Congratulations to YSM’s 2026 Grammy nominees!
Image courtesy of the Recording Academy® / Getty Images ©
We’re incredibly proud of the alumni who were nominated for the 2026 Grammy Awards! Join us in rooting for members of our community when the winners are announced on Sunday, Feb 1.
Sandbox Percussion — which is comprised of Jonathan Allen ’13MM ’14AD, Victor Caccese ’13MM, Ian Rosenbaum ’10MM ’11AD, and Terry Sweeney ’15MM — and composer Christopher Cerrone ’09MM ’10MMA ’14DMA were nominated in the “Best Classical Compendium” category for Cerrone: Don’t Look Down. Cerrone was also nominated in the Best Contemporary Classical Composition category for the same project.
Guitarist Rupert Boyd ’08AD was nominated in the “Best Classical Solo Vocal Album” category for Schubert Beatles.
Conductor Craig Hella Johnson ’90MMA ’95DMA was nominated in the “Best Choral Performance” category for Advena: Liturgies for a Broken World.
Composer and faculty member David Lang’s ’83MMA ’89DMA collaboration with The Crossing, poor hymnal, was nominated in the “Best Choral Performance” category. Kevin Vondrak ’30DMA, The Crossing’s assistant conductor, served as co-producer on the project.
Trombonist Addison Maye-Saxon ’23MMA of The Westerlies was nominated in the “Best Arrangements, Instrumental or Acapella” category for Fight On.
Pianist Eri Nakamura ’05MM ’06AD of the Neave Trio was nominated in the “Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance” category for La Mer: French Piano Trios.
Pianist and composer John Orfe ’01MM ’02MMA ’09DMA of Alarm Will Sound was nominated in the “Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance” category for Donnacha Dennehy: Land of Winter.
Percussionist David Skidmore ’08MM of Third Coast Percussion was nominated in the “Best Engineered Album, Classical” and “Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance” categories for Standard Stoppages.
Tenor Brian Vu ’14MM ’15AD was nominated in the “Best Opera Recording” category for Huang Ruo’s An American Solider.
We also extend congratulations to alumni whose work in large ensembles has been nominated — musicians in the American Composers Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, Conspirare, The Crossing, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, the Los Angeles Philharmonic , the London Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera Chorus, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the San Francisco Symphony.
