New York, December 10, 2008: The ASCAP Foundation honored vocalist/recording star/songwriter
Judy Collins with The ASCAP Foundation Champion Award for music in the service of vital causes dedicated to a better world. The accolade was presented during the Foundation's 13th Annual Awards Ceremony tonight at the Allen Room, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, in New York City. The invitation-only event, hosted by ASCAP Foundation President Marilyn Bergman, also honored a wide variety of Scholarship and Award recipients, all of whom benefit from programs of The ASCAP Foundation.
Judy Collins has a long and distinguished record as a social activist and humanitarian. In the 1960s, her beautiful voice rang out for civil rights and in opposition to the Vietnam War. An early environmentalist, Collins dedicated her best-selling 1970 album,
Whales and Nightingales, to saving the endangered humpback species of whale. For many years, Collins has served as a UNICEF representative with a special interest in the campaign to destroy existing land mines and abolish their use. In recent decades, Collins has also become a visible and outspoken advocate for the prevention of suicide and for the understanding of victims of depression and substance abuse.
The Colorado-raised Collins has been a force in American music and culture since breaking through as folk artist in the early 1960s. Since then, she has also recorded contemporary pop, Broadway show tunes and Tin Pan Alley standards; along the way, Collins helped introduce the world to the music of such notable songwriters as Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell. In addition, Collins has written many songs which are celebrated in a new album called
Born to the Breed (Wildflower Records), featuring renditions of her songs by veteran and new artists including Chrissie Hynde, Joan Baez, Dolly Parton, Leonard Cohen and Rufus Wainwright.
Commenting on the award, ASCAP Foundation President Marilyn Bergman said: "Judy Collins is a sublime musical artist whose social conscience has always been an integral part of her art. Her recordings and her books reflect a person who is extraordinarily sensitive to the human condition. Her advocacy on issues ranging from peace to social justice to mental health issues is to be applauded. For these reasons and more, we are proud to present Judy with The ASCAP Foundation Champion Award."
To celebrate the award to Collins, her friend and admirer, singer-songwriter
Suzanne Vega ("Luka," "Tom's Diner") performed "Since You've Asked," a song that appeared on Collins' classic 1967
Wildflowers album, and the first song ever written by Collins.
A list of the evening's other honorees follows:
The ASCAP Foundation Harold Adamson Lyric Award
Christopher Dimond
Dustin James
The ASCAP Foundation Robert Allen Award
Shwa Losben
The ASCAP Foundation Harold Arlen Musical Theater Award
Cinco Paul
The ASCAP Foundation Louis Armstrong Scholarship
Dean Saghafi-Ezaz
The ASCAP Foundation Irving Berlin Summer Camp Scholarship
Ilana Rainero-de Haan
The ASCAP Foundation Leonard Bernstein Composer Fellowship
Jeff Stanek
The ASCAP Foundation Boosey & Hawkes Young Composer Award
(in honor of Aaron Copland)
Christopher Castro
The ASCAP Foundation Leon Brettler Award
Mike Willis
The ASCAP Foundation Irving Burgie Scholarship
William Wells
The ASCAP Foundation Irving Caesar Scholarship Program
Matija Budisin, Daniel Lofaso,
Michael Lofaso, Elvis Vanterpool-Krajnak
The ASCAP Foundation Sammy Cahn Award
Cinco Paul
The ASCAP Foundation Cy Coleman Award
Molly Gachignard
The Eunice & Hal David Instructor-in-Residence Award
Pat Bass
The ASCAP Foundation Fran Morgenstern Davis Scholarship
Josh Freilich
The ASCAP Foundation John Denver Music Scholarships Supported by
Music Alive! and the Cherry Lane Foundation
Corey Antonio Hawkins
The ASCAP Foundation Jamie deRoy & friends Award
Johnny Rodgers
The ASCAP Foundation Louis Dreyfus Warner/Chappell City College Scholarship
(in honor of George & Ira Gershwin)
Ziv Shalev
The ASCAP Foundation Max Dreyfus Scholarship
Felice Kuan
The ASCAP Foundation Ira Gershwin Scholarship
Dwight Rivera
The ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Award
Emily Bear, Angel Lam, Jane Lange, Thomas Reeves
The ASCAP Foundation Cherry Lane Foundation/
Music Alive! Scholarship in honor of Quincy Jones
Gregory Watkins
The ASCAP Foundation Leiber & Stoller Music Scholarship
Erik Muench
The ASCAP Foundation Frederick Loewe Scholarship
Mark Evans
The ASCAP Foundation Henry Mancini Music Scholarship
Ernest Adzentoivich
The ASCAP Foundation Joan and Irwin Robinson Scholarship
Kevin Dalias
The ASCAP Foundation Young Jazz Composer Award
Roy Assaf, Sharel Cassity, Nicholas Grondin, Grace Kelly, Bryson Kern, Pascal Le Boeuf, Remy Le Boeuf, Linda Oh, Joshua Richman
Founded in 1975, The ASCAP Foundation is a charitable organization dedicated to supporting American music creators and encouraging their development through music education and talent development programs. Included in these are songwriting workshops, grants, scholarships, awards, recognition and community outreach programs, and public service projects for senior composers and lyricists. The ASCAP Foundation is supported by contributions from ASCAP members and from music lovers throughout the United States.
www.ascapfoundation.org
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