In Friday’s WRTI (Philadelphia), Nate Chinen writes, “The 2024 Grammy nominations have just been announced, and … there’s a heartening subplot in the Classical field … The Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin are up for Best Orchestra Performance, for their recording of works by William Dawson and Florence Price. Those are two Black American composers finally receiving their due—a welcome development that also extends to nominated albums by the Catalyst Quartet (Uncovered, Vol. 3: Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, William Grant Still & George Walker) and the pianist Aaron Diehl with The Knights (Mary Lou Williams’ Zodiac Suite). But the nominations are also distinguished by the presence of leading Black artists like the composer Terence Blanchard, whose Champion is up for Best Opera Recording; the tenor Lawrence Brownlee, countertenor Reginald Mobley, and soprano Julia Bullock, who each have an album up for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album; and clarinetist Anthony McGill, whose American Stories, with Pacifica Quartet is up for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance. Recognized alongside new work by Missy Mazzoli and canonical fare … this suggests not only an abundance of talent but also an appetite for broadening the picture.”
Best Orchestral Performance:
–Adès: Dante: Gustavo Dudamel, conductor (Los Angeles Philharmonic)
–Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra; Four Pieces: Karina Canellakis, conductor (Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra)
–Price: Symphony No. 4; Dawson: Negro Folk Symphony: Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor (The Philadelphia Orchestra)
–Scriabin: Symphony No. 2; The Poem of Ecstasy: JoAnn Falletta, conductor (Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra)
–Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring: Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor (San Francisco Symphony)
Best Contemporary Classical Composition:
–Adès: Dante: Thomas Adès, composer (Gustavo Dudamel & Los Angeles Philharmonic)
–Akiho: In That Space, At That Time: Andy Akiho, composer (Andy Akiho, Ankush Kumar Bahl & Omaha Symphony)
–Brittelle: Psychedelics: William Brittelle, composer (Roomful of Teeth)
–Mazzoli: Dark with Excessive Bright: Missy Mazzoli, composer (Peter Herresthal, James Gaffigan & Bergen Philharmonic)
–Montgomery: Rounds: Jessie Montgomery, composer (Awadagin Pratt, A Far Cry & Roomful of Teeth)
Read the complete list of classical Grammy nominations at https://www.wrti.org/arts-desk/2023-11-10/classical-music-presents-a-vital-front-in-the-2024-grammy-noms.
