Sign in to your TheaterMania account

Composer-lyricist Adam Gwon has been named the winner of the fourth annual Fred Ebb Award for excellence in musical theater songwriting. He will receive the award, which comes with a $50,000 cash prize, on December 1 at an invitation-only ceremony at the American Airlines Theater.

The award was created by the Fred Ebb Foundation in honor of the late composer to encourage and support aspiring songwriters who have not yet achieved commercial success. Gwon's work includes Ordinary Days, Berniece Bobs Her Hair and Ethan Frome; he is currently working on adaptation of Joe Meno's The Boy Detective Fails for Virginia's Signature Theatre Company.

This year's selection panel includes Mitchell S. Bernard, Sheldon Harnick, David Loud, Marin Mazzie, Tim Pinckney, and Arthur Whitelaw.