Music is a powerful character in any production. Its carries the spirit of the scene and holds us in the moment. This year sci-fi faves “Star Trek” and “Battlestar Galactica” are among the winners of the International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) awards for best scores of the 2009.

Michael Giacchino won for J. J. Abram’s “Star Trek” for Best Original Score to a Fantasy/Science Fiction Feature as well as Composer of the Year, and winning for his score for “Up” for Score of the Year and Best Original Score for an Animated Feature. Giacchino also won an Oscar for Best Score for “Up”.

Bear McCreary finally won for “Battlestar Galactica” for Best Original Score for Television, having been nominated for every season of the show.

Another fantasy winner was James Hannigan for Best Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media for the game for “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince”. Intrada won for Best New Release/Re-Release of an Existing Score for the complete release of Alan Silvestri’s 1985 score for “Back to the Future”.

Here is the official press release of the 2009 IFMCA winners:

2009 IFMCA FILM AWARD WINNERS

FILM SCORE OF THE YEAR
• UP, music by Michael Giacchino

FILM COMPOSER OF THE YEAR
• MICHAEL GIACCHINO

BREAKOUT COMPOSER OF THE YEAR
• JAMES PETERSON

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DRAMA FILM
• A SINGLE MAN, music by Abel Korzeniowski

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A COMEDY FILM
• THE INFORMANT!, music by Marvin Hamlisch

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ACTION/ADVENTURE FILM
• THE RED CANVAS, music by James Peterson

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A FANTASY/SCIENCE FICTION FILM
• STAR TREK, music by Michael Giacchino

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A HORROR/THRILLER FILM
• DRAG ME TO HELL, music by Christopher Young

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ANIMATED FEATURE
• UP, music by Michael Giacchino

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
• HOME, music by Armand Amar

FILM MUSIC COMPOSITION OF THE YEAR
• DRAG ME TO HELL – “Concerto to Hell,” music by Christopher Young

OTHER 2009 AWARDS

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR TELEVISION
• BATTLESTAR GALACTICA [SEASON 4.5], music by Bear McCreary

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A VIDEO GAME OR INTERACTIVE MEDIA
• HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE, music by James Hannigan

BEST NEW RELEASE/RE-RELEASE OF AN EXISTING SCORE
• BACK TO THE FUTURE, music by Alan Silvestri; Douglass Fake, producer (Intrada)

BEST RE-RECORDING OF AN EXISTING SCORE
• EXODUS, music by Ernest Gold, conductor Nic Raine; James Fitzpatrick, producer (Tadlow)

BEST FILM MUSIC COMPILATION ALBUM OR BOX SET
• DAVID RAKSIN AT M-G-M, music by David Raksin; Lukas Kendall, producer (Film Score Monthly)

FILM MUSIC RECORD LABEL OF THE YEAR
• INTRADA

The International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) is an association of online, print and radio journalists who specialize in writing about original film and television music.

The IFMCA was originally formed in the late 1990s as the now-defunct “Film Music Critics Jury” by editor and journalist Mikael Carlsson, a regular contributor to filmmusicradio.com and filmmusicmag.com, and the owner of the Swedish independent film music label MovieScore Media.

Since its inception, the IFMCA has grown to comprise over 50 members from countries as diverse as Australia, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.

Previous IFMCA Score of the Year Awards have been awarded to Alexandre Desplat’s THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON in 2008, Dario Marianelli’s ATONEMENT in 2007, James Newton Howard’s LADY IN THE WATER in 2006, John Williams’ MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA in 2005 and Michael Giacchino’s THE INCREDIBLES in 2004.

[Source] Film Music Critics