The Grammy Awards were handed out Sunday at Madison Square Garden, and Philadelphia artists cleaned up! Here’s a rundown of this year’s best recordings in classical music, jazz, and more.
* Philadelphia artists
CLASSICAL
- Best Orchestral Performance: Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5; Barber: Adagio — Manfred Honeck, conductor (Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)
- Best Opera Recording: Berg: Wozzeck/Graf, Houston Symphony — 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)
- * Best Choral Performance: Gavin Bryars: The Fifth Century — Donald Nally, conductor (PRISM Quartet; The Crossing)
- Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble: Death & The Maiden — Patricia Kopatchinskaja & The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
- Best Classical Instrumental Solo: Transcendental— Daniil Trifonov
- Best Classical Solo Vocal Album: Crazy Girl Crazy – Music By Gershwin, Berg & Berio — Barbara Hannigan (Orchestra Ludwig)
- *Best Contemporary Classical Composition: Jennifer Higdon: Viola Concerto — Jennifer Higdon, composer (Roberto Díaz, Giancarlo Guerrero & Nashville Symphony)
- *Best Classical Compendium: Jennifer Higdon: All Things Majestic, Viola Concerto & Oboe Concerto — Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor; Tim Handley, producer
JAZZ
- Best Improvised Jazz Solo: “Miles Beyond” — John McLaughlin, soloist
- Best Jazz Vocal Album: Dreams And Daggers — Cécile McLorin Salvant
- Best Jazz Instrumental Album: Rebirth — Billy Childs
- *Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album: Bringin’ It — Christian McBride Big Band
- Best Latin Jazz Album: Jazz Tango — Pablo Ziegler Trio
MUSICAL THEATER
- *Best Musical Theater Album: Dear Evan Hansen — Ben Platt, principal soloist; Alex Lacamoire, Stacey Mindich, Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, producers; Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, composers/lyricists (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
COMPOSING/ARRANGING
- Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella: “Escapades For Alto Saxophone And Orchestra From Catch Me If You Can” — John Williams, arranger (John Williams)
HISTORICAL
- Best Historical Album: Leonard Bernstein – The Composer — Robert Russ, compilation producer; Martin Kistner & Andreas K. Meyer, mastering engineers (Leonard Bernstein)
CLASSICAL PRODUCTION
- Best Engineered Album, Classical: (An Engineer's Award. (Artist names appear in parentheses.)) Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5; Barber: Adagio, Mark Donahue, engineer (Manfred Honeck & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)
- Producer Of The Year, Classical – David Frost for numerous albums in 2017 including Verdi: Otello (*Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Günther Groissböck, Željko Lu?i?, Dimitri Pittas, Aleksandrs Antonenko, Sonya Yoncheva, The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra & Chorus)