It’s that time of year again! We are proud to announce alumni and faculty members of the Steans Music Institute who have received 2022 Grammy Award nominations. The 64th Annual Grammy Awards broadcast is scheduled for January 31, 2022.
Drummer Robert Boone Jr. (Jazz 2016) is nominated as part of the Count Basie Orchestra for Best Large Ensemble Album for the Live At Birdland! album. Boone, originally from Augusta, GA, has played in various venues and has toured in Japan, Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and Europe in a number of iconic venues.
Soprano Erin Morley (Singers 2004, 2006) is a soloist on the New York Philharmonic’s nominated Best Opera Recording of Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Also a graduate of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and a recipient of the Beverly Sills Award in 2021, Morley has sung more than 100 performances at the Met and has been featured in five “Live in HD” broadcasts. She was hailed by critics as “a major success” when she stepped in last-minute to sing Sophie in an entire run of Der Rosenkavalier in the 2013–14 season. Today she sings the title role in the Met’s Eurydice.
Two RSMI alumni are featured soloists in a Best Choral Performance nomination: Morley (in her second 2021 nomination) and mezzo-soprano Tamara Mumford (Singers 2007) are both featured on the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 (the “Symphony of a Thousand”). Known for her work in opera, Mumford, who also graduated from the Met’s Lindemann Program, has since appeared in more than 140 performances with the company. Other opera engagements have included the world premiere of The Thirteenth Child at the Santa Fe Opera, her role debut in the title role of Tancredi with Teatro Nuovo, the first American performances of Rossini’s Aureliano in Palmira at the Caramoor Festival, L’Amour de loin at the Festival d’opéra de Québec, Iolante at the Dallas Opera, the title role in the American premiere of Henze’s Phaedra, and many more.
Violinist Augustin Hadelich (Piano & Strings 2003) is nominated for Best Classical Instrumental Solo for his recording of Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas. From Bach to Paganini, from Brahms to Bartók to Adès, Hadelich has mastered a wide-ranging repertoire and is often referred to by colleagues as a musician's musician. Named Musical America’s 2018 Instrumentalist of the Year, he is consistently cited worldwide for his phenomenal technique, soulful approach, and insightful interpretations.
Faculty member Gilbert Kalish (Piano & Strings faculty since 1991) was nominated alongside Dawn Upshaw and Sō Percussion for Best Contemporary Classical Composition for the album Shaw: Narrow Sea, featuring the work by Pulitzer winner Caroline Shaw that they performed at Ravinia in 2018. A native New Yorker, Kalish studied with Leonard Shure, Julius Hereford, and Isabelle Vengerova. He is a frequent guest artist with many of the world's most distinguished chamber ensembles. He was a founding member of the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, a pioneering new music group that flourished during the 1960s and ’70s. He is noted for his partnerships with other artists, including cellists Timothy Eddy and Joel Krosnick, soprano Dawn Upshaw, and, perhaps most memorably, his 30-year collaboration with mezzo-soprano Jan DeGaetani.