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Faces & Places
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"I am very moved to be honored by ASCAP. Because for me, I have grown up in a time where I've seen American music take its place in the world — that is truly one of the great achievements of American culture. It's everywhere there are radios and televisions; American music is a global phenomenon that has produced a tremendous and very important part of our economy and the economies of many other countries. And it's hard, in fact, when I look at it that way, to imagine that any of this could have happened without ASCAP.
To be truthful, I think we all know that. For me, ASCAP represents three important things. One is the ability to have a vision — I think Morton Gould was a great and a wonderful man, and he exemplifies that. By "vision," I mean the vision of inclusiveness, of what serious music could be, of what enjoyable music could be, or what all music could be. ASCAP has always had a completely open-door policy about that. It's one of the strengths of our music, of our national music, that it has developed in that way.
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"A person who writes music, any kind, can expect that their rights and their income will be protected by ASCAP, and that's an absolutely crucial thing and it's changed the way we view the world as composers."
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The second way that ASCAP has nurtured people, we see today with the young composers that have been honored. I remember when I got my first ASCAP check, shortly after I was at Juilliard; there weren't Morton Gould Awards then, but we received the ASCAP Standard Awards. We got small checks, but they weren't that small; they seemed enormous to us then and they came every quarter for a number of years, as irregular as the rest of our lives were. Eventually the checks that I got from ASCAP formed the basis of my livelihood. It has now become possible (to have a livelihood), and this is the interesting thing, because people always say musicians don't know what they're doing, that they're always in the clouds or something. In fact, they can be extremely practical people and, as John LoFrumento has brought out today, ASCAP runs very, very well, producing an income for its members. A person who writes music, any kind, can expect that their rights and their income will be protected by ASCAP, and that's an absolutely crucial thing and it's changed the way we view the world as composers.
The third thing I was going to say was support but I've just said that, that we actually are supported through the income we get through ASCAP. But the most important thing is that ASCAP is a membership organization: it is owned by the composers. It's not a gift of the government or some philanthropic institution. This is the thing I've always appreciated: that we collect the money for ourselves, and distribute money, and take care of ourselves and I think it's for that reason that you sense that feeling of collegiality among ASCAP members. When people ask "are you with ASCAP or the other organization?," and you answer "ASCAP," and there's always that 'oh, yes!' It's that "ASCAP moment" that we have.
But this is in a world where the American culture, to put it in a gentle way, is hostile to the lives of artists, and the artists get together and take care of themselves, they support each other, and honor each other. And especially, I was so touched to see the young composers here today. We never got to get on the stage when we got our checks, but you guys - it's great to see you. It's a great pleasure to be here, it's great to be honored by such a wonderful organization. Long may we all live! Thank you."
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