American Beethoven Society Research Award

The American Beethoven Society is pleased to announce the winner of the 2025 Beethoven Research Award.

Nicholas ChongThe award goes to Nicholas Chong for his book The Catholic Beethoven (Oxford University Press, 2024). This book offers new perspectives on the role of German Catholicism in Beethoven’s life and art. Contrary to traditional accounts of Beethoven as generally opposed to dogmatic and traditional aspects of organized religion, Chong’s book argues that Beethoven’s religious outlook was shaped by ideas associated with the German Catholic Enlightenment in ways that profoundly influenced his religious music. The book combines rigorous historical contextualization with detailed musical and textual analysis, and truly shifts our understanding of Beethoven’s religious convictions, running against the grain of much Beethoven reception in scholarship and the popular imagination.

Nicholas Chong is Assistant Professor of Musicology at Rutgers University.

Award details

Each year the society awards a $1000 prize to an early-career scholar for outstanding work published in the previous calendar year. Work relating to Beethoven should form a significant component of the publication, but it need not be the exclusive or even primary focus. Articles, books, and scholarly editions are all eligible, and we define “early-career” as no more than twelve years beyond the completion of a graduate or postgraduate degree. The published work must be in English. The selection committee consists of members of the editorial board of the Beethoven Journal.

Past Winners