Photo courtesy of the Recording Academy.
The annual Grammy Awards of the Recording Academy of the United States were presented on Sunday, February 4, recognizing outstanding achievements in the music industry. As Nate Chinen reported in Monday’s (2/5) WRTI (Philadelphia), “A dazzling array of classical music prevailed at the 66th Grammy Awards, reflecting a contemporary field that honors the canon even as it elevates new voices.” Here are the winners in the classical categories. The Grammy Awards site at grammy.com/news/2024-grammys-nominations-full-winners-nominees-list has complete lists of winners and nominees in all categories, including classical.
Best Orchestral Performance: “Thomas Adès: Dante,” Gustavo Dudamel, conductor; Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Best Contemporary Classical Composition: “Rounds,” Jessie Montgomery, composer; Awadagin Pratt, A Far Cry, and Roomful of Teeth, performers.
Best Classical Compendium: “Passion for Bach and Coltrane,” Alex Brown, Harlem Quartet, Imani Winds, Edward Perez, Neal Smith, and A.B. Spellman, performers; Silas Brown and Mark Dover, producers.
Best Classical Instrumental Solo: “The American Project,” Yuja Wang, soloist; Teddy Abrams, conductor; Louisville Orchestra.
Producer of the Year, Classical: Elaine Martone, for albums with multiple artists and ensembles, including two with conductor Franz Welser-Möst and the Cleveland Orchestra.
Best Engineered Album, Classical: “Contemporary American Composers,” David Frost and Charlie Post, engineers; Silas Brown, mastering engineer; Riccardo Muti, conductor; Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Best Opera Recording: “Champion,” Terence Blanchard, composer; Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor; Ryan Speedo Green, Latonia Moore, and Eric Owens, soloists; David Frost, producer; The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera Chorus.
Best Choral Performance: “Reconnaissance,” Kaija Saariaho, composer; Nils Schweckendiek, conductor; Uusinta Ensemble, Helsinki Chamber Choir.
Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance: “Rough Magic,” Roomful of Teeth.
Best Classical Solo Vocal Album: “Walking In The Dark,” Julia Bullock, soloist; Christian Reif, conductor; Philharmonia Orchestra.
Best Instrumental Composition: “Helena’s Theme,” from Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny; John Williams, composer.
In the Best Regional Roots Music Album category, the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and Lost Bayou Ramblers won for “Live: Orpheum Theater Nola,” in a tie with Buckwheat Zydeco Jr. & The Legendary Ils Sont Partis Band’s “New Beginnings.”
