Eastman School of Music graduates Bob Ludwig, Maria Schneider, Martha Cluver and Eric Dudley won awards in the 56th Annual Grammy Awards competition Sunday night, Jan. 26, in Los Angeles. Earlier in the week, Eastman graduate Kent Knappenberger was announced as the recipient of the Recording Academy and Grammy Foundation’s inaugural Music Educator Award and was recognized at the end of Sunday’s televised ceremony.
Ludwig, a mastering engineer, won a Grammy in each of the four categories in which he was nominated. He received awards for Album of the Year for Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories; for Record of the Year for Get Lucky by Daft Punk & Pharrell Williams; in the Best Historical Album category for “Charlie is My Darling – Ireland 1965;” and for Best Engineered Album Non-Classical for Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories. Schneider received the Best Contemporary Classical Composition Grammy for her song cycle “Winter Morning Walks” from the album Winter Morning Walks. Cluver and Dudley are members of the vocal group Roomful of Teeth, which won the Grammy for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance for their self-titled debut album.
The recipient of two Latin and three previous Grammys, Ludwig received his bachelor’s in music education in 1966 and was awarded a master’s degree in trumpet in 2001. Ludwig worked at A&R Recording, Sterling Sound, and Masterdisk Corporation before opening up his own business, Gateway Mastering Studios, Inc., in 1993.
Ludwig has worked on projects for such artists as The Band, Jimi Hendrix, U2, Phil Collins, Sting, The Police, Bryan Adams, Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond, and many more, and has mastered countless Gold and Platinum records. A respected figure in the music industry, he has won numerous TEC (Technical Excellence and Creativity) Award–most recently for Random Access Memories just prior to the Grammys–and is in demand as a panelist and speaker at universities and professional organizations. He is the author of technical articles and has been the subject of stories in such publications as the New York Times, Boston Globe, and USA Today.
Schneider’s album Winter Morning Walks also garnered a Best Classical Vocal Solo Grammy for soprano Dawn Upshaw and Best Engineered Album Classical award for David Forst, Brian Losch, and Tim Martyn. All of the album’s tracks were composed by Schneider.
A jazz composer, arranger, and conductor who received her master’s degree at Eastman in 1985. Schneider was approached by Upshaw to write for the soprano. The two first collaborated on “Carlos Drummond de Andrade Stories” with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in 2008, and “Winter Morning Walks” was premiered with the Australian Chamber Orchestra in 2011. The album Winter Morning Walks is the first contemporary classical CD for Schneider and required studio time for two separate orchestras.
Schneider has previously won two Grammy awards: Best Instrumental Composition in 2007 for “Cerulean Skies” from the album
Roomful of Teeth was founded in 2009; the a capella octet commissions works from contemporary composers and expands its vocal techniques by studying non-classical music traditions from around the globe. Cluver studied viola at Eastman and earned her bachelor’s degree in 2003. As a vocal soloist, Cluver has performed with the Trinity Baroque Orchestra, Janacek Philharmonic, Remix Ensemble, Prague Modern, and Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. She is a member of the Trinity Choir Wall Street, Antioch, Voices of Ascension, and Clarion. As a chamber musician, she has collaborated with groups such as Alarm Will Sound, Signal, Dogs of Desire, Axiom, Zorn Vocal Quintet, NEXUS, So Percussion and ACME. Dudley received his bachelor’s degree in composition in 2001. In addition to appearing as a choral artist and soloist with numerous ensembles, he is a member of the Trinity Wall Street Church choir, has been a guest conductor on a tour of Finland and a series of recordings with the International Contemporary Ensemble, and has performed as a pianist and accompanist on concert tours. His compositions have received premieres by the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Quey Percussion Duo, Esterhàzy Trio, and Roomful of Teeth.
Knappenberger received his Master of Music degree at Eastman in 1989. He has been a music teacher and choir director at Westfield Academy and Central School in Westfield, N.Y., for 25 years, and also serves as a volunteer music teacher at the Ana Gonzaga Methodist Institute in Rio de Janiero. Knappenberger was one of 10 finalists chosen from more than 30,000 initial nominations, and was presented the award, which carries a $10,000 honorarium, at the Special Merit Award Ceremony & Nominees Reception in Los Angeles on Jan. 25.
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