BMI presented its 37th annual Film, TV & Visual Media Awards on July 12, saluting the top-performing composers in film, TV and visual media of the previous year. Jay Weigel, a distinguished composer, producer, conductor, arranger, orchestrator, and contractor for film, television, recordings, and concerts won in the Streaming Film Award category for his score to Tyler Perry’s thriller film A Fall From Grace, released by Netflix in January 2020.

In a Facebook post that included a photograph of the award, Weigel wrote, “Big thanks to Joel C. High, Misha Kachkachishvili at Esplanade Studios, Kevin Prockup, Jim Atwood and the wonderful musicians in New Orleans who recorded the score with me, and Maggie Gaus for her help in the studio.”

Based in New Orleans, Weigel has worked in the film and television industry for more than 35 years. From 1998 to 2001, he worked as an orchestrator, assistant conductor, and head music preparatory for composer Terence Blanchard. From 1985 to 1991 he was lecturer of composition and orchestration at Xavier University in New Orleans. Weigel helped organize the Louisiana Composers Guild, and served as the co-chairman of the Louisiana Music Commission from 1998 to 2004.

Weigel served as executive director of the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) in New Orleans from 1996 to 2013. Prior to this appointment, he was music director of the CAC for eleven years. Since 2013, Weigel has returned to composing full-time, and is constantly in demand as a New Orleans-based composer.

Weigel’s past film-scoring credits include Last Laugh starring Chevy Chase and Richard Dreyfuss, and The Hammer starring Matt Hamill, and Tyler Perry’s The Oval and Too Close to Home, among many others.

To view the complete list of BMI award winners, watch exclusive video content, and listen to some of the scores that helped propel the top-grossing films, top network television series and highest-ranking cable network and streamed media programs, visit here.