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| Jay Gorney |
The ASCAP Foundation Jay Gorney Award was established by his wife, Sondra and son, Dr. Roderic Gorney, to commemorate Jay's career and legacy. Jay Gorney, a long-time ASCAP member and composer, along with lyricist E. Y. "Yip" Harburg, wrote, the 1930s classic, "Brother Can You Spare a Dime?," which became the anthem of the Great Depression.
Early in his career Gorney's focus was on Broadway where he wrote scores for a number of shows including Merry-go-Round, Top Hole, Touch and Go and Vogues of 1924. In the early 1930s he wrote music for Earl Carroll's Vanities, The Ziegfield Follies, Schubert's Americana and his biggest stage success, Meet the People. During that same time he went to Hollywood to work for Fox Studios. It was there that he discovered Shirley Temple for whom, with lyricist Lew Brown, he wrote the song "Baby Take a Bow" which she sang in the movie Stand Up and Cheer. In the 1940's he became a composer and producer for Columbia Pictures, writing the scores for Hey, Rookie, and the The Gay Senorita, among others.
Jay Gorney was a strong believer in giving back In 1948, he began teaching his craft of writing for musical theater when he and his wife Sondra created a musical play department at the Dramatic Workshop of the New School in New York City. They ran the department for 3 years. In 1952 they joined the faculty of the American Theatre Wing's professional training programs where they produced an original student musical. He received a special Tony Award for his dedicated teaching at the American Theatre Wing and received The ASCAP Foundation Richard Rodgers Award in 1986.
The ASCAP Foundation Jay Gorney Award, in the amount of $1,000, will be awarded for an original song by an ASCAP member or unaffiliated songwriter who graduated from either an ASCAP, ASCAP Foundation or Songwriters Hall of Fame workshop/showcase. The song will be judged on its message of social conscience/social significance as well as overall craft, artistry, and compositional elements.
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