The evening was highlighted with a tribute to the Bergmans by some of their long-time friends and collaborators, including Siedah Garrett, Lari White and pianist Mike Lang who performed a selection of Alan and Marilyn’s Academy Award-winning songs, and producer Norman Lear, producer/writer Larry Gelbart, director Norman Jewison, and composer/arranger/producer Quincy Jones who were among the special guest presenters.
Story here: http://www.ascap.com/press/2008/0506_filmtv.aspx

The award, originally to be presented at the BMI London Awards, held October 16, 2007 at London’s Dorchester Hotel, was named after the U.S. performing right organization’s longtime consultant to the U.K. BMI annually honors the most-performed song of the year written by a member or members of BMI’s European sister organizations. Published by EMI Music Publishing Ltd. (PRS) and recorded by Bedingfield, “Unwritten” was the title track to Bedingfield’s platinum-selling debut album.
Get the story here: http://bmi.com/news/entry/536566

Dear Songwriters Hall of Fame Member,

One of the most pleasurable times of my professional career is my tenure as Chairman/CEO of the Songwriters Hall of Fame (SongHall). I love representing songwriters, making sure that our work is valued, and that songwriters everywhere are recognized for their contributions.

It was with this goal in mind that I joined the SongHall and then accepted the role of its leadership.  The SongHall has made tremendous strides in saluting the efforts of established songwriters through our Hall of Fame.  In fact, our annual Induction and Awards dinner has become one of the best attended and most anticipated events of our industry.

This has been a time of growth for the organization. We have been focused on our workshops and showcases, and providing fresh ideas and opportunities for new and aspiring songwriters to exhibit their talent, to network, and to advance their careers. We have put together some groundbreaking events that, by virtue of their sold-out attendance, have pointed out the need for innovative presentations.  We are very excited about our new programs and we invite you to browse this award-winning website for more information about our current and upcoming activities. 

We’d like to share the wealth of what is taking place at the SongHall, and I am asking you to renew your membership. We need your support and there has never been a better time to be a part of our bright future. To those of you who are able to do so, why not become a Lifetime Member and also be listed in our Annual Induction Ceremony and Dinner journal, which is distributed to and read by the many industry VIPs who attend our event?

Please note the following categories of membership:
Lifetime Member:  One-Time Fee: $1,000
(Includes SongHall Induction Dinner journal listing)

Associate Member:  Annual dues: $25
(Not eligible to vote in SongHall’s annual inductee elections)

Please be advised that ballots for the annual SongHall inductee election will be mailed only to those Professional and Executive members whose dues are paid through June 30, 2009 and received no later than September 30, 2008.

I genuinely hope that you will renew your membership and continue to be a part of our family.

Sincerely,
Hal David

Make new connections and grow your network to expand your music’s reach! Bring your iPods w/headphones with your songs and /or tracks to share. Demo producers; bring CD demos and business cards to hand out. Workshop Alumni; use this as an excuse to get together and share your music and your progress!

Workshop Instructors Marcy Drexler, David Greenberg and Peter Bliss will be on hand to answer questions and will also talk about the upcoming SongHall Spring workshops.

Where: SHETLER STUDIO, 244 West 54th St., 12th Fl., Penthouse #1 (Bdwy & 8th Ave.)

Admission is only $5 and SongHall membership is not required to attend.
(cash or a personal check only - no credit cards at this time.)
We will have membership and workshop applications on hand, and if you decide to join and/or sign up for one of our upcoming workshops, admission to the network meeting is free.

The Johnny Mercer Award is exclusively reserved for a songwriter who has already been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in a prior year, and whose body of work is of such high quality and impact, that it upholds the gold standard set by the legendary Johnny Mercer. Past Johnny Mercer Award recipients have included songwriting giants: Dolly Parton, Kris Kristofferson, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Carole King, Billy Joel, Jimmy Webb, Hal David, Burt Bacharach, Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, Paul Simon, Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Stephen Sondheim, Cy Coleman, Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne.

“Paul Anka’s classic songs have a universal and timeless appeal, and his enduring ingenuity and integrity as an artist and performer are greatly respected and admired by his peers and fans alike,” commented Chairman/CEO Hal David. “The Songwriters Hall of Fame is proud to bestow our prestigious Johnny Mercer Award upon this celebrated luminary of popular music.”

Inductees at this year’s event include – Desmond Child, Albert Hammond, Loretta Lynn, Alan Menken and John Sebastian. Other honorees to be announced.

As Paul Anka enters his 50th year in the music business, he has forged an impressive career that has endured. Anka has had a song on Billboard’s charts in every decade since 1957, when the Ottawa-born talent was only 17. Since then, he has recorded over 120 albums in a wide variety of languages, selling close to 50 million worldwide and landing three No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 – “Diana,” “Lonely Boy” and “(You’re) Having My Baby.” The first of those hits reportedly sold 10 million copies worldwide, with only the perennial standard “White Christmas” topping it. Over the years, many artists have had him to thank for their extraordinary hits. His 900-song catalog includes such titles as “She’s a Lady” (Tom Jones), “Puppy Love” (Donny Osmond), “It Doesn’t Matter Any More” (Buddy Holly) and “Teddy” (Connie Francis). The theme he wrote for The Tonight Show was heard every night by millions of Johnny Carson fans, and one of his proudest accomplishments was writing the Academy Award-nominated theme for The Longest Day, the 1962 film in which he also starred. 

Songwriting and performing “are what gave me the confidence to keep going,” he says. Becoming a junior associate of Sinatra and the Rat Pack also had its privileges. By the ‘70s, the success of “My Way,” and a string of hits like “(You’re) Having My Baby,” confirmed his status as an icon of popular music. His later achievements as a recording artist included “Hold Me ‘Til the Morning Comes,” a hit duet with Peter Cetera in 1983, the Spanish-language album Amigos in 1996, and Body of Work, a 1998 duets album that featured Frank Sinatra, Celine Dion, Patti LaBelle, Tom Jones and daughter Anthea Anka.

Paul Anka has also donned a producer’s hat at times; in 2003, he served as the executive producer on the self-titled debut album by Michael Bublé, with the Vancouver singer performing Anka’s “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” on his multi-platinum-selling disc.

On Anka’s recent album Classic Songs, Michael Bublé and Jon Bon Jovi join him on Anka’s 1958 hit “You Are My Destiny” and “My Way,” respectively. Rock Swings, also recently released, went Top 10 in the UK, and was certified gold in the UK, France, and Canada, hit No. 2 on Billboard’s Top Jazz Albums chart and went on to sell half a million units worldwide.

Inductees at this year’s event include Desmond Child, Albert Hammond, Loretta Lynn, Alan Menken and John Sebastian.  Other honorees to be announced.

Other SESAC award winners included such Christian chart-toppers as Adam Agee and Jordan Messer of Stellar Kart, Jeremy Kunkle of This Beautiful Republic, Tiffany Arbuckle Lee and Ian Eskelin.

SESAC’s Christian Songwriter of the Year, Jason Ingram, realized extraordinary success in 2007 with his song “Let Go”, as recorded by group Grey Holiday and “When Our Hearts Sing” by Rush of Fools.
Full list here: http://sesac.com/news/christian07.aspx

MASTERING THE MUSIC BUSINESS MAZE - Download application

Marcy Drexler’s extremely popular Mastering the Music Business Maze will be offered beginning May 6th. This workshop will cover the “song” (melody, structure, lyrics) from the viewpoints of a music publisher, a music supervisor for film and television, and a record company A&R representative. Topics will include publishing and performing rights organizations (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC); packaging and marketing (bios, photos, press kits), copyrighting and networking. Important source materials will be distributed. Industry executives will be joining the workshop! Check the Forum for guest appearances. *Early Registration Special Fee: 8 week course, $250 (Regular price is $300)

THE SONGWRITER IN THE RECORDING STUDIO - Download application

The Songwriter in the Recording Studio will be taught by David Greenberg. This one day intensive workshop on Saturday, May 17th, will be held in a recording studio and will focus on many aspects of the recording process as it directly relates to the songwriter.  The goal of this workshop is to provide a better understanding of this process and will ultimately save studio hours and demo budget dollars while achieving the best results. *Early Registration Special Fee: $100 (Regular price is $120)

I WANT TO WRITE SONGS - Download application

I Want to Write Songs headed up by Peter Bliss begins April 30th, and welcomes the beginning songwriter, along with the more experienced writer looking to take their craft to the next level.  Popular songs of all genres will be analyzed and decoded to see how and why they work as hit songs.  Melody, harmony and lyric will be discussed as individual elements and how they equal more than the sum of their parts in a well-written song. Songs by workshop attendees will be reviewed in the same way.  *Early Registration Special Fee: 8 week course, $250 (Regular price is $300)

The BMI Film Scoring Scholarship is a yearly tuition scholarship awarded on the basis of compositional maturity and talent, as well as financial need. Each year, the scholarship is given in the name of a noted BMI composer. Mancina, this year’s honored composer, and Chris Montan, Walt Disney Music president, co-taught a master class on film scoring as part of the ceremony.
More info here: http://bmi.com/news/entry/536145

Get the line-up here: http://sesac.com/news_detail.aspx?news_ID=417

Words About Music Premier Shines

By Jim Bessman

The first installment of the Songwriters Hall of Fame’s Words About Music series, which showcased the 2007 Tony and 2008 Grammy Award-winning musical Spring Awakening’s creative team Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik, fully lived up to the mission of focusing on important songs and songwriters.
The Feb. 20 event at Symphony Space mixed performances of seven Sheik-Sater compositions (sung by Spring Awakening cast members John Gallagher, Jr. and Lauren Pritchard, with instrumental backing from Sheik on acoustic guitar along with a pianist, cellist, bassist and three violinists) with an insightful discussion led by Rolling Stone senior editor David Fricke, following SongHall board member and fellow Broadway luminary Maury Yeston’s glowing introduction.
Affirming the new series’ charge to “stimulate future generations” of songwriters, Yeston saluted Sater and Sheik as a “cutting edge” gift to musical theater. After Gallagher and Pritchard performed “All That’s Known” from Spring Awakening, Fricke pointed to Sater’s lyrics, particularly that song’s “still I know to trust my own true mind”—pertinent indeed in the ensuing discussion of the young collaborators’ work.
Using Spring Awakening as a handy springboard, Sheik spoke of the challenge of injecting a more modern contemporary rock sound into the context of traditional music theater—while Sater movingly related his inspiration from departed “people we lost who are in our hearts and give us reason,” as well as his and his writing partner’s Buddhist practice. In declaring a new love for “creating music in the context of a [theatrical] narrative and other media,” Sheik further expressed wonder in now hearing other people sing his music and thereby giving it “a whole new meaning.”
While Sater had never thought of writing songs until meeting Sheik in 1999, he has clearly adapted to the new medium easily. After he described a collaborative process involving the email exchange of his lyrics with an MP3 of Sheik’s music, the Spring Awakening song pairing “I Don’t Do Sadness/Blue Wind” was performed, prompting Fricke to marvel at the “contrast and flow” of the two parts.
“That’s a lot of architecture!” Fricke added, noting that the rocking “I Don’t Do Sadness” might fit in well on the Warped Tour. This set up the question whether Spring Awakening qualifies as a “rock musical”—as some have called it.
“A lot of rock musicals are just musical theater dressed up as rock—which to me doesn’t work,” answered Sheik, noting that his chief concern is “to write a great song” rather than fit one into a category. “If the music doesn’t work [in a show], I don’t care,” he added.
Sheik got a good laugh when he offered to “take on the mantle” of Robert Goulet after Fricke quoted an obituary for the late Broadway star recalling an early career notice that he was “just the man to help stamp out rock ‘n’ roll.” But Sater turned to his poetic side in defining rock as “the cry of the spirit against that which we can’t say or understand.” In that sense, he hoped he and his partner would “at the end of the day create a body of work that has value.”
“Night Has None,” from Sheik and Sater’s more recent musical The Nightingale, suggested that the team is well on its way. As Sater noted, the story “is about finding our natural heart inspired by song”—exactly “what [Sheik and Sater] do all the time,” concluded Fricke. Together the threesome effectively set a high standard for future Words About Music presentations.

“The Words About Music series will offer an extraordinary and intimate view of the creative processes of some of our most prolific and well-known songwriters,” commented SongHall Chairman/CEO and songwriter extraordinaire Hal David. “It is highly fitting that we begin with Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik who represent a pioneering spirit in musical theater.”

Sheik and Sater are the creators of the Tony Award-winning musical Spring Awakening, which playwright (and poet) Steven Sater based on the controversial 1891 German play by Frank Wedekind and deals with the yearnings and frustrations of young adulthood. Sater met Grammy nominated alternative rock singer-songwriter Duncan Sheik in 1999, and so began their remarkable partnership. Steven Sater says of his collaboration with Duncan Sheik: “I said we should create a theatrical piece together and gave him a copy of ‘Spring Awakening.’ He said that if we did it, he wanted the music to be as relevant as the songs people listen to outside the theater.” Their ensuing achievement has been hailed universally.

The awards show will recognize the songwriters and publishers of the most performed pop songs of 2007. Honorees and performers will be announced soon. Last year’s show included Melissa Etheridge, members of All-American Rejects and The Fray, Nick Lachey, Anna Nalick, and Darrell Brown, Ty Lacy and Dennis Matkosky, the trio of ASCAP writers who penned Keith Urban’s hit song, “You’ll Think of Me.”
More infor here: http://www.ascap.com/eventsawards/events/expo/poprsvp/index.aspx