With the recent announcement of the nominees for next year’s GRAMMY Awards, members of the SFCM community can delight in finding a few familiar names. The San Francisco Symphony, which includes 30 members on faculty at SFCM, was nominated in the Best Orchestral Performance category, and faculty member Mason Bates’ The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs was nominated in three categories: Best Opera Recording, Best Contemporary Classical Composition, and Best Engineered Album, Classical. (Alumnae Mariya Kaganskaya ’16 and Kristen Choi ’11 are featured as cast members in the recording of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs.)

Jake Heggie’s Great Scott, whose premiere run featured faculty member Frederica von Stade, and alumnus Aaron Jay Kernis’ (Class of ’78) Violin Concerto were also nominated for Best Contemporary Classical Composition. Both Bates’ and Heggie’s operas were workshopped at SFCM prior to their premieres. Workshops for pieces like these operas provide a unique opportunity for students to engage in works-in-progress, witnessing and participating in music as it evolves throughout the compositional process. Oftentimes, workshopping opportunities are available to students during Winter Term. Heggie's new opera, If I Were You, to be premiered in August 2019 by the Merola Opera Program, will be workshopped during this academic year's Winter Term.

In jazz, faculty member Carmen Bradford is featured on All About that Basie, nominated for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album, and faculty member Julian Lage was nominated for his Modern Lore in the category of Best Contemporary Instrumental Album.

Find out who wins in these categories at the GRAMMY Awards ceremony on February 10, 2019.

Best Orchestral Performance

• "Schumann: Symphonies Nos. 1-4"
  • Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor (Performed by the San Francisco Symphony)

Best Opera Recording

• "The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs"
  • Michael Christie, conductor; Sasha Cooke, Jessica E. Jones, Edwards Parks, Garrett Sorenson & Wei Wu; Elizabeth Ostrow, producer (Performed by the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra)

Best Contemporary Classical Composition

• "The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs"
  • Mason Bates, composer; Mark Campbell, librettist
• "Great Scott"
  • Jake Heggie, composer; Terrence McNally, librettist
• "Violin Concerto"
  • Aaron Jay Kernis, composer

Best Engineered Album, Classical

• "The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs"
  • Mark Donahue & Dirk Sobotka, engineers; Mark Donahue, mastering engineer (Performed by Michael Christie, Garrett Sorenson, Wei Wu, Sasha Cooke, Edwards Parks, Jessica E. Jones & Santa Fe Opera Orchestra)

Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album

• “All About that Basie”
  • The Count Basie Orchestra, directed By Scotty Barnhart

Best Contemporary Instrumental Album

• “Modern Lore”
  • Julian Lage

Best Chamber Music / Small Ensemble Performance

• “Blueprinting”
  • Aizuri Quartet (Ariana Kim '03, violin)