New York, NY, March 3, 2009: Marco Antonio Solís and
Joan Sebastian were named
Songwriters of the Year at the 17th Annual ASCAP Latin Music Awards held tonight at The Ritz Carlton Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Ricardo Montaner, Luis Fonsi and
Omar Alfanno received special ASCAP honors for career achievement;
"Para Siempre" was named
Latin Song of the Year; and
Publisher of the Year honors went to
Sony/ATV Music. The songwriters and publishers of ASCAP's most performed songs in Latin Music in 2008 were also honored during the awards celebration.
Co-hosted by comedian
Luis Raúl and TV personality
Desireé Lowry, the awards ceremony is one of the most attended and celebrated events in the Latin entertainment community. Among the honorees, performers and luminaries present were:
Adolfo Angel Alba (Temerarios), Omar Alfanno, Amérika, Wilfran Castillo, Jorge Celedón, Jesai Duarte, El Chaval de la Bachata, Luis Enrique, Luis Fonsi, Alejandra Guzmán, Juan José Hernández, Carlos Lara, Toby Love, Ismael Miranda, Ricardo Montaner, Roberto Sueiro and
Wise.
Joan Sebastian and
Marco Antonio Solís shared
Songwriter of the Year honors. Both songwriters have received this coveted award multiple times in the past, and their wins this year are a testament to the enduring and universal qualities of their musical gifts.
Joan Sebastian was born in the town of Julianita of Sierra Guerrero in Mexico. During his early musical career, he blossomed as both a songwriter and a performer. In 2000, ASCAP honored Sebastian with its “Silver Pen Award” recognizing 35 years of song crafting. The most recent works of this Grammy Award winner include: “Secreto de Amor”, “Un Idiota” and “Amorcito Mio”. His music has been performed by such notable artists as Rocio Durcal, Lucero, Banda Cachorros and Graciela Beltran, among others.
Marco Antonio Solís is one of the most influential singer-songwriters in Latin America. His music remains as original today as it did when he first began burning up the charts, a feat he achieves by producing music that transcends trends and generation gaps, simply by following his own creative vision. He started 2008 with a huge bang winning the Songwriter of the Year Award at the Billboard Latin Awards and having four songs at the same time on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart, including the #1 slot.
The evening was highlighted with special presentations to three of the finest and most successful Latin songwriters of our time —
Ricardo Montaner, Luis Fonsi and
Omar Alfanno.
Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe winning Hall of Fame songwriter and Vice Chairman of the ASCAP Board of Directors
Paul Williams presented
ASCAP's Latin Heritage Award to
Ricardo Montaner in recognition of his unique and enduring contributions to Latin music, and
ASCAP's Voice of Music Award to
Luis Fonsi for illuminating people's lives through song.
Past recipients of ASCAP's Latin Heritage Award include Antonio Aguilar, Celia Cruz, Ednita Nazario, Franco de Vita, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Olga Tañón and Ricardo Arjona. Past recipients of ASCAP's Voice of Music Award include Mary J. Blige, Jimmy Webb, Kenny Chesney, Amy Grant, George Strait, Diane Warren and Garth Brooks.
Longtime friend and advisor
Roberto Sueiro, Nicaraguan salsa singer
Luis Enrique and ASCAP CEO
John LoFrumento presented songwriter/producer
Omar Alfanno with
ASCAP's Golden Note Award in recognition of his extraordinary songs which have enriched Latin music worldwide for three decades. Garth Brooks, Joan Sebastian, Jose Feliciano, Quincy Jones, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Stevie Wonder, Tom Petty and Victor Manuelle are among ASCAP's Golden Note Award winners' circle.
LoFrumento was joined onstage by ASCAP Senior Vice President, Membership Group — Latin
Alexandra Lioutikoff who presented the
Publisher of the Year award to
Sony/ATV Music for their 37 award-winning songs. This is the tenth time that Sony has received this honor.
"Para Siempre" written by Joan Sebastian and published by Vander Music was named Latin Song of the Year.
Awards were also presented in the following categories: Regional Mexican, Tropical, Television, Pop, Rock and Urban.
Click here for the complete list of winners.
About ASCAP
Established in 1914, ASCAP is the first and leading U.S. Performing Rights Organization (PRO) representing the world's largest repertory totaling over 8.5 million copyrighted musical works of every style and genre from more than 340,000 songwriter, composer and music publisher members. ASCAP has representation arrangements with similar foreign organizations so that the ASCAP repertory is represented in nearly every country around the world where copyright law exists. ASCAP protects the rights of its members and foreign affiliates by licensing the public performances of their copyrighted works and distributing royalties based upon surveyed performances. ASCAP is the only American PRO owned and governed by its writer and publisher members.
www.ascap.com
