Nashville Symphony Recording Earns 3 Grammy Awards

The Recording Academy announced today that the Nashville Symphony's recording of Michael Daugherty's Metropolis Symphony and Deus Ex Machina received three GRAMMY® Awards. Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero and the orchestra won in the category of Best Orchestral Performance, while composer Daugherty won in the category of Best Classical Contemporary Composition for his piece Deus ex Machina. In addition, the recording's engineers, Mark Donahue, John Hill and Dirk Sobotka, earned an award in the category of Best Engineered Album, Classical (in a tie with the engineers of Quincy Porter's Complete Viola Works). The announcement was made at the 53rd annual GRAMMY® Awards in Los Angeles.

"I am so proud of our orchestra, and I can't think of a better way to recognize their incredible musicianship and hard work," Guerrero said. "We were up against some strong competition in the category of Best Orchestral Performance, and earning these awards really says something about the high level of performance we've achieved. These awards also further cement our identity as an orchestra committed to celebrating the work of this country's leading composers. We are just as pleased for Michael Daugherty, whose dynamic and distinctive work truly has brought out the best in our musicians."

"With these latest GRAMMY® Awards, the Nashville Symphony has shown once again that Nashville truly is Music City USA - a place where all kinds of music thrive," said President & CEO Alan Valentine. "This triumph belongs not just to our orchestra, but to the Nashville community, which has been so wonderfully supportive. We wouldn't have achieved this level of success if it weren't for our patrons, who have believed in us every step of the way."

Recorded at Schermerhorn Symphony Center and released in September 2009 on the Naxos label, Daugherty's Metropolis Symphony is the orchestra's first release with Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero. With these latest wins, the Nashville Symphony's recordings have now earned a total of six GRAMMY® Awards over the past three years. (In 2008, the orchestra's recording of Joan Tower's Made in America received three GRAMMY® Awards.)

The Nashville Symphony's Daugherty recording also earned GRAMMY® nominations for Best Classical Album and Best Instrumental Soloist with an Orchestra - the latter for pianist Terrence Wilson's performance on Deus Ex Machina. In addition, producer Blanton Alspaugh earned a nomination for Producer of the Year, Classical, in recognition for his work on Metropolis Symphony, along with several other recordings. Tim Handley was also nominated for Producer of the Year, Classical, for his work on the Nashville Symphony's recording of Astor Piazzolla's Sinfonia Buenos Aires, along with several other CDs released in the past year.

Over the past decade, the Nashville Symphony has become one of the most active recording orchestras in the country, releasing a total of 20 recordings, 18 of which have been released on Naxos. These recordings have earned a total of 13 GRAMMY® nominations.

The orchestra's GRAMMY®-winning Michael Daugherty CD is available for purchase at the Nashville Symphony Store or online at www.NashvilleSymphony.org.