FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — 3 February 2026

Contact:
Jeff Kellem, 2nd Vice President
American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers (ASMAC)
Phone: +1 818 824 6718
Email: [email protected]

ASMAC Announces Re-Elected Officers for 2026–2027, Welcomes New Board and Advisory Board Members

STUDIO CITY, CA — The American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers (ASMAC) is pleased to announce the re-election of its executive officers for the 2026–2027 term, along with the addition of a new member to its Board of Directors and two new members to its Advisory Board.

Re-Elected Officers

All five executive officers have been re-elected to continue leading ASMAC’s Board of Directors for the next two years:

• President – Gayle Levant
• 1st Vice President – Milton Nelson
• 2nd Vice President – Jeff Kellem
• Treasurer – Liz Finch
• Secretary – Bonnie Janofsky

New Board Member

Welcome to our newest Board member:

• Ryan Beard

Ryan Beard is the Instrumental Music Editor at the Neil A. Kjos Music Company in San Diego. As a composer with degrees from The Cleveland Institute of Music and Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, he was commissioned by the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra to write a celebratory overture for their tenth anniversary celebration. Ryan is also the principal French horn and librarian for the La Jolla Symphony, as well as a Fellow of the Los Angeles Film Conducting Intensive, where he studied under Angel Velez, Jorge Mester, Conrad Pope, and William Ross.

New Advisory Board Members

We’re also pleased to welcome two distinguished members to our Advisory Board:

• John Altman
• Nan Schwartz

John Altman is a film composer, music arranger, orchestrator, conductor, and saxophonist. Among the 54 movies he composed, arranged, and orchestrated for are Titanic (period music), Monty Python’s Life of Brian, and Goldeneye, winning a BAFTA Award for Hear My Song and a Golden Globe for orchestrating Sheltering Sky and Léon: The Professional. He also won an Emmy for his score for RKO281, was nominated for Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, and received a nomination for the Golden Reel award for Little Voice. In addition to writing a 100-minute score for the silent movie Shooting Star for the London Film Festival Gala, John has his name as an arranger on 19 platinum records, including George Michael’s album “Faith”, which won several GRAMMYs in 1989 including Album of the Year, and was nominated for the Rutles film All You Need Is Cash. He wrote for Simple Minds, Barry White, Tina Turner, Björk, Diana Ross, Tom Jones, Pretenders, Rod Stewart, Michael Jackson, and many others and has scored over 4,000 commercials worldwide to boot.

Read more of John’s stories and life in his fabulous memoir Hidden Man: My Many Musical Lives (2022).

✦   ✦   ✦

Nan Schwartz is a Grammy®–winning (Natalie Cole) and five-time nominated Grammy arranger, as well as a seven-time Emmy nominee for her compositions for television and film (In The Heat of the Night). In 2018, a symphonic album of her orchestral compositions was released on Divine Art Records; these works are now being performed live around the world. As a conductor and orchestrator, Nan has worked on such major Hollywood films as Jurassic World Rebirth, Frankenstein, Pinocchio, Mank, Harry Potter, Argo, Benjamin Button, and Julie & Julia. She produces and writes songs for the Latin market, and has conducted her music with an all-star cast and a 17-piece orchestra in four sold-out concerts at Herb Alpert’s Vibrato Jazz Grill. Nan has composed two musicals which are in development, with lyrics by Lorraine Feather.

Recent credits include collaboration on a ballet score with German trumpeter Till Brönner, the score for the podcast “Shofar, So Good,” and arrangements for jazz singer Nnenna Freelon (“Moon River“) and the Count Basie Orchestra. Nan teaches annually in Vienna and Prague.

A proponent of melodic, harmonically-rich music, Nan’s unique style, diversity and depth of experience—from synthesizer projects to hundred-piece orchestras—have helped create her sterling reputation as one of the world’s most talented composer/arrangers.

Looking Ahead

We thank all members of the board and look forward to working together as we continue to expand our events, masterclasses, big band hangs, mentorship programs, outreach, and education. If you’re not already a member of ASMAC (American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers), we welcome all to join our community from anywhere in the Universe.

Some of our plans for the coming years include:

• Continue with regular online events.
• In-person events and workshops.
• Expand educational outreach and mentorship programs.
• Launch our Emerging Professionals Committee and dedicated programming.
• Member showcase playback events to share projects we’re working on.
• Member interviews.
• Digitize and make available more of the ASMAC archive.
• Community building efforts.
• Grow membership, sponsorship, and fundraising to support ASMAC projects.
• Enhance access to resources for members and the public, including event videos.
• Work toward reviving our Golden Score Awards, on hiatus since the pandemic.

Here’s a note from ASMAC President Gayle Levant:

To our ASMAC friends,

On behalf of the American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers, I have the privilege to serve this wonderful organization as President.  Our wonderful Executive officers will continue in their respective positions.  They are Milton Nelson, 1^st Vice President, Jeff Kellem, 2^nd Vice President, Bonnie Janofsky, Secretary, and Liz Finch, Treasurer.

We are delighted to welcome Ryan Beard to our Board of Directors.

In addition, ASMAC is proud to announce that Nan Schwartz and John Altman have become the newest members to our Advisory Board.

I would like to acknowledge all of you from around the world who have watched our online events since we began in 2020. We are so grateful that many of you have now become members and have helped our ASMAC family grow. 

As we begin the New Year, all of our members now have more than 700 hours of videos to watch whenever they choose.

A huge thank you to Milton Nelson and Jeff Kellem who have generously given their time to produce our online events.

Also, to Jeff Kellem, who posts the many links in the chat on our Zooms, Glenn Jordan for watching the chat and passing the questions on to our guest speaker(s), Evita Wagner, our brilliant Zoom host, and Sylvester Rivers, our excellent Masterclass Chair.

Thank you to all of you who take the time to join us for our online events.

ASMAC is looking forward to presenting more live events and working with many other organizations in our industry to encourage and educate young students in their desire to learn about composing, arranging, and orchestration.

May the coming year be filled with good health, much joy, and an abundance of beautiful music for all of you.

With heartfelt gratitude,
Gayle Levant, President

Hope to see you at our future events!

About ASMAC

Founded in 1938, the American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers (ASMAC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the art of music arranging, composition, and orchestration. ASMAC supports music professionals across all genres—from film and television scoring to musical theatre to pop records and beyond—through educational programs, mentorship, networking events, and community building. For more information, visit asmac.org.