Music in American Culture Award

Nomination Deadline: 11:59 p.m. EDT, 15 April 2026

Overview and Eligibility:

The Music in American Culture Award honors each year two books of exceptional merit that both illuminate some important aspect of the music of the United States and place 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. Accordingly, work by a broad range of authors—including performing musicians, journalists, music critics, as well as academic scholars—will be considered. 

Books published in the previous year (2025) 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. Eligible works must be in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, or Spanish.

A committee of three scholars will choose two award recipients from all eligible candidates. Award winners will receive a monetary prize, a certificate, and recognition at the annual meeting of the Society. An individual may receive the Music in American Culture Award only once. A single work of scholarship may receive only one AMS award.

Anyone may submit a nomination. Nominations, including self-nominations, must be submitted by 15 April 2026.

Nominations and Review Copies: 

• Eligible nominations will be posted to the List of Nominations. This list will be updated periodically throughout the nomination period.
• If available, please provide a digital (PDF) review copy of the nominated work. An upload field is provided on the nomination form. There is no file size limit. If the digital review copy includes a watermark, we kindly request that it be applied in a fashion that isn't too obtrusive for the reviewers, such as in the margins where it doesn’t cover the text, or in a light opacity.
• For any nomination that does not include a digital review copy, the AMS will contact the publisher to request the review copy.
• If you wish to nominate a work for more than one AMS award (provided it meets eligibility requirements), please submit the corresponding nomination form for each award the work is to be nominated.

Important Notes:

1. You MUST click the "Submit" button at the end of the form to submit your nomination. Nominations not submitted by the deadline cannot be considered.
2. Upon submission of your nomination form you will receive an email confirmation. You may also view your nomination by signing into your Submittable account and clicking "My Submissions."
3. If you have any questions about your nomination, please contact the AMS office at ams@amsmusicology.org. For technical questions about Submittable, please visit submittable.com/contact.
4. Publishers and Colleagues: the form will ask you to send a reference request (Author Eligibility Request) so that the author may verify eligibility for the nomination. The form will ask you to input the author's email address.

Nomination Deadline: 11:59 p.m. EDT, 15 April 2026