New York, February 24, 2020—The American Academy of Arts and Letters announced today the seventeen recipients of this year’s awards in music, which total $235,000. The winners were selected by a committee of Academy members: Melinda Wagner (chairperson), Robert Beaser, Martin Bresnick, Chen Yi, George Lewis, David Rakowski, and Augusta Read Thomas. The awards will be presented at the Academy’s annual Ceremonial in May. Candidates for music awards are nominated by the 250 members of the Academy.
Arts and Letters Awards in Music
TED HEARNE ∙ AMY BETH KIRSTEN
ALEXANDRE LUNSQUI ∙ ANDREIA PINTO CORREIA
Four composers will receive $10,000 Arts and Letters Awards in Music, which honor outstanding artistic achievement and acknowledge composers who have arrived at their own voice. They will each receive an additional $10,000 to record their work and will also have their music presented in a concert at the Academy in the spring of 2021.
Walter Hinrichsen Award in Music
PAMELA Z
This award was established by the C. F. Peters Corporation, music publishers, in 1984, and is given for the publication of a work by a gifted composer.
Andrew Imbrie Award in Music
DAVID HERTZBERG
The Andrew Imbrie Award of $10,000 is given to a composer of demonstrated artistic merit in mid-career.
Charles Ives Awards in Music
Charles Ives Fellowships
TIMO ANDRES ∙ MATTHEW RICKETTS
Charles Ives Scholarships
JACK HUGHES ∙ AARON ISRAEL LEVIN ∙ HUIJUAN LING
NATE MAY ∙ DAVID CLAY METTENS ∙ JASON MULLIGAN
Harmony Ives, the widow of Charles Ives, bequeathed to the Academy the royalties of Charles Ives’s music, which has enabled the Academy to give awards in composition since 1970. Two Charles Ives Fellowships of $15,000 each and six Charles Ives Scholarships of $7,500 each will be awarded.
Goddard Lieberson Fellowships in Music
JEREMY GILL ∙ ADAM SCHOENBERG
Two Goddard Lieberson Fellowships of $15,000 each, endowed in 1978 by the CBS Foundation, are given to mid-career composers of exceptional gifts.
Virgil Thomson Award in Vocal Music
JAMES PRIMOSCH
The Virgil Thomson Award in Vocal Music of $40,000 recognizes an American composer of vocal works.
AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ARTS AND LETTERS
The American Academy of Arts and Letters was founded in 1898 as an honor society of the country’s leading architects, artists, composers, and writers. Early members include William Merritt Chase, Childe Hassam, Julia Ward Howe, Henry James, Edward MacDowell, Theodore Roosevelt, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, John Singer Sargent, Mark Twain, and Edith Wharton. The Academy’s 250 members are elected for life and pay no dues.
In addition to electing new members as vacancies occur, the Academy seeks to foster and sustain an interest in Literature, Music, and the Fine Arts by administering over 70 awards and prizes, exhibiting art and manuscripts, funding performances of new works of musical theater, and purchasing artwork for donation to museums across the country.
MUSIC AWARD WINNERS
Photo credits:
Timo Andres – Photograph by Michael Wilson
Jeremy Gill – Photograph by Arielle Doneson
Ted Hearne – Photography by Jen Rosenstein
Amy Beth Kirsten – Photograph by Gennadi Novash, courtesy of Peak Performances
Aaron Israel Levin – Photograph by Peter Shin
Nate May – Photograph by Michael Wilson
Jason Mulligan – Photograph by Larry Wecsler
Andreia Pinto Correia – Photograph by Tiago Miranda/Expresso
James Primosch – Photograph by Deborah Boardman
Matthew Ricketts – Photograph by Michael Kuhn
Pamela Z – Photograph by ArsElectronica.