The list of nominees for the 52nd annual Grammy Awards includes Eastman School of Music alumni Renée Fleming, Anthony Dean Griffey, Faith Sherman, Kristian Bezuidenhout, Bill Cunliffe, John Hollenbeck, Ben Wendel, Shane Endsley, Kaveh Rastegar, and Adam Benjamin.
Fleming (MM ’83) is up for Best Classical Vocal Performance for her album of opera arias, Verismo. She is also featured on Yo-Yo Ma & Friends: Songs of Joy and Peace, which was nominated for Best Classical Crossover Album; the award in that category is presented to the artists and conductor.
Griffey (MM ’01) appears on the album Mahler: Symphony No. 8; Adagio From Symphony No. 10, nominated for the Best Classical Album award, which goes to the artists and album producers. The album also got a nod for Best Choral Performance.
Up for Best Opera Recording is Sherman (BM ’03), who is featured on the Wolf Trap Opera recording of Volpone by John Musto.
Also in the classical field, Bezuidenhout (BM ’01, MM ’04) is featured on the recording Vivaldi: Concertos, which was nominated for Best Small Ensemble Performance.
The John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble is up for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album for Eternal Interlude. Hollenbeck received his bachelor’s and his master’s degrees at Eastman in 1990 and 1991, respectively.
Cunliffe (MM ’81) was nominated for Best Instrumental Arrangement for “West Side Story Medley,” a track that appears on the album Resonance Big Band Plays Tribute to Oscar Peterson.
As members of the quintet Kneebody, Eastman alums Wendel (BM ’99), Endsley (BM ’97), Rastegar (BM ’01), and Benjamin are up against Fleming in the Best Classical Crossover Album category, for their recording Twelve Songs by Charles Ives.
The 52nd annual Grammy Awards will be presented Sunday, Jan. 31, in Los Angeles.
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