61st Grammy Awards Classical Categories Nominees Part 1

During my formative years in the 90’s, I religiously followed the Grammy Awards trying to predict who would win the big awards like Best New Artist, Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Album of the Year. But in the past decade, I find myself remotely recognizing the nominees in these major categories and increasingly gravitating towards the classical categories more.

The upcoming 61^st Grammy Awards nominees are no exception to this development since I just scratched my head in confusion upon reading the nominees of the four general field categories and knowing next to nothing about them. I then went straight to the classical categories and felt somewhat more at ease and at home recognizing some familiar names and works while getting intrigued with some music and names that I’ve never heard before.

Here are the partial nominees of the classical categories (Nos. 73-77) at the 61^st Grammy Awards. Winners will be announced on February 10, 2019 (February 11, 2019, Philippine time) with the classical categories being handed out prior to the live broadcast of the main show.

Production Categories, Classical

73. Best Engineered Album, Classical

An Engineer's Award. (Artist names appear in parentheses.)

Bates: The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs

Mark Donahue & Dirk Sobotka, engineers; Mark Donahue, mastering engineer (Michael Christie, Garrett Sorenson, Wei Wu, Sasha Cooke, Edward Parks, Jessica E. Jones & Santa Fe Opera Orchestra)

Beethoven: Symphony No. 3; Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1

Mark Donahue, engineer; Mark Donahue, mastering engineer (Manfred Honeck & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)

John Williams at the Movies

Keith O. Johnson & Sean Royce Martin, engineers; Keith O. Johnson, mastering engineer (Jerry Junkin & Dallas Winds)

Liquid Melancholy - Clarinet Music of James M. Stephenson

Bill Maylone & Mary Mazurek, engineers; Bill Maylone, mastering engineer (John Bruce Yeh)

Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 11

Shawn Murphy & Nick Squire, engineers; Tim Martyn, mastering engineer (Andris Nelsons & Boston Symphony Orchestra)

Visions and Variations

Tom Caulfield, engineer; Jesse Lewis, mastering engineer (A Far Cry)

74. Producer of the Year, Classical

A Producer's Award. (Artist names appear in parentheses.)

Blanton Alspaugh

Arnesen: Infinity - Choral Works (Joel Rinsema & Kantorei)

Aspects of America (Carlos Kalmar & Oregon Symphony)

Chesnokov: Teach Me Thy Statutes (Vladimir Gorbik & PaTRAM Institute Male Choir)

Gordon, R.: The House Without A Christmas Tree (Bradley Moore, Elisabeth Leone, Maximillian Macias, Megan Mikailovna Samarin, Patricia Schuman, Lauren Snouffer, Heidi Stober, Daniel Belcher, Houston Gran Opera Juvenile Chorus & Houston Grand Opera Orchestra)

Haydn: The Creation (Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Betsy Cook Weber, Houston Symphony & Houston Symphony Chorus)

Heggie: Great Scott (Patrick Summers, Manuel Palazzo, Mark Hancock, Michael Mayes, Rodell Rosel, Kevin Burdette, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Nathan Gunn, Frederica von Stade, Ailyn Pérez, Joyce DiDonato, Dallas Opera Chorus & Orchestra)

Music of Fauré, Buide & Zemlinsky (Trio Séléné)

Paterson: Three Way - A Trio of One-Act Operas (Dean Williamson, Daniele Pastin, Courtney Ruckman, Eliza Bonet, Melisa Bonetti, Jordan Rutter, Samuel Levine, Wes Mason, Matthew Treviño & Nashville Opera Orchestra)

Vaughan Williams: Piano Concerto; Oboe Concerto; Serenade to Music; Flos Campi (Peter Oundjian & Toronto Symphony Orchestra)

David Frost

Beethoven: Piano Sonatas, Volume 7 (Jonathan Biss)

Mirror in Mirror (Anne Akiko Meyers, Kristjan Järvi & Philharmonia Orchestra)

Mozart: Idomeneo (James Levine, Alan Opie, Matthew Polenzani, Alice Coote, Nadine Sierra, Elza van den Heever, The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra & Chorus)

Presentiment (Orion Weiss)

Strauss, R.: Der Rosenkavalier (Sebastian Weigle, Renée Fleming, Elīna Garanča, Erin Morley, Günther Groissböck, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra & Chorus)

Elizabeth Ostrow

Bates: The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs (Michael Christie, Garrett Sorenson, Wei Wu, Sasha Cooke, Edward Parks, Jessica E. Jones & Santa Fe Opera Orchestra)

The Road Home (Joshua Habermann & Santa Fe Desert Chorale)

Judith Sherman

Beethoven Unbound (Llŷr Williams)

Black Manhattan Volume 3 (Rick Benjamin & Paragon Ragtime Orchestra)
Bolcom: Piano Music (Various Artists)

Del Tredici: March to Tonality (Mark Peskanov & Various Artists)

Love Comes in at the Eye (Timothy Jones, Stephanie Sant'Ambrogio, Jeffrey Sykes, Anthony Ross, Carol Cook, Beth Rapier & Stephanie Jutt)

Meltzer: Variations on a Summer Day & Piano Quartet (Abigail Fischer, Jayce Ogren & Sequitur)

Mendelssohn: Complete Works for Cello and Piano (Marcy Rosen & Lydia Artymiw)

New Music for Violin and Piano (Julie Rosenfeld & Peter Miyamoto)

Reich: Pulse/Quartet (Colin Currie Group & International Contemporary Ensemble)

Dirk Sobotka

Beethoven: Symphony No. 3; Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1 (Manfred Honeck & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)
Lippencott: Frontier Symphony (Jeff Lippencott & Ligonier Festival Orchestra)

Mahler: Symphony No. 8 (Thierry Fischer, Mormon Tabernacle Choir & Utah Symphony)

Music of the Americas (Andrés Orozco-Estrada & Houston Symphony)

Classical Categories

75. Best Orchestral Performance

Award to the Conductor and to the Orchestra.

Beethoven: Symphony No. 3; Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1

Manfred Honeck, conductor (Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)

Nielsen: Symphony No. 3 & Symphony No. 4

Thomas Dausgaard, conductor (Seattle Symphony)

Ruggles, Stucky & Harbison: Orchestral Works

David Alan Miller, conductor (National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic)

Schumann: Symphonies Nos. 1-4

Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor (San Francisco Symphony)

Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 11

Andris Nelsons, conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra)

76. Best Opera Recording

Award to the Conductor, Album Producer(s) and Principal Soloists.

Adams: Doctor Atomic

John Adams, conductor; Aubrey Allicock, Julia Bullock, Gerald Finley & Brindley Sherratt; Friedemann Engelbrecht, producer (BBC Symphony Orchestra; BBC Singers)

Bates: The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs

Michael Christie, conductor; Sasha Cooke, Jessica E. Jones, Edward Parks, Garrett Sorenson & Wei Wu; Elizabeth Ostrow, producer (The Santa Fe Opera Orchestra)

Lully: Aceste

Christophe Rousset, conductor; Edwin Crossley-Mercer, Emiliano Gonzalez Toro & Judith Van Wanroij; Maximilien Ciup, producer (Les Talens Lyriques; Choeur de Chambre de Namur)

Strauss, R.: Der Rosenkavalier

Sebastian Weigle, conductor; Renée Fleming, Elīna Garanča, Günther Groissböck & Erin Morley; David Frost, producer (Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; Metropolitan Opera Chorus)

Verdi: Rigoletto

Constantine Orbelian, conductor; Francesco Demuro, Dmitri Hvorostovsky & Nadine Sierra; Vilius Keras & Aleksandra Keriene, producers (Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra; Men of The Kaunas State Choir)

77. Best Choral Performance

Award to the Conductor, and to the Choral Director and/or Chorus Master where applicable and to the Choral Organization/Ensemble.

Chesnokov: Teach Me Thy Statutes

Vladimir Gorbik, conductor (Mikhail Davydov & Vladimir Krasov; PaTRAM Institute Male Choir)

Kastalsky: Memory Eternal

Steven Fox, conductor (The Clarion Choir)

McLoskey: Zealot Canticles

Donald Nally, conductor (Doris Hall-Gulati, Rebecca Harris, Arlen Hlusko, Lorenzo Raval & Mandy Wolman; The Crossing)

Rachmaninov: The Bells

Mariss Jansons, conductor; Peter Dijkstra, chorus master (Oleg Dolgov, Alexey Markov & Tatiana Pavlovskaya; Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks; Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks)

Seven Words from the Cross

Matthew Guard, conductor (Skylark)

The remaining list of classical categories nominees (Nos.78-82) will be posted tomorrow.