Eastman School of Music alumni Maria Schneider and Bob Ludwig were among the winners in last night’s National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences 58th annual Grammy award ceremony, along with Assistant Professor of Organ Nathan Laube, who was a performer on an album awarded the Best Classical Compendium. Alum, Charles Halloran, trombone, was also featured in a recording that won for best regional roots music.
Maria Schneider was honored with two Grammys –One for her album The Thompson Fields was awarded Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album. Schneider also won for Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals, for her work on David Bowie’s “Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)”, a track from the album Nothing Has Changed. Maria and her orchestra have had an extraordinary recording career with twelve GRAMMY nominations and three GRAMMY awards. Schneider earned her master’s degree at Eastman in 1985.
Mastering engineer Bob Ludwig, along with engineer Shawn Everett, received a GRAMMY for Best Engineered Non-Classical Album for their work on Sound & Color, the second studio album by American rock band Alabama Shakes. Ludwig received his bachelor’s in music education in 1966 and was awarded a master’s degree in trumpet in 2001. Ludwig has now won 11 Grammy awards in his extensive career, spanning from his work with Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton and many others to his more recent work with Daft Punk, Beck, and Mumford & Sons.
Nathan Laube is a performer on the album Paulus: Three Places of Enlightenment; Veil of Tears and Grand Concerto for Organ & Orchestra. The recording won in the category of Best Classical Compendium. Laube has quickly earned a place among the organ world’s elite performers. His brilliant playing and gracious demeanor have thrilled audiences and presenters across the United States and in Europe, and his creative programming of repertoire spanning five centuries, including his own virtuoso transcriptions of orchestral works, have earned high praise from critics and peers alike. He is currently Assistant Professor of Organ at the Eastman School of Music.
Among other Eastman alumni, Charles Halloran (MM 2008) won for his performance on the GRAMMY winning album, “GoGo Juice” by New Orleans-based pianist Jon Cleary. It won for best regional roots music album.
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