A Queens College alum will be honored for the second year in a row with a music awards ceremony featuring a host of celebrity presenters thrown in his honor later this month.
The Marvin Hamlisch International Music Awards, which will take place March 22 at 7 p.m., will include celebrity presenters such as Barbara Streisand, Sir Howard Stringer, Quincy Jones, Idina Menzel, Melissa Manchester, Maria Friedman, Johnny Mathis and Lucie Arnaz.
The Marvin Hamlisch International Music Awards highlights and celebrates youth and emerging composers worldwide. The awards were created in order to honor the late Marvin Hamlisch, who had an extraordinary legacy as both an artist and advocate for fresh talent.
Due to its incredible success in 2019, the 2020-2021 awards expanded the competition categories to allow musicians to apply in the following genres: composition for musical theater, film/media scoring, classical composition and jazz composition.
Composers will be eligible to enter in categories for the youth division (under 18 years old) and emerging division (pre-professional composers aged 18 and over).
“We are so grateful and humbled by the immense, diverse and extremely successful participation of composers in all music genres worldwide,” said Betsy Walters and Peter H. Gistelinck, co-founding board members of the Marvin International Music Awards. “We are so grateful to all of our celebrity presenters for their unconditional support and are thrilled that, especially in these challenging times, are able to make a difference in memory of the legendary Marvin Hamlisch.”
One of the founding partners of this event is Queens College, Marvin Hamlisch’s alma mater.
“I speak for everyone at Queens College when we say we are so proud that Marvin Hamlisch is an alumnus of Queens College,” said Queens College President Frank H. Wu. “Nearly nine years after his passing, Hamlisch continues to impact the lives of so many through his work. We are honored to partner with the Marvin Hamlisch International Music Awards for this incredible event. Although this year’s celebration will look much different and is presented virtually, this is sure to be an exciting evening filled with memorable appearances and wonderful music.”
A portion of proceeds from event sponsorships will support the Marvin Hamlisch Scholarship Endowment. Established in 1984 at Queens College, this merit and financial need-based scholarship is awarded to a music student studying at the graduate level.
The Marvin Hamlisch International Music Awards is a New York state registered charitable nonprofit corporation, comprised of members who were all close personal friends and colleagues of Hamlisch. The mission of the organization is to foster and champion a new generation of composers through an international music competition with the vision of recognizing talent and building a community of young composers worldwide.
The 2020-2021 awards ceremony will be broadcasted live at www.hamlischawards.tv.
