# Biographies of John Williams and Bernard Herrmann Among Honored Works in ASCAP Foundation’s Awards for Music Writing and Broadcasts

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/biographies-of-john-williams-and-bernard-herrmann-among-honored-works-in-ascap-foundations-awards-for-music-writing-and-broadcasts/
- Published: 2026-10-23T03:01:11+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-23T03:08:26+00:00
- Original publisher: Variety
- Original article: https://variety.com/2026/music/news/ascap-writing-awards-biographies-john-williams-bernard-herrmann-1236922092/
- Topics: Art, Culture, Entertainment, Film, Music, Trending, Weird & Viral

## Key points

- John Williams biography wins an ASCAP book award.
- Bernard Herrmann book receives special recognition.
- Winners span books, criticism, podcasts and film.

## Summary

The ASCAP Foundation has announced the winners of its 77th annual Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Awards, recognising books, articles, liner notes and broadcasts about music. The selection spans classical and pop music, including biographies of film composers John Williams and Bernard Herrmann, and reflects the breadth of music writing and media being honoured.

Tim Greiving’s biography of Williams won a book award in concert music, while Steven C. Smith’s book about Herrmann and Alfred Hitchcock received special recognition. Other honoured works include books on Ella Jenkins and Black opera, Gail Wein’s classical music podcast, Rick Beato’s YouTube series, Ruth Komanoff Underwood’s essay for a Frank Zappa box set, and a documentary about Swamp Dogg. Four ASCAP members judged the awards.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.