American tenor Jay Hunter Morris has been nominated in two categories for this year’s Grammy Awards, Best Opera Recording and Best Contemporary Classical Composition. The nominations recognise his performance in the role of Teague in the Santa Fe Opera production and live recording of Jennifer Higdon’s Cold Mountain conducted by Miguel Harth-Bedoya. Jay Hunter Morris received fantastic reviews for his role in the opera.
“Tenor Jay Hunter Morris’s full voice, menacing aspect and Georgia drawl fit the villain Teague, and he finds a way to inflect each line with distinctive emotion and musicality.”
Opera Today, Andrew Moravcsik, 8 February
“Mr. Hunter Morris was an immensely forceful villain, his strong tenor ringing out to great effect.”
Parterre box, Albert Inaurrato, 8 February
Third Coast Percussion’s recording of Steve Reich’s seminal work Sextet from 1984 along with 2009’s Mallet Quartet has been nominated under the category Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance. The ensembles performances have previously received impressive reviews.
“Sensational! Sometimes people ask if my music allows interpretation. I can’t think of a better answer than to play them your album.”
-Steve Reich
“Impressively combining creative fearlessness with reverent precision.”
-Helen Wallace, BBC Music Magazine ★★★★★
“Third Coast Percussion get it absolutely right here.”
-Pwyll ap Siôn, Gramophone
In the Best Classical Vocal Solo Album category, Raphael Pichon and his wife Sabine Devieilhe have won a nomination for their recording of Mozart: The Weber Sisters with Ensemble Pygmalion (Erato/Warner Classics) for which they have received some fine reviews.
“Pichon is something of a rarity too, a singer turned (good) conductor. Throw into the mix Pygmalion, an ensemble of 40 expert instrumentalists who play as one, and you have critical mass.
Washington Post, Charles T. Downey, 5 February 2016
“There is nothing here not to like, and that includes the lively and sensitive playing of Pygmalion under Raphaël Pichon.
Gramophone September 2016, Winner of Recital Category
Last, but by no means least, Warner Classics’ album Shakespeare Songs – featuring the “incomporable” Elizabeth Kenny (Fiona Maddocks, The Observer) on lute alongside Ian Bostridge – is also nominated in the same category.
