Several Bienen School faculty and alumni are among the winners of the 68th Grammy Awards. 

Faculty members Alan Pierson and Gavin Chuck won Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance for Dennehy’s Land Of Winter with Alarm Will Sound. Pierson is artistic director and conductor of Alarm Will Sound and Chuck is executive director. This is their first Grammy Award. Land of Winter was also nominated for Best Contemporary Classical Composition. The album features violist Matt Albert ’03 MMus.

Marco PaguiaAlumnus Marco Paguia ’99 (left), music director of Buena Vista Social Club, won his first Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. Last year, Paguia won a Tony Award for Best Orchestrations for Buena Vista Social Club.

Jazz saxophonist and alumnus Ron Blake ’86 performed on Christian McBride Big Band’s album Without Further Ado, Vol 1, which won Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album. Christian McBride Big Band has won four Grammy Awards to date. Blake will perform with the Northwestern University Jazz Orchestra on March 12. 

Several additional alumni were among the 2026 Grammy nominees.

  • Alan Pierson
  • Gavin Chuck