The 2016 Grammy award nominees were announced this Monday. Among the popular classical contenders are the Boston Symphony Orchestra and their Shostakovich Under Stalin's Shadow - Symphony No. 10 to Andris Nelsons Spirit of the American Range.
Of course the pop culture community is represented well with Taylor Swift, the Weeknd, Ed Sheeran, Mark Ronson, Bruno Mars and D'Angelo and the Vanguard competing for the studded Record of the Year title.
And among the Best New Artist nominees are Courtney Barnett, James Bay, Sam Hunt, Tori Kelly and Meghan Trainor. Mr. Bob Dylan, too, is nominated in the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album category for Shadows in the Night alongside Mr. Josh Groban's Stages
However, the classical community has kept in step with its past for next year's Grammys also, with contemporary classical taking the charts. Of the nominees are Classicalite favorites and Chicago-based contemporary music ensemble eighth blackbird (which will mark their fourth award if won).
Bryce Dessner of The National and Nico Muhly were featured on the blackbird disc, Filament, as well. Roomful of Teeth, who won for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance last year are up again in the same category for their album Render.
But, according to WQXR, the most noted category of the ceremony is for Best Contemporary Classical Composition. Featured in the category is the Pulitzer Prize-winning piece by Julia Wolfe Anthracite Fields. American Joan Tower, too, is also represented in the category.
Check out the nominees below and be sure to preview eighth blackbird, one of the contenders, in the meantime.
The Nominees:
Best Orchestral Performance
Bruckner: Symphony No. 4
Manfred Honeck, conductor (Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)
Label: Reference Recordings
Dutilleux: Métaboles; L'Arbre Des Songes; Symphony No. 2, 'Le Double'
Ludovic Morlot, conductor (Seattle Symphony)
Label: Seattle Symphony Media
Shostakovich: Under Stalin's Shadow - Symphony No. 10
Andris Nelsons, conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra)
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Spirit Of The American Range
Carlos Kalmar, conductor (The Oregon Symphony)
Label: Pentatone
Zhou Long & Chen Yi: Symphony 'Humen 1839'
Darrell Ang, conductor (New Zealand Symphony Orchestra)
Label: Naxos
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Best Opera Recording
Janáček: Jenůfa
Donald Runnicles, conductor (Orchestra Of The Deutsche Oper Berlin; Chorus Of The Deutsche Oper Berlin)
Label: Arthaus
Monteverdi: Il Ritorno D'Ulisse In Patria
Martin Pearlman, conductor; Fernando Guimarães & Jennifer Rivera; Thomas C. Moore, producer (Boston Baroque)
Label: Linn Records
Mozart: Die Entführung Aus Dem Serail
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor; Diana Damrau, Paul Schweinester & Rolando Villazón; Sid McLauchlan, producer (Chamber Orchestra Of Europe)
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Ravel: L'Enfant Et Les Sortilèges; Shéhérazade
Seiji Ozawa, conductor; Isabel Leonard; Dominic Fyfe, producer (Saito Kinen Orchestra; SKF Matsumoto Chorus & SKF Matsumoto Children's Chorus)
Label: Decca
Steffani: Niobe, Regina Di Tebe
Paul O'Dette & Stephen Stubbs, conductors; Karina Gauvin & Philippe Jaroussky; Renate Wolter-Seevers, producer (Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra)
Label: Erato
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Best Choral Performance
Beethoven: Missa Solemnis
Bernard Haitink, conductor; Peter Dijkstra, chorus master (Anton Barachovsky, Genia Kühmeier, Elisabeth Kulman, Hanno Müller-Brachmann & Mark Padmore; Symphonieorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks; Chor Des Bayerischen Rundfunks)
Label: BR Klassik
Monteverdi: Vespers Of 1610
Harry Christophers, conductor (Jeremy Budd, Grace Davidson, Ben Davies, Mark Dobell, Eamonn Dougan & Charlotte Mobbs; The Sixteen)
Label: Coro
Pablo Neruda - The Poet Sings
Craig Hella Johnson, conductor (James K. Bass, Laura Mercado-Wright, Eric Neuville & Lauren Snouffer; Faith DeBow & Stephen Redfield; Conspirare)
Label: Harmonia Mundi
Paulus: Far In The Heavens
Eric Holtan, conductor (Sara Fraker, Matthew Goinz, Thea Lobo, Owen McIntosh, Kathryn Mueller & Christine Vivona; True Concord Orchestra; True Concord Voices)
Label: Reference Recordings
Rachmaninoff: All-Night Vigil
Charles Bruffy, conductor (Paul Davidson, Frank Fleschner, Toby Vaughn Kidd, Bryan Pinkall, Julia Scozzafava, Bryan Taylor & Joseph Warner; Kansas City Chorale & Phoenix Chorale)
Label: Chandos
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Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance
Brahms: The Piano Trios
Tanja Tetzlaff, Christian Tetzlaff & Lars Vogt
Label: Ondine
Filament
Eighth Blackbird
Label: Cedille Records
Flaherty: Airdancing For Toy Piano, Piano & Electronics
Nadia Shpachenko & Genevieve Feiwen Lee
Track from: Woman At The New Piano
Label: Reference Recordings
Render
Brad Wells & Roomful Of Teeth
Label: New Amsterdam Records
Shostakovich: Piano Quintet & String Quartet No. 2
Takács Quartet & Marc-André Hamelin
Label: Hyperion
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Best Classical Instrumental Solo
Dutilleux: Violin Concerto, L'Arbre Des Songes
Augustin Hadelich; Ludovic Morlot, conductor (Seattle Symphony)
Track from: Dutilleux: Métaboles; L'Arbre Des Songes; Symphony No. 2, 'Le Double'
Label: Seattle Symphony Media
Grieg & Moszkowski: Piano Concertos
Joseph Moog; Nicholas Milton, conductor (Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern)
Label: Onyx Classics
Mozart: Keyboard Music, Vol. 7
Kristian Bezuidenhout
Label: Harmonia Mnudi
Rachmaninov Variations
Daniil Trifonov (The Philadelphia Orchestra)
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Rzewski: The People United Will Never Be Defeated!
Ursula Oppens (Jerome Lowenthal)
Label: Cedille Records
Best Classical Solo Vocal Album
Beethoven: An Die Ferne Geliebte; Haydn: English Songs; Mozart: Masonic Cantata
Mark Padmore; Kristian Bezuidenhout, accompanist
Label: Harmonia Mundi
Joyce & Tony - Live From Wigmore Hall
Joyce DiDonato; Antonio Pappano, accompanist
Label: Erato
Nessun Dorma - The Puccini Album
Jonas Kaufmann; Antonio Pappano, conductor (Kristīne Opolais, Antonio Pirozzi & Massimo Simeoli; Coro Dell'Accademia Nazionale Di Santa Cecilia; Orchestra Dell'Accademia Nazionale Di Santa Cecilia)
Label: Sony Classical
Rouse: Seeing; Kabir Padavali
Talise Trevigne; David Alan Miller, conductor (Orion Weiss; Albany Symphony)
Label: Naxos
St. Petersburg
Cecilia Bartoli; Diego Fasolis, conductor (I Barocchisti)
Label: Decca
Best Classical Compendium
As Dreams Fall Apart - The Golden Age Of Jewish Stage And Film Music (1925-1955)
New Budapest Orpheum Society; Jim Ginsburg, producer
Label: Cedille Records
Ask Your Mama
George Manahan, conductor; Judith Sherman, producer
Label: Avie Records
Handel: L'Allegro, Il Penseroso Ed Il Moderato, 1740
Paul McCreesh, conductor; Nicholas Parker, producer
Label: Signum Classics
Paulus: Three Places Of Enlightenment; Veil Of Tears & Grand Concerto
Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor; Tim Handley, producer
Label: Naxos
Woman At The New Piano
Nadia Shpachenko; Marina A. Ledin & Victor Ledin, producers
Label: Reference Recordings
Best Contemporary Classical Composition
Barry: The Importance Of Being Earnest
Gerald Barry, composer (Thomas Adès, Barbara Hannigan, Katalin Károlyi, Hilary Summers, Peter Tantsits & Birmingham Contemporary Music Group)
Label: NMC Recordings
Norman: Play
Andrew Norman, composer (Gil Rose & Boston Modern Orchestra Project)
Track from: Norman: Play
Label: BMOP/Sound
Paulus: Prayers & Remembrances
Stephen Paulus, composer (Eric Holtan, True Concord Voices & Orchestra)
Track from: Paulus: Far In The Heavens
Label: Reference Recordings
Tower: Stroke
Joan Tower, composer (Giancarlo Guerrero, Cho-Liang Lin & Nashville Symphony)
Track from: Tower: Violin Concerto; Stroke; Chamber Dance
Label: Naxos
Wolfe: Anthracite Fields
Julia Wolfe, composer (Julian Wachner, The Choir Of Trinity Wall Street & Bang On A Can All-Stars)
Label: Cantaloupe Music
