ASCAP suspends Deems Taylor Awards

Musical America reports that the ASCAP Deems Taylor Awards for 2009 will be suspended for the first time in 40 years because of financial problems. Here's part of the article:

The ASCAP Deems Taylor Awards, which last year celebrated their 40th anniversary of recognizing outstanding music writing in an array of media, have been suspended for 2009. Under “Submission Guidelines” on the Deems Taylor Award section of the ASCAP website, a notice indicates that “the competition is on hiatus.”

Generally applications are accepted by April and the awards announced the following fall.

ASCAP CEO John LoFrumento cited budgetary reasons. Asked when the program would return, he responded, “We will be discussing its future as we go forward, but at this time we have no definitive projection."

Here's a link to the article in Musical America.