Craig Armstrong accepting ASCAP Henry Mancini Award
Last night, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) held its annual Screen Music Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. Craig Armstrong was honored with the ASCAP Henry Mancini Award, which is given to composers for outstanding achievements and contributions to the world of music for film, television and visual media. The Grammy Award- and Golden Globe-winning composer was presented the award by ASCAP president Paul Williams and director Oliver Stone who collaborated with Armstrong on the features World Trade Center, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and the upcoming Snowden, as well as the docu-series The Untold History of the United States. Baz Luhrmann who worked with the composer on Moulin Rouge!, Romeo & Juliet and The Great Gatsby congratulated the composer via a video message. The event also featured a live performance of some of the composer’s scores for The Great Gatsby and Love Actually by the Calder Quartet (known in film music circles for their involvement in the recent score for 10 Cloverfield Lane), and his song This Love, which was performed by Glee and Recovery Road actress Lindsay Pearce.
Bear McCreary accepting the award for TV Composer of the Year
For the third time, the performing rights organization handed out the Composers’ Choice Awards, which was voted for by participating ASCAP writer members. Ennio Morricone was honored with the Film Score of the Year award for his music for Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight. The composer previously received the Academy Award, BAFTA and Golden Globe for his work on the film and accepted his award via a recorded video message. In the Composers’ Choice Award for Best ASCAP TV Composer of 2015 category, Bear McCreary who scored such shows as The Walking Dead, Outlander, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Black Sails and Defiance over the last year took home the prize for the second time after his win in 2014. Austin Wintory won the award in the Video Game Score of the Year category for his music for Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. He previously received the award in the same category last year.
The event also featured a performance of composer David Vanacore of his music from The Apprentice and Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader. Mike Post (Law & Order, The A-Team) later presented the composer with the Most Performed Themes & Underscore award. James Levine accepted the award for Top Cable Series for his work on Rizzoli & Isles and was honored with a live performance of two tracks from his Glee score by The Chamber Singers from the Academy of Music and Performing Arts at Hamilton High School. In addition, Timbaland won his first ASCAP award for his work on Fox’s Empire in the Top Network Series category. Orange Is the New Black star Michael Harney presented the Netflix series’ composers Scott Doherty and Brandon Jay their Top Streaming Series award. Michael Giacchino received the Top Box Office Films prize for his Jurassic World score. For the full list of winners, visit ASCAP’s official website. The late composer James Horner was honored via a video tribute and with comments from ASCAP Board member Dan Foliart. Other ASCAP composers that passed away over the last year including Ray Colcord, Ray Charles and Van Alexander were also honored with a performance of their music.
Check back on this page for videos of the full acceptance speeches of some of the winners.
Where can fans view the video for James Horner? I was just wondering.