ASMAC to honor Emmy-Winning Composer John Debney

The American Society of Musicians, Arrangers and
Composers (ASMAC), an organization formed in 1938 to recognize the many talented
musicians, composers and arrangers behind the recordings heard in film and television, and over the airwaves, has announced that it will honor Texas Rising/Sin City composer John Debney and Jurassic Park/Matrix orchestrator/composer Conrad Pope at its 37th annual Golden Score Awards, to be held Thursday, September 17th at 5:30 pm in the Ahmanson Ballroom at Skirball Cultural Center.

“I am extremely happy that, this year, we get to honor two individuals with the Golden Score Award, both of whom, beyond being accomplished masters of their craft, have achieved a status within the industry as well as amongst their peers, that can only be described as outstanding,” said composer/arranger, Chris Walden, the president of ASMAC who also composes for film and television and is a busy arranger for many producers and recording artists, perhaps best known for his arrangements for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Dancing With the Stars, American Idol, and So You Think You Can Dance.

John Debney, a Los Angeles native from Glendale, California, whose emotional score for the epic film The Passion of the Christ received an Oscar nomination for BEST ORIGINAL SCORE has won numerous Emmy and other prestigious awards for his film and television work, which includes a diverse list of top box office-grossing feature films such as The Princess Diaries, Iron Man 2, Elf, Spy Kids, The Emperor’s New Groove, Valentine’s Day and Bruce Almighty. He has worked with A-list directors as varied as Robert Rodriguez, Garry Marshall, Mel Gibson, the Farrelly Brothers, Jon Favreau, Jim Sheridan, Ivan Reitman, Peter Chelsom, Rob Cohen, Brian Robbins, Tom Shadyac, Sam Raimi, Adam Shankman, Howie Deutch, Renny Harlin, Peter Hyams and Kenny Ortega. Debney’s most recent work includes Paramount Pictures’ animated comedy The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water and the critically acclaimed miniseries’ Hatfields & McCoys and Texas Rising, for The History Channel. Up next for Debney is Disney’s The Jungle Book directed by Jon Favreau.
Conrad Pope, becoming more recognized for his own skills as a composer, has collaborated with many Oscar-winners such as John Williams, James Horner and Alexandre Desplat,
orchestrating and conducting on over 100 scores for such huge franchises as the Harry Potter, Hobbit and Matrix film series’ as well as the last three and two forthcoming Star Wars films, Argo, Pirates of the Caribbean, Moonrise Kingdom, A Night at the Museum and numerous other major features for a who’s who list of directors including Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson,
Ang Lee, David Fincher, and Terrence Malick, to name a few. His original score for the
documentary film, Tim’s Veneer, directed by Teller of Penn and Teller, won him an International
Film Music Critics Award for BEST ORIGINAL SCORE for a documentary. Pope’s
score for Harvey Weinstein’s pr oduction of My Week with Marilynr eceived cr itical acclaim,
and his music will be heard on the new DreamWorks/ABC TV series, The Whispers. In addition,
he continues to write original orchestral works for US and international symphonies.
Many of Hollywood’s film music nobility will be in attendance at The Golden Score Awards as
well as filmmakers, industry executives, musicians and other colleagues who come to pay
tribute to these highly-respected honorees, as well as to support the many illustrious members of
ASMAC which includes many contempor ar y figur es as well as legendar y talents like
Quincy Jones, Dave Grusin, and Johnny Mandel, with past Golden Score Awards
honorees including John Williams, Elmer Bernstein, Henry Mancini, Van Alexander, Quincy
Jones and Dave Grusin, among other s.

Now in its 77th year, ASMAC has sought to preserve a tradition of excellence among composers,
arrangers and musicians, in general. However, in addition to celebrating the achievements of the
more mature members, they also encourage and support younger musicians in achieving their
goals through their workshops, mentoring and scholarship programs, which are funded by the
proceeds of this annual event.

The star-studded evening begins at 5:30 pm with cocktails and a silent auction featuring many
items related to the record and film-scoring industries as well as dinners, theater tickets and
vacation packages, followed by a gourmet dinner at 7:00 pm, with the awards program kicking
off at 7:30 pm, which is sure to include some surprises.

There are several opportunities to participate in this spectacular event by purchasing individual
tickets, sponsoring a table and/or placing an ad or congratulatory message in the Golden Score
Awards Tr ibute Pr ogr am. Tickets start at $250. For more information on ASMAC and/or The
Golden Score Awards call (818) 994-4661 or visit www.asmac.org.