Naxos recording of Michael Daugherty’s Metropolis Symphony receives more nominations than any other classical disc this year
NASHVILLE, TN. (December 21, 2010) The Nashville Symphony’s recording of Michael Daugherty’s Metropolis Symphony, released in September 2009, has received five GRAMMY® nominations. The CD has been nominated in the following categories:
Best Classical Album
Best Orchestral Performance
Best Instrumental Soloist with an Orchestra
Best Classical Contemporary Composition
Best Engineered Album, Classical
In addition, producer Blanton Alspaugh has earned a nomination for Producer of the Year, Classical, in recognition for his work on Metropolis Symphony, along with several other recordings. Winners will be announced at the 53rd Annual GRAMMY® Awards, presented by The Recording Academy on February 13, 2011.
Recorded at Schermerhorn Symphony Center, Metropolis Symphony is the orchestra’s first release with Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero. This latest round of nominations brings the Nashville Symphony’s total number of GRAMMY® nominations over the past decade to 13. In 2008, the orchestra’s recording of Joan Tower’s Made in America received three GRAMMY® Awards.
“This continued recognition from the Recording Academy is a testament not just to the growing artistic profile of our orchestra, but also to Giancarlo’s remarkable leadership and to Michael Daugherty’s singular voice as a composer,” says Nashville Symphony President and CEO Alan Valentine.
According to the League of American Orchestras, Daugherty is one of this country’s 10 most performed living composers. His Metropolis Symphony pays tribute to the American comic book hero Superman, while the other recording on the disc, the piano concerto Deus ex Machina, is inspired by trains of the past and future. The featured soloist, pianist Terrence Wilson, was recognized with the GRAMMY® nomination for Best Instrumental Soloist with an Orchestra.
“I seek to express the energies, ambiguities, paradoxes and wit of American popular culture in my work,” Daugherty says, “and the Nashville Symphony has done a truly remarkable job of bringing this music to life.”
One other Nashville Symphony recording earned recognition in the GRAMMY® announcement: Tim Handley has been nominated for Producer of the Year, Classical, for his work on the orchestra’s recording of Astor Piazzolla’s Sinfonia Buenos Aires, along with several other classical CDs released in the past year.
Over the past decade, the Nashville Symphony has become one of the most active recording orchestras in the country, releasing a total of 20 recordings, 18 of which have been released on Naxos.
Led by Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero and President and CEO Alan D. Valentine, the GRAMMY® Award-winning Nashville Symphony has a growing international reputation for its recordings and innovative programming. With 140 performances annually, the 83-member Nashville Symphony is an arts leader in Nashville and beyond, offering a broad range of classical, pops and jazz concerts; special events; children’s concerts and community engagement programs.
