John Williams Wins Four IFMCA Awards, Plus One for Lifetime Achievement

John Williams and Steve Vertlieb

By Steve Vertlieb: The International Film Music Critics Association announced the winners of the 2019 IFMCA Awards on February 20.

As a proud voting member of The International Film Music Critics Association, it is my special pleasure to announce that “America’s Composer,” Maestro John Williams, has won the award for Best Film Score of the Year for his work on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, as well as a very special Life Achievement Award for his inspiring body of work.

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/HORROR FILM

• 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 John Powell

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DOCUMENTARY

• OUR PLANET, music by Steven Price

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR TELEVISION

• CHERNOBYL, music by Hildur Gudnadóttir

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 Royal Scottish National Orchestra, conducted by William Stromberg; album produced by Douglass Fake; liner notes by Roger Feigelson and Douglas Fake; art direction by Kay Marshall (Intrada)

BEST NEW ARCHIVAL RELEASE – COMPILATION

• ACROSS THE STARS, music by John Williams; The Recording Arts Orchestra of Los Angeles and Anne-Sophie Mutter, conducted by John Williams; album produced by Bernhard Güttler; liner notes by Jon Burlingame; art direction 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 OF SKYWALKER, music by John Williams

THE ROBERTO ASCHERI SPECIAL AWARD

• JOHN WILLIAMS, for career achievement