Alumni Gazette

Grammy Gold

The Eastman School’s string quartet-in-residence—featuring siblings David ’92E (DMA), Janet ’92E, Phillip ’91E, ’92E (MM) and Timothy Ying ’91E (DMA)—won a Grammy Award last February. The Ying Quartet’s album 4 + Four, a recording with the Turtle Island String Quartet, earned the top award for Best Classical Crossover Album.

The Yings were part of a strong Eastman showing at the 48th annual showcase recognizing achievements in the recording industry. Including faculty members, alumni, and students, more than a dozen musicians and composers with Eastman ties received nominations.

Two Eastman artists faced off in the category of Best Opera Recording: Eastman professor, world-renowned lutenist, and past Grammy winner Paul O’Dette for conducting Conradi’s Ariadne with Eastman doctoral student Kristian Bezuidenhout performing harpsichord continuo; and Eastman alumna soprano Renée Fleming ’83E (MM) on Strauss’s Daphne.

Competing in the Classical Producer of the Year category was Michael Fine for Fuchs’s An American Place, which features Eastman graduate Thomas Stacy ’60E. The English horn player was also nominated for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (with Orchestra) for a track on that album: “Eventide.”

Bill Cunliffe ’81E (MM) was up for Best Instrumental Arrangement for “Do It Again,” a track from his album Imaginación. In the Best Instrumental Composition category, Maria Schneider ’85E (MM) was nominated for “Journey Home” on Dana Landry’s album of the same name. Last year, Schneider won the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album Grammy for her orchestra’s Concert in the Garden. This year, that category featured John Hollenbeck ’90E, ’91E (MM) for his ensemble’s album titled A Blessing.

The Borealis Wind Quintet was nominated for the Best Chamber Music Performance Grammy for its album A La Carte—Short Works For Winds.

That nomination honors two Eastman alumni: Flutist Katherine Fink ’76E, who is a member of the Quintet, and Joseph Turrin ’05E, whose composition, “Three Summer Dances,” is on the album.

And harp alumna Courtney Bress ’97E was nominated in the Best Small Ensemble Performance category for “Ancient Voices of Children,” a track from Complete Crumb Edition, Volume Nine. Bress is principal harp of the Colorado Symphony.

In the same category, singers Joseph Chappell ’94E and Oliver Brewer ’00E (MM) are members of The Tiffany Consort, which was nominated for O Magnum Mysterium.

For more about the Grammy Awards, visit Grammy.com.