The 2016 IFMCA Award winners are…

INTERNATIONAL FILM MUSIC CRITICS ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF 2016 IFMCA AWARDS; “ARRIVAL” TAKES SCORE OF THE YEAR, JUSTIN HURWITZ AND “LA LA LAND” WINS THREE OTHERS

http://filmmusiccritics.org/2017/02/ifmca-winners-2016/

FEBRUARY 23, 2016 — The International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) announces its list of winners for excellence in musical scoring in 2016, in the 2016 IFMCA Awards.

The award for Score of the Year goes to Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson for his work on the critically acclaimed science fiction drama ARRIVAL, directed by Denis Villeneuve, starring Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner. IFMCA member Jon Broxton said that “Jóhannsson’s approach to solving the film’s musical problems [is] absolutely fascinating, and the way he was able to musically convey some of the film’s more challenging cerebral ideas involving language and communication is astonishingly accomplished,” while IFMCA member Daniel Schweiger said that Jóhannsson “brilliantly captures both a sense of wonder and fear with beholding the mind-boggling, verbally-scrambled unknown, as whale cry motifs join with alternately moaning and chattering voices, backed by a strong orchestral sound that serves as a powerful universal musical translator in a way that’s both harmonically understandable, and profoundly strange.” This is the first IFMCA Award win of Jóhannsson’s career, him having previously been nominated for Best Original Score for a Drama Film for THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING in 2014.

The 29th Sammy Film Music Awards

It’s awards season wherever you turn. With our own 2016 Reel Music Awards having recently been announced, and the announcement of the IFMCA Awards and 89th Academy Awards just over the horizon, AmericanMusicPreservation.com have announced the 29th Annual Sammy Film Music Awards (SFMA).

The SFMAs are given in recognition of excellence in film music recordings that is presented on CD and/or other digital formats. Chosen by IFMCA member Roger Hall, the Sammy Awards recognises the release of soundtrack albums featuring music from the Golden Age to current releases.

http://www.americanmusicpreservation.com/sammys2017.htm

IFMCA Award Nominations for 2016 have been announced

INTERNATIONAL FILM MUSIC CRITICS ASSOCIATION AWARD NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED; MICHAEL GIACCHINO AND “LA LA LAND” COMPOSER JUSTIN HURWITZ LEAD THE PACK 

For full announcement at the IFMCA website follow the LINK

FEBRUARY 9, 2017. The International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) announces its list of nominees for excellence in musical scoring in 2016, for the 13th annual IFMCA Awards. In a wide open field, the most nominated composers are Michael Giacchino and Justin Hurwitz, with five nominations each, and Abel Korzeniowski, with four nominations.

2016 Reel Music Awards – The Winners

2016 Reel Music Awards

I always look forward to going back over the past year when trying to finalise my favourite scores for that year but, by the time the process has ended, I am exhausted and glad it’s over! It’s such a difficult job trying to whittle down dozens of scores (usually for each category) into a choice of ten nominations, and then decide which titles comes out on top. But, the decisions have been made and below are the fruits of my deliberations: my favourite scores for 2016.

This year – more than any other – I have found myself shying away from the scores that feature huge orchestras and/or a massive choral presence and being more receptive to the smaller-scale efforts that, to me at least, seen to focus more on the ‘less-is-more’ mantra. It goes without saying that many of the larger-scale projects have some great thematic material and some impressive ideas but the inventiveness of some of the scores that feature a more limited number of instruments has caught my ear and that’s reflected in many of my choices.

2016 Reel Music Awards – The Nominations

2016 Reel Music Awards

Now that most of the music for 2016 has been released (I hope so anyway) it’s time for Reel Music to take a look back over the year just passed. I thought that 2016 was another good year for film, television and videogames music and here I want to highlight some of the scores that I particularly enjoyed and which have stood out above the rest. It’s not about what’s the ‘best’ scores of the year though; it’s more a celebration of the music that are favourites of mine.

As with previous years, I have several categories into which the year’s output has been divided and within each category I have chosen (or ‘nominated’) my favourite ten scores*. It’s difficult to articulate the decision process for choosing the various scores: there’s no formal mechanism, it’s how the music makes me feel both as a separate listening experience and – if I am lucky – how the music sits within the medium for which it was written. The quality of music written in 2016 has been very high and many worthy titles have, unfortunately, had to be put to one side and don’t feature in my selections.

I am hoping that my choices will be of interest to people and I would always welcome any feedback on my selections (or my omissions!) I hope that you will want to check out any unfamiliar titles I have listed.

The winners will be announced on Monday, 30th January 2017.

The 2015 IFMCA Award winners are…

INTERNATIONAL FILM MUSIC CRITICS ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF 2015 IFMCA AWARDS; JOHN WILLIAMS WINS THREE AWARDS FOR STAR WARS

http://filmmusiccritics.org/2016/02/ifmca-award-winners-2015/

FEBRUARY 18, 2015 – The International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) announces its list of winners for excellence in musical scoring in 2015, in the 2015 IFMCA Awards.

The award for Score of the Year goes to composer JOHN WILLIAMS for his work on the massively popular and successful epic science fiction fantasy STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS, from director J. J. Abrams. IFMCA member James Southall said that “the Force remains strong in John Williams and long may it continue” and called the score “glorious,” while IFMCA member Christian Clemmensen called the score “a powerfully melodic and excitingly complex piece of grand artistry from an era of greatness that only John Williams in top form could deliver.”

IFMCA Award Nominations 2015 have been announced

INTERNATIONAL FILM MUSIC CRITICS ASSOCIATION AWARD NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED; OCTOGENARIAN VETERANS JOHN WILLIAMS AND ENNIO MORRICONE LEAD THE FIELD, MULTIPLE NOMINATIONS FOR MICHAEL GIACCHINO, LATE JAMES HORNER

For full announcement at IFMCA follow the LINK

FEBRUARY 4, 2016. The International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) announces its list of nominees for excellence in musical scoring in 2015, for the 12th annual IFMCA Awards. The most nominated composers are industry veterans John Williams and Ennio Morricone, as well as Michael Giacchino, and the late James Horner.