Northwestern alumni and faculty contributed to several projects nominated for the 68th Grammy Awards. Winners will be announced Sunday, February 1, 2026.
Best Engineered Album, Classical
Standard Stoppages – Third Coast Percussion, with engineers Sean Connors ’06 MMus, Robert Dillon ‘02, Peter Martin ’04 MMus, ’11 DMus, and David Skidmore ’05
Best Opera Recording
Huang Ruo: An American Soldier – featuring baritone Alex DeSocio ’10
Kouyoumdjian: Adoration – with faculty member Alan Pierson, conductor
Tesori: Grounded – with libretto by George Brant ’91
Best Choral Performance
Advena: Liturgies for a Broken World – with bass soloist Michael Hawes ’14, ’16 MMus. The album also features performances by soprano Tiana Sorenson ’19 MMus, tenor Michael Jones ’14 MMus, and percussionist Thomas Burritt ’00 MMus.
Lang: Poor Hymnal – with professor emeritus Donald Nally, conductor of The Crossing, and soloists Michael Hawes ’14, ’16 MMus, Lauren Kelly ’19 MMus, and Elisa Sutherland ’12, ’14 MMus. Members of The Crossing who contributed to the album include co-producer Kevin Vondrak ’17 MMus and vocalists Isobel Anthony ’23 MMus, Micah Dingler ’09 MMus, Chelsea Lyons ’17 MMus, Olivia Prendergast ’20, and Tiana Sorenson ’19 MMus.
Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance
Dennehy: Land Of Winter – Alarm Will Sound, with faculty members Alan Pierson, conductor, and Gavin Chuck, executive producer. The album also features violist Matt Albert ’03 MMus.
Standard Stoppages – Third Coast Percussion, with Sean Connors ’06 MMus, Robert Dillon ‘02, Peter Martin ’04 MMus, ’11 DMus, and David Skidmore ’05.
Best Contemporary Classical Composition
Cerrone: Don't Look Down – featuring performances by pianist Conor Hanick ’05 and Sandbox Percussion
Dennehy: Land Of Winter – featuring Alarm Will Sound (credits above)
Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album
Without Further Ado, Vol 1 – Christian McBride Big Band, with jazz saxophonist Ron Blake ’86
Best Musical Theater Album
Buena Vista Social Club – with Marco Paguia ’99, music director
Bienen alumni also performed on Grammy-nominated albums as members of ensembles, including the Boston and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras, Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Former winners of the Bienen School’s Michael Ludwig Nemmers Prize in Music Composition Esa-Pekka Salonen and Tania León are also among this year’s Grammy nominees.
Did we miss someone?
Please let us know if you or someone you know in the Northwestern community is omitted from this list: fanfare@northwestern.edu.
Graphic courtesy of The Recording Academy