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Alumni Gazette

2017 Grammy Round Up Three Eastman School alumni and one faculty member won Grammy awards in 2017.
grammysGRAMMY GROUP: Double bassist Geoff Saunders ’09E (far right) was recognized for his work as a member of the Grammy Award–winning O’Connor Band (from left), Maggie O’Connor, Mark O’Connor, Forrest O’Connor, Kate Lee, and Joe Smart. (Photo: Chris Pizzello/InVision/AP Images)

Sean Connors ’04E, a member and technical director of Third Coast Percussion, won the award for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance for the album Steve Reich. Oliver Hagen ’08E, ’10E (MM) appears on the album as a guest pianist.

Charles Pillow, assistant professor of saxophone at Eastman and a member of the Ted Nash Big Band, won Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album for Presidential Suite: Eight Variations on Freedom.

Geoff Saunders ’09E, double bassist with the O’Connor Band with Marc O’Connor, won Best Bluegrass Album for the group’s debut recording, Coming Home.

Shane Shanahan ’95E, a percussionist with the Silk Road Ensemble, won Best World Music Album for Sing Me Home.

In addition, Jared Schonig ’05E (MM), drum chair for the Broadway musical The Color Purple, performed on the soundtrack, which won Best Musical Theater Album.

How are the Winners Chosen, Anyway?

There were 84 categories recognized by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences for this year’s Grammy Awards. Who makes the decisions about the most noteworthy contributions to this vast and wildly diverse array of musical output? Nick Bruno ’17, an audio and music engineering major from Rochester, discussed the selection process with Stephen Roessner, an instructor in audio and music engineering and a doctoral candidate in electrical engineering at Rochester, and Dan Kannen ’17, an audio and music engineering major from Baltimore, Maryland.

Roessner won a Grammy in 2010 as the recording engineer/mixer on Messiaen: Livre Du Saint-Sacrement, which won for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without Orchestra).

The conversation was recorded as part of the Quadcast, a University podcast. To listen, visit Soundcloud.com/urochester.