Symphony Magazine Article Wins ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award for Outstanding Journalism

New York, NY (November 2, 2026) – An article in Symphony, the publication of the League of American Orchestras, has won a 2026 ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award for excellence in journalism. Written by Esteban Meneses, “Revolución: Mexican Composers on the Rise” reports on the increasing numbers of works by Mexican composers that are being performed—and commissioned and recorded—by American orchestras. The awards, given for articles published in the preceding calendar year, were announced by the ASCAP Foundation on October 21, 2026.

“Revolución: Mexican Composers on the Rise” was published in Symphony’s Summer 2025 print issue in both Spanish and English, and posted on symphony.org, Symphony’s online version, in English and Spanish. Commissioned and shaped by Symphony Editor in Chief Robert Sandla, the wide-ranging article includes interviews with composer Gabriela Ortiz and conductors Carlos Miguel Prieto and Alondra de la Parra, among others, and reports on performances at American orchestras of music by contemporary and historical Mexican composers including Gabriela Ortiz, Carlos Chávez, Arturo Márquez, Silvestre Revuelta, Juan Pablo Contreras, Eugenio Toussaint, Samuel Zyman, José Elizondo, Federico Ibarra Groth, and Enrico Chapela.

The other two winners in the articles category this year were published by The New York Times.

Symphony has won multiple ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Awards over the years. In 2022, Symphony won two awards in the articles category: for an article by Rita Pyrillis about Native American composers and musicians at orchestras, and for a feature by Nancy Malitz about orchestra musicians stepping into soloist roles. In 2021, Symphony also received the ASCAP Foundation Award for an article in the concert music field, for a story by Aaron Flagg on “Anti-Black Discrimination in American Orchestras.”

Symphony, the signature publication of the League of American Orchestras, covers the critical issues, developments, trends, and people of the orchestra world. Published every weekday at symphony.org, with a special print edition for the League’s annual National Conference, Symphony features breaking news, cutting-edge research, provocative essays, interviews, and in-depth articles that spark industry-wide conversations. Symphony has reported on the orchestra field—from audience trends to personnel changes to digital innovations—since its founding by the League in 1942, while also giving the latest thinking and newest ideas their first exposure. Every year, symphony.org receives approximately 700,000 website views, for an average of 58,000 per month, with 500,000 readers.

The ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Awards program recognizes books, articles, and liner notes on the subject of music selected for their excellence. The Awards were established in 1967 to honor the memory of composer, critic, and commentator Deems Taylor, who died in 1966 after a distinguished career that included six years as President of ASCAP. The Awards were renamed in 2014 to also honor the memory of Virgil Thomson (1896–1989), one of the leading American composers and critics of the 20th Century and a former member of the ASCAP Board of Directors. Learn more on ASCAP’s website.