ASCAP announces scholarship winners

For twenty years ASCAP (American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers) has enriched the careers of aspiring television and film composers with the prestigious ASCAP Television and Film Scoring Workshop. Today, ASCAP announced the recipients of three ASCAP Foundation Scholarships/Awards honoring their achievements based on excellence, professionalism, musical ability and career potential.

The recipients were selected at the conclusion of the Workshop and will be recognized at the 13th Annual ASCAP Foundation Awards Reception in New York City on December 10, 2008.

The honorees are:

Jeff Kryka – The ASCAP Foundation David Rose Scholarship
Based in Los Angeles, CA, Jeff received his BM in Music Composition from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and also received his MA in Music Composition in June 2008 from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Patrick Murray - The ASCAP Foundation Steve Kaplan TV and Film Studies Scholarship
From Austin, TX, Patrick has studied jazz trumpet at Manhattan School of Music and Sound Recording Technology at Texas State University.

Sascha Peres - The ASCAP Foundation Harold Arlen Film & TV Award
From Vienna, Austria, Sascha has studied at the Conservatory in Vienna, Austria and has a diploma in Harmony and Counterpoint, Contemporary Composition, Classical Piano and Jazz Piano. He also took a film music master class with Luis Bacalov.

Additionally, the Workshop orchestra (or Hollywood Studio Symphony) evaluates each Workshop participant, and RMALA awards a $1000 grant to underwrite a future recording demo with LA Studio Musicians. The RMALA Scholarship is presented to the participant with the highest average score based upon the following criteria: podium procedure, composition, and general musicality. This year's grant has been awarded to Jeff Kryka.

"We are thrilled to honor this talented group of composers," said Mike Todd, Senior Director of Film & TV Music. "The ASCAP Television and Film Scoring Workshop with Richard Bellis is an invaluable experience for any aspiring composer lucky enough to attend. It presents real world information and experiences that can't be learned any other way. ASCAP has always been a leader in providing opportunities and programs for new generations of composers and songwriters, and the Workshop is another outstanding example of this kind of practical career development."

A Milestone Workshop Year
This year’s intensive month-long workshop, which concluded at the end of July, had participation from an international group of twelve young composers, coming from as far as Austria, Germany, the UK and Korea. As part of the Workshop, these talented scorers received advice, hands-on experience and insiders' access to state-of-the art facilities and an A-list roster of Hollywood professionals. They also benefited from the mentorship of Emmy Award-winning composer and ASCAP Board member Richard Bellis (author of The Emerging Film Composer), who has coached the Workshop for the past ten years. The ASCAP Television and Film Scoring Workshop with Richard Bellis remains one of the most successful and prestigious programs offered by ASCAP.

“The 20-year mark for this program is a major milestone achievement,” said Bellis. “This is a one-of-a-kind workshop which provides aspiring television & film composers a chance to hone their crafts with the help of top industry professionals and state-of-the-art resources. There is not another program quite like it -- it is the gold standard for those who aspire to join the ranks of television and film composers.”

Perhaps this year's most memorable moment for participants was the opportunity to record their original compositions on the historic Alfred Newman Scoring Stage at Twentieth Century Fox. Participants were asked to compose an original musical score that dramatically enhanced a scene in a contemporary film selected by ASCAP. Then, each composer was given the opportunity to conduct a 60-piece LA studio orchestra contracted by Peter Rotter (De Crescent & Rotter, Inc.). And not just any orchestra, but one comprised of members of the RMA (Recording Musicians Association) – world-class musicians, many of who performed the original scores for these assigned films. The assigned films were Dreamer, Bruce Almighty, Hidalgo, and The Incredibles.

Other highlights of this year's Workshop included the opportunity to meet with several top ASCAP composers, including Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, who recently collaborated on the music for the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight; Jeff Cardoni (CSI: Miami); John Debney (Evan Almighty) as part of an evening session with film director Tom Shadyac along with music editor Jeff Carson; Ramin Djawadi (Prison Break); Jim Dooley (Pushing Daisies); Gerard Marino (God of War); Trevor Morris (The Tudors); Atli Örvarsson (Babylon A.D.); Jeff Rona (Brotherhood); Garry Schyman (BioShock); Mark Snow (The X-Files); and Geoff Zanelli (Disturbia).

Other featured participants and guest speakers included the Recording Musicians Association's Phil Ayling (VP Emeritus, RMA LA Chapter & President RMA International); Warner Bros. Pictures' Doug Frank (President, Music Operations) & Lisa Margolis (Sr. VP Legal Affairs); Sony Pictures Television's Tony Scudellari (VP Music Creative); ole Music Publishing's Sean Mulligan (Sr. Director, U.S. Film, Television & Media); Extreme Music's Russell Emanuel (President); Blizzard Entertainment's Russell Brower; First Artists Management's Rob Messinger & Vasi Vangelos; attorney Scott Edel (Loeb & Loeb, LLP); scoring mixer John Rodd; director Tom Shadyac; music editor Jeff Carson; recording engineer Alan Meyerson.

Industry veterans who regularly contribute their time and talent to the program include: music editor Michael Ryan, co-founder of Mad 4 Music who has donated his time and resources to the workshop for 10 years, JoAnn Kane Music Service, musicians Tom Griep and Kevin Bassinson, FOX Executive Director of Sound Operations Stacey Robinson along with scoring stage manager Tom Steel, legendary recording engineer Armin Steiner, orchestrator David Slonaker and concert master Endre Granat.

A History of Excellence
Initiated in 1988, and led for many years by Academy and Emmy Award-winning film and television music composer Fred Karlin (co-author of On the Track: A Guide to Contemporary Film Scoring), the intensive month-long program has gained international acclaim as a major educational and networking opportunity for aspiring composers.

Fred Karlin taught the ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop from its inception and the Workshop bore his name from 1990-1997, when he retired his mentorship. Karlin composed music for more than 100 movies and TV shows, including 1970’s Lovers and Other Strangers, for which he received an Oscar in 1971 for his song “For All We Know," co-written by Robb Royer and James Griffin. He was also nominated for three additional Academy Awards.

This year's ASCAP Television and Film Scoring Workshop with Richard Bellis was generously supported by the following sponsors and media partners: The ASCAP Foundation, The Recording Musicians Association, JoAnn Kane Music Service, Mad 4 Music, Native Instruments, ole, ReelzChannel and Variety.

About The ASCAP Foundation Scholarships/Awards:

The ASCAP Foundation David Rose Scholarship was established with a gift from The Rose Family Trust to honor television and film-scoring great David Rose. His best-known works include the instrumental standards “Holiday for Strings” and “The Stripper,” music for Bonanza, Little House on the Prairie, and decades of work with radio and television star Red Skelton. The scholarship will be awarded annually to a qualified college-level student working toward a career in scoring for film and/or television who is participating in ASCAP's Television & Film Scoring Workshop.

The ASCAP Foundation Steve Kaplan TV and Film Studies Scholarship was established in memory of Steve Kaplan, an award-winning Television and Film composer whose music is featured on Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune. Generously funded by The Kaplan Family and friends, the Scholarship provides financial assistance for an aspiring television and film composer to attend ASCAP's Television & Film Scoring Workshop in Los Angeles.

The ASCAP Foundation Harold Arlen Film & TV Award recognizes writers who participate in ASCAP's Television & Film Workshop in Los Angeles. The award was funded through a gift from S.A. Music Co., honoring Harold Arlen, composer of over 400 songs including favorites like "It's Only A Paper Moon," "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," "Stormy Weather," "I've Got the World on A String," and "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive."

About The ASCAP FoundationFounded 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.



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 330,000 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