INTERNATIONAL FILM MUSIC CRITICS ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF 2019 IFMCA AWARDS; JOHN WILLIAMS REIGNS SUPREME WITH MULTIPLE AWARDS HONORING HIS FINAL STAR WARS SCORE, “THE RISE OF SKYWALKER”

FEBRUARY 20, 2020 — The International Film Music CriticsAssociation (IFMCA) announces its list of winners for excellence in musicalscoring in 2019, in the 2019 IFMCA Awards.

The award for Score of the Year goes to legendary veteran John Williams for his score for the ninth and final Star Wars film, “The Rise of Skywalker,” which concluded the sequel trilogy of adventures about the scavenger Rey, heroic former Stormtrooper Finn, and Kylo Ren, the leader of the Imperial First Order. The film is directed by J. J. Abrams, and stars Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, and Adam Driver. In describing the score, IFMCA member James Southall described “The Rise of Skywalker” as ‘one last brilliant piece of musical adventure to call time on his signature work … a triumphant conclusion to an extraordinary musical saga,’ and also said that ‘it’s simply impossible to overstate Williams’s contribution to the series’ success’. The score is also named Best Original Score for a Fantasy/Science Fiction/Horror Film, while the main theme “The Rise of Skywalker” is named Film Music Composition of the Year.

The IFMCA has also chosen to bestow a Special Award onWilliams, primarily in recognition of his near-unparalleled achievement inscoring the 9-movie saga that began with the original Star Wars film in 1977.IFMCA member Jon Broxton opined that ‘no-one has achieved the holy triumvirateof musical excellence, peer respect, and pop culture recognition the way thatJohn Williams has,’ and described the entire Star Wars saga as ‘works ofstaggering genius and beauty … his Ring Cycle, the work that will define hislife and his legacy, a nine-movement 25-hour masterpiece of enduring musicalbrilliance that has taken a full 42 years to come to fruition’. Williams is, ofcourse, the composer of other such landmark works as “Jaws,” “CloseEncounters of the Third Kind,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” and“Schindler’s List,” among many other classics.

The IFMCA Roberto Aschieri Special Award, which is named inmemory of the IFMCA member from Argentinawho died in 2017, is not awarded every year, and is only given to projects orindividuals that the membership deems worthy of significant recognition outsideof the ‘regular’ IFMCA categories. These are the 23rd, 24th, 25th, and 26thIFMCA Award wins of Williams’s career; he previously won Score of the Yearawards for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” in 2015, “War Horse” in 2011, and“Memoirs of a Geisha” in 2005.

Bear McCreary is named Composer of the Year, having written music for an astonishing six films and four television series in 2019. The most lauded of these were “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” and “The Professor and the Madman”, both of which were nominated in their respective genre categories. Regarding Godzilla, IFMCA member Florent Groult noted that McCreary ‘takes up (existing themes) with great passion and turns them into a score that is massive and fantastic,’ while IFMCA member Randall Larson called it the score a ‘supremely impressive musical conception rich in agitato gestures and textured in dark, flaring colors; a magnificent work that will stay in memory for a long time’. McCreary’s other work in 2020 included the horror sequel “Happy Death Day 2U,” the children’s adventure “Rim of the World,” the reboot of “Child’s Play,” and the horror film “Eli,” as well as the TV shows “The Walking Dead,” “See,” and “Proven Innocent”. This is McCreary’s first Composer of the Year win, having previously won IFMCA awards in the TV category for “Battlestar Galactica” and “Human Target,” and in the Video Game category for “God of War”.

British composer Nainita Desai is named BreakthroughComposer of the Year, having enjoyed the most high-profile year of her careerto date by far in 2019. Desai especially impressed members with herspectacular, colorful score for the nature film “Untamed Romania,” which wasnominated in the Documentary category. IFMCA member Charlie Brigden calledUntamed Romania ‘an impressive score that instantly grabs you in its talons andtakes you on a swift journey,’ while IFMCA member Steven Kennedy called Desaiherself ‘a rising voice in the film music scene’. Her other scores in 2019included the Oscar-nominated Syrian civil war documentary “For Sama,” theAnglo-Indian thriller “Darkness Visible”, the WWII-set action drama “EnemyWithin”, and the video game “Telling Lies”.

The various other genre awards are won by: Alexandre Desplatfor his sumptuous score for the period literary drama “Little Women”; MichaelGiacchino for his music for director Taika Waititi’s satirical Nazi-era comedy“Jojo Rabbit”; Thomas Newman for his spectacular musical contribution to theWorld War I action drama “1917”; John Powell for his music for the third andfinal entry in the How to Train Your Dragon series, “The Hidden World”; andSteven Price for his expansive orchestral score for the nature documentary “OurPlanet”.

In the non-film categories, composer Hildur Guðnadóttir wonfor her innovative score for the critically acclaimed TV series “Chernobyl,” while composerNeal Acree wins the award for Best Original Score for a Video Game orInteractive Media for his dynamic, imposing score for the action adventuresurvival game “Rend”.

Burbank, California-based La-La Land Records is named FilmMusic Record Label of the Year, recognition their ongoing excellence inrestoring and releasing the most beloved film scores of the past. ProducersRoger Feigelson and Douglas Fake of Intrada Records receive the Archival Awardfor their new recording of Dimitri Tiomkin’s classic score for the 1954 noirthriller “Dial M for Murder,” conducted by William Stromberg with the RoyalScottish National Orchestra. In the Compilation category, the award goes toproducer Bernhard Güttler of the Deutsche Grammophon label for “Across theStars,” a new compilation of classic John Williams film music piecesre-arranged for virtuoso violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, conducted by Williamshimself with the Recording Arts Orchestra of Los Angeles.

#######################################

The winners are:

FILM SCORE OF THE YEAR

• STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER, music by John Williams

FILM COMPOSER OF THE YEAR

• BEAR McCREARY

BREAKTHROUGH COMPOSER OF THE YEAR

• NAINITA DESAI

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DRAMA FILM

• LITTLE WOMEN, music by Alexandre Desplat

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A COMEDY FILM

• JOJO RABBIT, music by Michael Giacchino

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLER FILM

• 1917, music by Thomas Newman

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A FANTASY/SCIENCE FICTION/HORRORFILM

• STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER, music by John Williams

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ANIMATED FEATURE

• HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD, music by JohnPowell

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DOCUMENTARY

• OUR PLANET, music by Steven Price

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR TELEVISION

• CHERNOBYL,music by Hildur Guðnadóttir

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A VIDEO GAME OR INTERACTIVE MEDIA

• REND, music by Neal Acree

BEST NEW ARCHIVAL RELEASE – RE-RELEASE OR RE-RECORDING

• DIAL M FOR MURDER, music by Dimitri Tiomkin; The RoyalScottish National Orchestra, conducted by William Stromberg; album produced byDouglass Fake; liner notes by Roger Feigelson and Douglas Fake; art directionby Kay Marshall (Intrada)

BEST NEW ARCHIVAL RELEASE – COMPILATION

• ACROSS THE STARS, music by John Williams; The RecordingArts Orchestra of Los Angeles and Anne-Sophie Mutter, conducted by John Williams;album produced by Bernhard Güttler; liner notes by Jon Burlingame; artdirection by Büro Dirk Rudolph (Deutsche Grammophon)

FILM MUSIC RECORD LABEL OF THE YEAR

• LA LA LAND RECORDS, MV Gerhard and Matt Verboys

FILM MUSIC COMPOSITION OF THE YEAR

• “The Rise of Skywalker” from STAR WARS: THE RISE OFSKYWALKER, music by John Williams

THE ROBERTO ASCHERI SPECIAL AWARD

• JOHN WILLIAMS, for career achievement