Porfirio Piña has been elected President of the Board of Directors of the BMI Foundation, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to encouraging the creation, performance and study of music.

The 13th Annual BMI Foundation Jerry Harrington Awards for Creative Excellence were presented during a ceremony held on June 18 at BMI’s New York offices. The 2012 recipients of the prestigious awards are Natalie Tenenbaum, Suzanne Bradbeer, Greg Edwards, and Benjamin Velez.

Porfirio Piña, Director of the BMI Foundation’s peermusic Latin Scholarship, has announced that Jean Carlos Almonte is the winner of the 9th annual peermusic Latin Scholarship, a competition for original Latin songs and instrumental compositions. Almonte, a native of Dominican Republic and a student at Utah State University, received a $5,000 scholarship for his song, “No Me Puedo Mentir.”

Nine young classical composers, ages 16 to 27, have been named winners in the 60th Annual BMI Student Composer Awards. Composer and Jury member Joseph Schwantner, BMI President and CEO Del Bryant and BMI Foundation President Ralph N. Jackson announced the decisions of the jury and presented the awards at a reception held May 11, 2012 at the Jumeirah Essex House Hotel in New York City.

Deirdre Chadwick has been elected to the Board of Directors of the BMI Foundation, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to encouraging the creation, performance and study of music.

The winners of the BMI Foundation’s 14th Annual John Lennon Scholarships, a program that recognizes the best and brightest young songwriters between the ages of 15 and 24, were announced on August 16 by Samantha Cox, Director of the competition.

The BMI Foundation has presented the New York Youth Symphony with a special Outstanding Service Award and a $25,000 grant acknowledging the organization for their “outstanding contributions to music education and excellence in performance over many decades.”

Milton Babbitt, an influential composer, professor, author and Chair Emeritus of the BMI Student Composer Awards, died of natural causes on January 29 in Princeton, N.J. He was 94.

The winners of the BMI Foundation’s 13th Annual John Lennon Scholarships, a program that recognizes the best and brightest young songwriters between the ages of 15 and 24, were announced by Samantha Cox, Director of the competition.

Influential BMI composer Jerry Bock has died. He was 81 years old.

The BMI Jazz Composers Workshop, a noted creative forum for musical exploration and development, highlighted the best new jazz compositions created during the last year at its 22nd Anniversary Summer Showcase Concert on July 1 at Christ and St. Stephens’s Church. The concert featured the BMI/New York Jazz Orchestra, a 17-piece modern repertory ensemble made up of leading New York musicians.