The Recording Academy has announced the nominations for the 2026 Grammy Awards. The winning awards will be presented in Los Angeles on Sunday, February 1, 2026. The following are the nominations in the classical category for orchestra, small ensemble, solo instrumentalist, engineering, producer, and opera. Visit https://www.grammy.com/news/2026-grammys-nominations-full-winners-nominees-list for the complete list of 2026 nominees in all 95 categories.
Best Orchestral Performance (award to the conductor and the orchestra):
– Coleridge-Taylor: Toussaint L’Ouverture; Ballade Op. 4; Suites From “24 Negro Melodies”—Michael Repper, conductor (National Philharmonic)
– Messiaen: Turangalîla-Symphonie—Andris Nelsons, conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra)
– Ravel: Boléro, M. 81—Gustavo Dudamel, conductor (Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela)
– Still & Bonds—Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor (The Philadelphia Orchestra)
– Stravinsky: Symphony in Three Movements—Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor (San Francisco Symphony)
Best Opera Recording (award to the conductor, album producer/s, and principal soloists, and to the composer and librettist [if applicable] of a world premiere opera recording only):
– Heggie: Intelligence—Kwamé Ryan, conductor; Jamie Barton, J’Nai Bridges, and Janai Brugger; Blanton Alspaugh, producer (Houston Grand Opera; Gene Scheer)
– Huang Ruo: An American Soldier—Carolyn Kuan, conductor; Hannah Cho, Alex DeSocio, Nina Yoshida Nelsen, and Brian Vu; Adam Abeshouse, Silas Brown, and Doron Schachter, producers (American Composers Orchestra; David Henry Hwang)
– Kouyoumdjian: Adoration—Alan Pierson, conductor; Miriam Khalil, Marc Kudisch, David Adam Moore, Omar Najmi, Naomi Louisa O’Connell, and Karim Sulayman; Mary Kouyoumdjian, producer (Silvana Quartet; The Choir of Trinity Wall Street)
– O’Halloran: Trade and Mary Motorhead—Elaine Kelly, conductor; Oisín Ó Dálaigh and John Molloy; Alex Dowling and Emma O’Halloran, producers (Irish National Opera Orchestra; Mark O’Halloran)
– Tesori: Grounded—Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor; Ben Bliss, Emily D’Angelo, Greer Grimsley, and Kyle Miller; David Frost, producer (The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; The Metropolitan Opera Chorus; George Brant)
Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance (award to the ensemble and conductor if applicable):
– Dennehy: Land of Winter—Alan Pierson and Alarm Will Sound
– La Mer – French Piano Trios—Neave Trio
– Lullabies for the Brokenhearted—Lili Haydn and Paul Cantelon
– Slavic Sessions—Yuja Wang; Andris Nelsons, conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra)
– Standard Stoppages—Third Coast Percussion
Best Classical Instrumental Solo (award to the instrumental soloist/s and to the conductor when applicable):
– Coleridge-Taylor: 3 Selections From “24 Negro Melodies”—Curtis Stewart; Michael Repper, conductor (National Philharmonic)
– Hope Orchestrated—Mary Dawood Catlin; Jesús David Medina and Raniero Palm, conductors (Venezuela Strings Recording Ensemble)
– Inheritances—Adam Tendler
– Price: Piano Concerto in One Movement in D Minor—Han Chen; John Jeter, conductor (Malmö Opera Orchestra)
– Shostakovich: The Cello Concertos—Yo-Yo Ma; Andris Nelsons, conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra)
– Shostakovich: The Piano Concertos; Solo Works—Yuja Wang; Andris Nelsons, conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra)
Best Contemporary Classical Composition: A Composer’s Award (For a contemporary classical composition composed within the last 25 years and released for the first time during the Eligibility Year.) Award to the librettist, if applicable.
– Cerrone: Don’t Look Down—Christopher Cerrone, composer (Conor Hanick and Sandbox Percussion)
– Dennehy: Land of Winter —Donnacha Dennehy, composer (Alan Pierson and Alarm Will Sound)
– León: Raíces (Origins)—Tania León, composer (Edward Gardner and London Philharmonic Orchestra)
– Okpebholo: Songs in Flight—Shawn E. Okpebholo, composer (Will Liverman, Paul Sánchez, and Various Artists)
– Ortiz: Dzonot—Gabriela Ortiz, composer (Alisa Weilerstein, Gustavo Dudamel and Los Angeles Philharmonic)
Best Engineered Album, Classical: An Engineer’s Award (artists’ names appear in parentheses):
– Cerrone: Don’t Look Down—Mike Tierney, engineer; Alan Silverman, mastering engineer (Sandbox Percussion)
– Eastman: Symphony No. 2; Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 2—Gintas Norvila, engineer; Jennifer Nulsen, mastering engineer (Franz Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra)
– Shostakovich: Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District—Shawn Murphy and Nick Squire, engineers; Tim Martyn, mastering engineer (Andris Nelsons, Kristine Opolais, Günther Groissböck, Peter Hoare, Brenden Gunnell, and Boston Symphony Orchestra)
– Standard Stoppages—Sean Connors, Robert Dillon, Peter Martin, Bill Maylone, Judith Sherman, and David Skidmore, engineers; Joe Lambert, mastering engineer (Third Coast Percussion)
– Yule—Morten Lindberg, engineer; Morten Lindberg, mastering engineer (Trio Mediæval)
Producer of the Year, Classical (artist names appear in parentheses):
– Blanton Alspaugh—All Is Miracle – The Choral Music of Kyle Pederson (Timothy J. Campbell and Transept);
– Heggie: Intelligence (Kwame Ryan, Janai Brugger, Jamie Barton, J’Nai Bridges, and Houston Grand Opera);
– Marsalis: Blues Symphony (Jader Bignamini and Detroit Symphony Orchestra); Massenet: Werther (Robert Spano, Matthew Polenzani, Isabel Leonard, and Houston Grand Opera);
– The Mirage Calls (Charles Bruffy and Kansas City Chorale); Sheehan: Ukrainian War Requiem (Michael Zaugg, Axios Men’s Ensemble, and Pro Coro Canada);
– Sun, Moon, Stars, Rain (Christopher Gabbitas and Phoenix Chorale)
– Sergei Kvitko—Biedenbender: Enigma; River of Time (Kevin L. Sedatole and Michigan State University Wind Symphony);
– Chiaroscuro (Vedrana Subotic); Dancing in a Still Life (Tasha Warren); Excursions (Vuorovesi Trio);
– Four Hands. Two Hearts. One Hope: Ukrainian and American Music for Piano Duo (Mykhailo Diordiiev and Anastasiia Larchikova);
– Here And Now – Trumpet Music by Virginia Composers (Jason Crafton, Richard Masters, Annie Stevens, and Paul Langosch);
– Lansky: Touch And Go (Gwendolyn Dease); Orbiting Garden (William Hobbs); Would That Loving Were Enough (Haven Trio)
– Morten Lindberg—Fred Over Jorden (Peace to the World) (Elisabeth Holte, Kjetil Bjerkestrand, and Uranienborg Vokalensemble);
– Stjernebru (Anne Karin Sundal-Ask and Det Norske Jentekor); Yule (Trio Mediæval)
– Dmitriy Lipay—Heggie: Before It All Goes Dark (Joseph Mechavich, Megan Marino, Ryan McKinny, and Music of Remembrance Ensemble);
– Odyssey (Jorge Glem, Gustavo Dudamel and Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela);
–Ortiz: Yanga (Gustavo Dudamel, Alisa Weilerstein, and Los Angeles Philharmonic)
– Elaine Martone—Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique (Franz Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra);
– Chopin & Rachmaninoff: Cello Sonatas (Brian Thornton and Spencer Myer);
– Dear Mrs. Kennedy (Ryan Townsend Strand);
– Eastman: Symphony No. 2; Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 2 (Franz Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra);
– LeFrak: Romántico (Sharon Isbin, Lopez-Yañez, and Orchestra of St. Luke’s);
–Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 27 and Symphony No. 29 (Garrick Ohlsson, Franz Welser-Möst, and The Cleveland Orchestrea);
–The Poet and the Prodigy (Debra Nagy and Mark Edwards); Shapes in Collective Space (Tallā Rouge);
– Songs of Orpheus (Kelley O’Connor)
