International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) Award Winners 2009

IFMCA announces its 2009 winners for scoring excellence

MICHAEL GIACCHINO’S UP WINS BEST SCORE OF 2009

Michael Giacchino wins the 2009 Score of the Year award from the International Film Music Critics Association for his inventive and nostalgic score for the Disney Pixar film, UP, which also wins Best Original Score for an Animated Feature. Giacchino receives a total of four awards, including Composer of the Year, in part for also writing the Best Original Score to a Fantasy/Science Fiction Feature winner for the JJ Abrams STAR TREK reboot.

Giacchino won the Association’s first Score of the Year award in 2004 for another Pixar film, THE INCREDIBLES.

Christopher Young wins two awards for DRAG ME TO HELL: Original Score for a Horror/Thriller Film and Film Music Compostion of the Year for “Concerto to Hell.” Also receiving two awards is James Peterson for Breakout Composer of the Year and Best Original Score for an Action/Adventure Feature for the mixed martial arts prison movie THE RED CANVAS.

Veteran composer Marvin Hamlisch wins Best Original Score for a Comedy Film for Steven Soderbergh’s THE INFORMANT!, while Polish composer Abel Korzeniowski wins Best Original Score for a Drama Film for director Tom Ford’s debut film, A SINGLE MAN. Rounding out the feature film winners is Armand Amar’s Best Original Score for a Documentary Feature for the French nature documentary HOME.

In other original scoring categories, Bear McCreary who has been nominated for every season of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA wins his first award for Best Original Score for Television for the final season of the SyFy series; and James Hannigan receives the Best Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media award for the movie spin-off game for HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE.

Intrada takes its fourth Record Label of the Year award for its continued excellence in soundtrack release, including the long-anticipated, complete release of Alan Silvestri’s 1985 score for BACK TO THE FUTURE this year's Best New Release/Re-Release of an Existing Score winner. The Film Score Monthly label takes the Best Film Music Compilation Album or Box Set award for DAVID RAKSIN AT M-G-M and Tadlow label wins the Best Re-Recording of an Existing Score award for its new recording of Ernest Gold’s EXODUS.



2009 FILM AWARD WINNERS

FILM SCORE OF THE YEAR
• UP, music by Michael Giacchino

FILM COMPOSER OF THE YEAR
• MICHAEL GIACCHINO

BREAKOUT COMPOSER OF THE YEAR
• JAMES PETERSON

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DRAMA FILM
• A SINGLE MAN, music by Abel Korzeniowski

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A COMEDY FILM
• THE INFORMANT!, music by Marvin Hamlisch

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ACTION/ADVENTURE FILM
• THE RED CANVAS, music by James Peterson

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A FANTASY/SCIENCE FICTION FILM
• STAR TREK, music by Michael Giacchino

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A HORROR/THRILLER FILM
• DRAG ME TO HELL, music by Christopher Young

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ANIMATED FEATURE
• UP, music by Michael Giacchino

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
• HOME, music by Armand Amar

FILM MUSIC COMPOSITION OF THE YEAR
• DRAG ME TO HELL – “Concerto to Hell,” music by Christopher Young



OTHER 2009 AWARDS

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR TELEVISION
• BATTLESTAR GALACTICA [SEASON 4.5], music by Bear McCreary

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A VIDEO GAME OR INTERACTIVE MEDIA
• HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE, music by James Hannigan

BEST NEW RELEASE/RE-RELEASE OF AN EXISTING SCORE
• BACK TO THE FUTURE, music by Alan Silvestri; Douglass Fake, producer (Intrada)

BEST RE-RECORDING OF AN EXISTING SCORE
• EXODUS, music by Ernest Gold, conductor Nic Raine; James Fitzpatrick, producer (Tadlow)

BEST FILM MUSIC COMPILATION ALBUM OR BOX SET
• DAVID RAKSIN AT M-G-M, music by David Raksin; Lukas Kendall, producer (Film Score Monthly)

FILM MUSIC RECORD LABEL OF THE YEAR
• INTRADA


The International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) is an association of online, print and radio journalists who specialize in writing about original film and television music.

The IFMCA was originally formed in the late 1990s as the now-defunct “Film Music Critics Jury” by editor and journalist Mikael Carlsson, a regular contributor to filmmusicradio.com and filmmusicmag.com, and the owner of the Swedish independent film music label MovieScore Media.

Since its inception, the IFMCA has grown to comprise over 50 members from countries as diverse as Australia, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.

Previous IFMCA Score of the Year Awards have been awarded to Alexandre Desplat’s THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON in 2008, Dario Marianelli’s ATONEMENT in 2007, James Newton Howard’s LADY IN THE WATER in 2006, John Williams’ MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA in 2005 and Michael Giacchino’s THE INCREDIBLES in 2004.

For more information about the International Film Music Critics Association, its members and the list of past awards, please visit http://www.filmmusiccritics.org or contact press@filmmusiccritics.org.