Last modified: Thursday, December 9, 2010
IU Jacobs School of Music faculty and alumni contend for Grammys
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dec. 9, 2010
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music continues to be a contender on the nominee list for the annual Grammy Awards, to be presented live on Feb. 13, 2011, on CBS by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences.
Faculty member Michael Spiro provides percussion and vocals on the Wayne Wallace Latin Jazz Quintet's ¡Bien Bien! CD, which is up for Best Latin Jazz Album.
Spiro also was nominated for a Latin Grammy as both producer and percussionist for Off & On: The Music of Moacir Santos by Mark Levine and the Latin Tinge.
Faculty conductor Leonard Slatkin leads the Detroit Symphony Orchestra on Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 2, produced by Blanton Alspaugh. The recording helped Alspaugh win a nomination for Producer of the Year, Classical.
Alumna Jamie Barton is mezzo-soprano soloist on Ars Lyrica Houston's world première recording of J. A. Hasse's Marc Antonio e Cleopatra, which vies for Best Opera Recording. Awards in this category go to the conductor, album producer and principal soloists.
"The Grammy nomination is just such a huge, happy surprise," said Barton, who had never done a professional recording before. "We are thrilled that the people with the Grammys took notice of such an unknown work with such a small company. While we feel that we are certainly the underdogs in our category, we also very much believe in the quality of artistry in this recording. I certainly have high hopes."
Ars Lyrica, a vocal and instrumental ensemble that performs Baroque and early Classical music on period instruments, is led by Jacobs alumna Kinga Ferguson, who has been the group's executive director for almost four years.
Sister alumna Vivica Genaux is nominated for Best Classical Vocal Performance for Pyrotechnics: Vivaldi Opera Arias, featuring Fabio Biondi conducting Europe Galante.
The Jacobs School Jazz Department alumni also made a strong showing.
Bassist, composer and conductor John Clayton and his brothers' The New Song and Dance recording competes for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group.
Todd Coolman plays bass on James Moody's Moody 4B release, also up for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group.
Randy Brecker contributes trumpet on Mingus Big Band Live at Jazz Standard, vying for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album. He also adds flugelhorn to Now is the Time by Jeff Lorber Fusion in the Best Contemporary Jazz Album category.
Bassist Michael Valerio appears on Best Jazz Vocal Album nominee Ages, featuring Lorraine Feather.
For more information about the Jacobs School of Music, visit https://www.music.indiana.edu.
