ASCAP Foundation Names 2026 Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Awards Winners
The ASCAP Foundation has announced the recipients of the 57th annual Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Awards. These honors celebrate outstanding books, articles, liner notes and broadcast programs on music, delivering fresh perspectives for fans, readers and scholars on figures from pop, film, jazz, country and concert music. The 2026 awards continue a tradition of spotlighting works that document music innovators across multiple styles and eras.
The awards were established in 1967 to honor composer, critic, commentator and former ASCAP President Deems Taylor. Funding comes through the generous support of the Virgil Thomson Foundation. Virgil Thomson lived from 1896 to 1989 and ranked among the leading American composers and critics of the twentieth century while also serving on the ASCAP Board of Directors.
ASCAP Foundation Executive Director Patricia Leonard stated that the authors, journalists and filmmakers honored this year illuminate the soul of music creation across concert, rock, R&B, folk, musical theatre and children’s music, ensuring the stories of music innovators are preserved with the depth and distinction they deserve.
The Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Broadcast/Media Award in pop music went to directors Isaac Gale, Ryan Olson and David McMurry for the 2025 documentary Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted. The film offers a distinctive account of cult R&B musician Jerry Swamp Dogg Williams and his Los Angeles housemates centered on their musical life around the pool. In concert music the award recognized radio host and producer Gail Wein for the 2025 podcast series Classical Gas produced by Classical Voice North America and available on multiple platforms. A special recognition in the category was awarded to Rick Beato for his 2025 YouTube series Everything Music exploring music, technology and issues facing today’s music creators.
The ASCAP Foundation Paul Williams Loved the Liner Notes Award honored percussionist Ruth Komanoff Underwood for her personal essay accompanying Cheaper than Cheep, the live box set drawn from the 1974 concert film by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention on ZAPPA RECORDS/UMe. The Loved the Liner Notes Award was established in 2016 and is funded by ASCAP Foundation President Paul Williams.
Pop music book awards were presented 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 University of Chicago Press, and to James O’Leary for The Middlebrow Musical: Between Broadway and Opera in 1940s America, an exploration of how musicals such as Oklahoma!, Beggar’s Holiday and Street Scene embraced weighty stories in ways not seen before 1943, published by Oxford University Press.
Concert music book awards went to 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, and to 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. A special recognition in the category was given to Steven C. Smith for Hitchcock and Herrmann: The Friendship and Film Scores that Changed Cinema, also published by Oxford University Press.
Article awards included the pop music recognition to Ben Sisario of The New York Times for The Race Against Time to Save Music Legends’ Decaying Tapes, which details efforts to restore analog tapes holding original recordings from Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and others. In concert music Robert Sandla received the award from Symphony Magazine for Revolución: Mexican Composers on the Rise, examining Mexican composers whose works are performed, commissioned and recorded by orchestras worldwide. A special recognition went to Max Keller of The New York Times for Does It Matter How A Cello Is Held? It’s a Centuries-Old Debate. The Virgil Thomson Award for Outstanding Music Criticism was presented to Gabriel Kahane for A Love Letter to Music Listings published by The Atlantic.
The judging panel comprised ASCAP members Robert William Robbie Fulks, Julie Flanders, Carman Moore and Betsy Schramm, with Jim Steinblatt providing professional guidance and advice. Additional information about the awards is available at the ASCAP Foundation website.
Founded in 1975, The ASCAP Foundation operates as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization separate from ASCAP. Its mission centers on nurturing the next generation of songwriters and composers through mentorship, recognition and financial support at pivotal career moments. Workshops, grants, scholarships and community outreach programs help emerging talent across genres thrive, sustained entirely by the generosity of ASCAP members and music lovers nationwide.
