THE NAXOS OF AMERICA DISTRIBUTED LABEL FAMILY CELEBRATES 12 GRAMMY® AWARD WINS

New York, NY, 01.28.18 – The winners have been announced for the 60th Annual GRAMMY® Awards. Artists, engineers, producers, and composers from Naxos, Alpha, Mack Avenue, Reference Recordings, Sono Luminus, and Sony Music Entertainment were honored with 12 Grammys at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Artists and albums in the Naxos Music Group won 3 outstanding awards. Composer Jennifer Higdon triumphed with Best Contemporary Classical Composition for Roberto Díaz, Giancarlo Guerrero, and the Nashville Symphony’s recording of Higdon: Viola Concerto. The collective also took Best Classical Compendium for Higdon: All Things Majestic with producer, Tim Handley. Hans Graf, Anne Schwanewilms, Roman Trekel, the Houston Symphony, Rice University’s Shepherd School Of Music Chorus of Students & Alumni, and the Houston Grand Opera Children’s Chorus garnered Best Opera Recording for Berg: Wozzeck.

Mack Avenue gathered 3 awards including Best Jazz Vocal album with Cécile McLorin Salvant for Dreams And Daggers, Best Jazz Instrumental Album with Billy Childs for, Rebirth, and Best Large Jazz Ensemble with the Christian McBride Big Band for Bringin’ It.

Alpha took 2 category wins. Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance went to Patricia Kopatchinskaja & The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra for Schubert’s Death & The Maiden. Barbara Hannigan soared with Best Classical Solo Vocal Album for the emotional Crazy Girl Crazy.

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5; Barber: Adagio won Best Orchestral Performance with Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Best Engineered Album, Classical with engineer, Mark Donahue, on Reference Recordings.

Best Surround Sound Album went to Early Americans with Jane Ira Bloom and Jim Anderson as surround producers (Anderson also as surround mix engineer), and Darcy Proper as surround mastering engineer.

Leonard Bernstein – The Composer was celebrated with a Best Historical Album win on Sony Music Entertainment. Robert Russ, Martin Kistner, and Andreas K. Meyer served as compilation producer and mastering engineers.

Special recognition went to producers Blanton Alspaugh, Morten Lindberg, Judith Sherman, along with Producer of the Year – Classical winner, David Frost, who have works which include recordings from the Naxos of America label family.

Jeff Van Driel, CEO of Naxos of America, commented from the 60th GRAMMY® Awards at Madison Square Gardens in New York: “The Recording Academy® has once again recognized the artists in the Naxos of America distribution family for their outstanding work in creating some of the best releases in recorded music in 2017. Congratulations to the artists, engineers, and producers who have taken home GRAMMY®s this year. It is an honor to be able to work with all of you, and look forward to many more wins in the years to come.”

Headquartered in Franklin, Tennessee, Naxos of America is the leading independent classical music distributor in the U.S. and Canada. Specializing in state-of-the-art distribution and marketing and promotion, Naxos of America distributes nearly 110,000 SKUs to traditional brick and mortar retail, as well as offering a comprehensive suite of services tailored to consumer direct fulfillment. Naxos of America is also one of the world’s largest digital distributors of independent classical music and video, supplying a catalog of over 1.8 million tracks and 80,000 albums to hundreds of digital platforms and mobile outlets across the globe. Naxos of America offers marketing, publicity, physical and digital e-commerce services, licensing opportunities, streaming services, sales support and customer service for all new releases and active catalog titles of Naxos Records and nearly 1,000 distributed labels.

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this press release did not feature Best Surround Sound Album winner, Early Americans.

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32. Best Jazz Vocal Album

Dreams And Daggers

Cécile McLorin Salvant
Label: Mack Avenue Records
Item #: MAC1120; MAC1120LP

Primary Barcode: 632433320426; 673203112018

33. Best Jazz Instrumental Album

Rebirth

Billy Childs
Label: Mack Avenue Records
Item #: MAC1122
Primary Barcode: 673203112223

34. Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album

Bringin’ It

Christian McBride Big Band
Label: Mack Avenue Records
Item #: MAC1115MAC1115LP
Primary Barcode: 673203111523; 673203111516

68. Best Historical Album

Leonard Bernstein – The Composer

Robert Russ, compilation producer; Martin Kistner & Andreas K. Meyer, mastering engineers (Leonard Bernstein)
Label: Sony Music Entertainment
Item #: 88985345312
Primary Barcode: 889853453122

72. Best Surround Sound Album

Early Americans

Jim Anderson, surround mix engineer; Darcy Proper, surround mastering engineer; Jim Anderson & Jane Ira Bloom, surround producers (Jane Ira Bloom)
Label:  SONO LUMINUS
Item #: SLE-70005
Primary Barcode: 053479700520

73. Best Engineered Album, Classical

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5; Barber: Adagio

Mark Donahue, engineer (Manfred Honeck & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)
Label: Reference Recordings
Item #: FR-724SACD
Primary Barcode: 030911272425

75. Best Orchestral Performance

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5; Barber: Adagio

Manfred Honeck, conductor (Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)
Label: Reference Recordings
Item #: FR-724SACD
Primary Barcode: 030911272425

76. Best Opera Recording

Berg: Wozzeck

Hans Graf, conductor; Anne Schwanewilms & Roman Trekel; Hans Graf, producer (Houston Symphony; Chorus Of Students And Alumni, Shepherd School Of Music, Rice University & Houston Grand Opera Children’s Chorus)
Label: Naxos Opera
Item #: 8660390-91
Primary Barcode: 730099039079

78. Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance

Death & The Maiden

Patricia Kopatchinskaja & The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
Label: Alpha
Item #: Alpha265
Primary Barcode: 3760014192654

80. Best Classical Solo Vocal Album

Crazy Girl Crazy – Music By Gershwin, Berg & Berio

Barbara Hannigan (Orchestra Ludwig)
Label: Alpha
Item #: Alpha293
Primary Barcode: 3760014192937

81. Best Classical Compendium

Jennifer Higdon: All Things Majestic, Viola Concerto & Oboe Concerto

Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor; Tim Handley, producer
Label:  Naxos American Classics
Item #: 8559823
Primary Barcode: 636943982327

82. Best Contemporary Classical Composition

Viola Concerto

Jennifer Higdon, composer (Roberto Díaz, Giancarlo Guerrero & Nashville Symphony)

Track from: Higdon: All Things Majestic, Viola Concerto & Oboe Concerto

Label:  Naxos American Classics
Item #: 8559823
Primary Barcode: 636943982327