Honoring the composers who crafted the musical narrative behind the past year’s top films, television series and video games, The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) announced today the nominees for the 2023 ASCAP Composers’ Choice Awards. Chosen by the ASCAP composer community, winners will be announced as part of the 2023 ASCAP Screen Music Awards the week of May 15.
This year’s set of nominees will compete in the following categories: Film Score of the Year, Documentary Score of the Year, Television Score of the Year, Television Theme of the Year and Video Game Score of the Year.
Established as a first-of-its-kind program among US performing rights organizations, the ASCAP Composers’ Choice Awards enable composers to recognize the artistic accomplishments of their peers. The nominations committee includes composers and film, television and video game industry leaders. Voting is open to eligible ASCAP writer members until March 10 at www.ascap.com/composerschoice
Following are the nominated ASCAP composers and their works:
2023 ASCAP COMPOSERS’ CHOICE NOMINEES
FILM SCORE OF THE YEAR*
(Films released in the US in 2022, whether theatrically or via another medium)
All Quiet on the Western Front – Volker Bertelmann
Avatar: The Way of Water – Simon Franglen
The Banshees of Inisherin – Carter Burwell
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery – Nathan Johnson
The Menu – Colin Stetson
Nope – Michael Abels
DOCUMENTARY SCORE OF THE YEAR
(Documentary films or series released in the US in 2022)
Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power – Sharon Farber
Conversion – Paul Leonard-Morgan
Prehistoric Planet – Hans Zimmer & Anže Rozman**
Super/Natural – Amanda Jones
Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off – Jeff Cardoni
TELEVISION SCORE OF THE YEAR*
(Episodes originally airing in the US in 2022)
Cobra Kai – Leo Birenberg & Zach Robinson
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power – Bear McCreary
Only Murders in the Building – Siddhartha Khosla
Slow Horses – Daniel Pemberton
Station Eleven – Dan Romer
The White Lotus – Cristobal Tapia de Veer & Kim Neundorf
TELEVISION THEME OF THE YEAR
(Episodes originally airing in the US in 2022)
Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities – Holly Amber Church
Only Murders in the Building – Siddhartha Khosla
Somebody Somewhere – Amanda Jones
Station Eleven – Dan Romer
The White Lotus – Cristobal Tapia de Veer
VIDEO GAME SCORE OF THE YEAR
(Games originally released in the US in 2022)
Destiny 2: The Witch Queen – Skye Lewin, Michael Salvatori, Michael Sechrist**
God of War Ragnarök – Bear McCreary
Immortality – Nainita Desai
Minecraft: The Wild Update – Lena Raine**
MultiVersus – Gordy Haab
*Categories with 6 or more nominees reflect a tie in the number of nominations
**Indicates a work co-written by non-ASCAP composers
More information about the 2023 ASCAP Composers’ Choice Awards, including excerpts of the nominated music, is available at www.ascap.com/composerschoice.
