SFCM will be keeping fingers crossed for faculty and alumni at the 2024 GRAMMY Awards, where nominations include musical works by new piano faculty member Awadagin Pratt, as well as SFCM alumni Teddy Abrams and Joseph Christianson.

Pratt, who joined SFCM's faculty in 2022, was nominated for Best Contemporary Classical Composition for Montgomery: Rounds, composed by Jessie Montgomery and performed by Pratt with A Far Cry and Roomful Of Teeth.

SFCM faculty member and musician Awadagin Pratt.

"I'm very excited for Jessie Montgomery's Rounds, written for, and recorded by me on the Stillpoint album, to be acknowledged as the tremendously invigorating, captivating, and essential piece of music that it is," Pratt said of his nomination. "Rounds has already had an extensive concert life of almost 30 performances, and we hope this recognition helps launch it further into the lives of listeners."

In addition, 2005 graduate Teddy Abrams was included in Yuja Wang's nomination for Best Classical Instrumental Solo on The American Project as part of his work conducting the Louisville Orchestra.

2016 graduate Joseph Christianson was also nominated, as part of his group Quartet San Francisco for Best Instrumental Composition for their recording of Raymond Scott and Gordon Goodwin's Cutey and the Dragon, from Raymond Scott Reimagined, featuring Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band. "We are so happy that Gordon's composition Cutey and the Dragon is getting the recognition it deserves, and are beyond thrilled that our album has received this attention after over two years of hard work!" Christianson said. 

SFCM's partner in the arts, the San Francisco Symphony, which many faculty members perform with, was also nominated for Best Orchestral Performance (for Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring) and Best Choral Performance (for György Ligeti's Lux Aeterna). Both recordings were produced by SFCM's Director of Recording Services, Jason O'Connell, who also teaches in SFCM's Technology and Applied Composition (TAC) department.

In addition, Pentatone, the record label recently acquired by SFCM received four GRAMMY nominations in the categories of Best Choral Performance, Best Orchestral Performance, Best Classical Solo Vocal Album, and Best Opera Recording.

Opus 3 Artists, the leading artist management company acquired by SFCM in 2020, is also nominated in seven different categories. Congrats to our partners! 

Stay tuned for the 2024 GRAMMY Awards, which will be broadcast on February 4, 2024!