

The prizes reward attention rather than loyalty to one genre. The list proves the point. The winners stretch from film biographies to a pool-side R&B documentary. It resembles a record shop more than a classical shelf.

Which books received concert-music honors?

• Lucy Caplan won a book award for “Dreaming in Ensemble: How Black Artists Transformed American Opera.” The Harvard University Press book examines Black innovation in American opera during the Harlem Renaissance.
• Tim Greiving won for “John Williams: A Composer’s Life.” ASCAP lists his Oxford University Press volume as the first biography of John Williams. Its description calls Williams “one of the most important film composers of all time.”
• Steven C. Smith received a special recognition award for “Hitchcock and Herrmann: The Friendship and Film Scores that Changed Cinema.” His second Herrmann book, also from Oxford University Press, treats the composer’s friendship and film scores with his greatest filmmaker collaborator, Alfred Hitchcock.

How do pop books widen the story?

• Gayle Wald won for “This Is Rhythm: Ella Jenkins, Children’s Music, and the Long Civil Rights Movement.” The University of Chicago Press book tells the life of Jenkins, whom ASCAP describes as “the first lady of children’s music.”
• James O’Leary won for “The Middlebrow Musical: Between Broadway and Opera in 1940s America.” His Oxford University Press study considers “Oklahoma!,” “Beggar’s Holiday” and “Street Scene,” three musicals that, according to ASCAP, embraced weighty stories in ways not seen before 1943.

Which broadcasts and liner notes won?

• Isaac Gale, Ryan Olson and David McMurry won the pop-music broadcast/media award for their documentary “Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted.” Released in 2025, the film follows cult R&B musician Jerry “Swamp Dogg” Williams and his housemates’ musical creative life around his pool in Los Angeles.
• Gail Wein won the concert-music broadcast/media award for “Classical Gas.” The radio host and producer’s 2025 podcast series interviews classical musicians. Classical Voice North America produced it. The series is available on multiple platforms.
• Rick Beato received a special recognition award for “Everything Music.” His 2025 YouTube series examines music, technology and issues facing music creators.
• Ruth Komanoff Underwood won the ASCAP Foundation Paul Williams “Loved the Liner Notes” Award. The percussionist’s personal essay appears in “Cheaper than Cheep,” the boxed set for Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention’s live 1974 concert film. ASCAP lists ZAPPA RECORDS/UMe as the label.

Which 2025 articles and criticism won?

• Ben Sisario won the pop-music article award for “The ‘Race Against Time’ to Save Music Legends’ Decaying Tapes.” His New York Times piece details the intricate efforts to restore analog tapes with original recordings by Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and other music legends.
• Esteban Meneses won the concert-music article award for “Revolución: Mexican Composers on the Rise.” His Symphony Magazine feature examines Mexican symphonic composers whose works orchestras worldwide now perform, commission and record.
• Max Keller received a special recognition award for “Does It Matter How A Cello Is Held? It’s a Centuries-Old Debate.” His New York Times piece joins cellists debating how they should hold their instruments.
• Gabriel Kahane received the Virgil Thomson Award for Outstanding Music Criticism for “A Love Letter to Music Listings.” The article appeared in The Atlantic.

What happens after the prize list?

The next measure is reach. Tapes need restoring, Mexican scores need performing, and a children’s-music history needs readers beyond four judges and a prize list.