The Music in American Culture Award honors each year a book of exceptional merit that both illuminates some important aspect of the music of the United States and places that music in a rich cultural context. The goal of this award is to recognize the best writing on music in American culture, regardless of the source or intended audience of that writing; hence work by a broad range of authors—including performing musicians, journalists, and music critics, as well as academic scholars—will be considered. Books published in the previous year (2021) in any language and in any country are eligible. “Previous year” refers to the copyright year as found on the copyright page of the book. The author must be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States or Canada.

Nominations, including self-nominations, may be submitted by any individual within or outside the AMS. A committee consisting of three scholars will choose a single winner. The winner receives a monetary prize and a certificate, as well as recognition at the Annual Meeting of the Society. A book may receive only one AMS award.

Anyone may submit a nomination. Nominations, including self-nominations, must be submitted by 15 April 2022.

Financial support for the Music in American Culture Award is provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Gladys Kriebel Delmas Foundation, and the generous contributions of many individual donors.

View current committee membership