Thomas Adès, Terence Blanchard, Kaiha Sahariaho, Roomful of Teeth, Yuja Wang, Julia Bullock and Jessie Montgomery, among the Grammy winners in the classical music categories.
Last night at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, the trophy ceremony for the 66th Annual Grammy Awards, which recognises the best recordings, compositions and artists of the eligibility year (October 1, 2022 – September 15, 2023) as determined by the members of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, was held.
The awards in the categories for contemporary classical music compositions were presented at the Peacock Theatre a few hours before the televised ceremony. The winners in these categories were as follows:
• Best Orchestral Performance:
Adès: Dante, by Thomas Adès, with Gustavo Dudamel conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
• Best Opera Recording:
Blanchard: Champion, by Terence Blanchard, with Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducting the Orchestra and Chorus of the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, performed by bass-baritones Ryan Speedo Green and Eric Owens and soprano Latonia Moore.
• Best Choral Performance:
Saariaho: Reconnaissance, by Finnish composer Kaiha Sahariaho, who died last year, with Nils Schweckendiek conducting Ensemble Uusinta and the Helsinki Chamber Choir.
• Best Chamber Music / Small Ensemble Performance:
Rough Magic, by Roomful of Teeth.
• Best Classical Instrumental Solo:
The American Project by pianist Yuja Wang, with Teddy Abrams conducting the Louisville Orchestra.
• Best Classical Solo Vocal Album:
Walking in the Dark by soprano Julia Bullock, with Christian Reif conducting the London Philharmonia Orchestra in Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Op. 24 by Samuel Barber and the Tlatelolco Memorial aria from John Adams’ El Niño. In the other pieces – Brown Baby by Oscar Brown Jr.; One by One, by Connie Converse; I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to Be Free, de Billy Taylor; Who Knows Where the Time Goes, de Sandy Denny, and the traditional City Called Heaven – Reif plays piano.
• Best Contemporary Classical Composition:
Rounds, by Jessie Montgomery, included on the album Stillpoint by pianist Awadagin Pratt, and the chamber orchestra A Far Cry.