37th Annual ASCAP Deems Taylor Awards Winners Honored

Legendary Vibraphonist Terry Gibbs Among 2004 Winners

ASCAP honored the winners of the 37th Annual ASCAP Deems Taylor Awards for outstanding print, broadcast and new media coverage of music at a special reception on December 1, 2004 at the Walter Reade Theatre in New York City. The evening was hosted by ASCAP President and Chairman Marilyn Bergman.

The ASCAP Deems Taylor Radio Broadcast Award honored American Routes (MBK Productions, Public Radio International) and Producer/Host Nick Spitzer. Honored in the Television Broadcast category were Keeping Score: MTT on Music: The Making of a Performance: Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony, a production of The San Francisco Symphony: Music Director, Michael Tilson Thomas; Executive Producer, John Kieser; The Making of a Performance: Producer, David Kennard; Director, Joan Saffa; Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony: Director, Gary Halvorson; and Producer, Michael Bronson.

The ASCAP Deems Taylor Internet Award honored two outstanding websites, Postclassic Radio (www.live365.com/stations/kylegann), Kyle Gann, Producer, and Iridian Radio (www.iridianradio.com), Robin Cox.

The Timothy White Award for Outstanding Musical Biography in the pop music field was presented by his widow, Judy Garlan White, to Wil Haygood for his book, In Black and White: The Life of Sammy Davis, Jr., published by Alfred A. Knopf Publishers. This award was established to honor the memory of Billboard magazine editor Timothy White, who passed away in early 2002. A former Deems Taylor recipient, White was the writer of acclaimed biographies of Bob Marley and James Taylor.

The Nicolas Slonimsky Award for Outstanding Musical Biography in the concert music field honored James A. Pegolotti for his book, Deems Taylor: A Biography, published by Northeastern University Press. This is a newly established award to honor the memory of Slonimsky (1894 –1995), the Russian-American composer, conductor, musicologist and critic. Slonimsky was the writer of Baker's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns, The Lexicon of Musical Invective and Perfect Pitch, an autobiography.

Highlights of the evening included a swinging performance by the legendary vibraphonist, Terry Gibbs, who was honored for his autobiography, Good Vibes: A Life in Jazz, written with Cary Ginell, and a performance of an aria composed by Deems Taylor for his opera, Peter Ibbetson, sung by vocalist Amy Buckley to the accompaniment of pianist Tomoko Uchino.

The members of the ASCAP Deems Taylor Awards Panel for 2004 are Charles Dodge, Julie Flanders, John Wesley Harding, Mark Hollmann, David Massengill, Larry John McNally, Richard Miller, Paul Moravec and Frank Oteri.