Classical Nominees Announced for 2026 GRAMMY Awards
Congratulations to the nominees announced Friday for the Recording Academy's 2026 Grammy Awards, which will be presented Feb. 1., at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Nominees include a number of violinists and string players, including violinist Curtis Stewart, violinist Anne Akiko Meyers, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and the Neave Trio. Orchestras nominated for Grammys include the National Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra Of Venezuela, The Philadelphia Orchestra and San Francisco Symphony.
Violinist Curtis Stewart, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violinist Anne Akiko Meyers
Violinist Curtis Stewart was nominated for Best Classical Instrumental Solo for his performance of selections from "24 Negro Melodies" in the album Samuel Coleridge-Taylor with the National Philharmonic and Michael Repper. Yo-Yo Ma was nominated in the same category for his performance in Shostakovich: The Cello Concertos with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Andris Nelsons.
Violinist Anne Akiko Meyers was nominated - along with the Los Angeles Master Chorale and Grant Gershon, with Billy Childs, Dan Chmielinski, Christian Euman, Larry Koonse, Lyris Quartet, Carol Robbins and Luciana Souza - for their performance of Childs’ "In the Arms of the Beloved" in the album Beloved.
The Neave Trio was nominated for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance for its album La Mer - French Piano Trios.
Here are all of the classical nominations:
Best Orchestral Performance
Award to the Conductor and to the Orchestra
- Coleridge-Taylor: Toussaint L’Ouverture; Ballade Op. 4; Suites From '24 Negro Melodies'
Michael Repper, conductor (National Philharmonic) - Messiaen: Turangalîla-Symphonie
Andris Nelsons, conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra) - Ravel: Boléro, M. 81
Gustavo Dudamel, conductor (Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra Of Venezuela) - Still & Bonds
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor (The Philadelphia Orchestra) - Stravinsky: Symphony In Three Movements
Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor (San Francisco Symphony)
Best Opera Recording
Award to the conductor, album producer(s) and principal soloists, and to the composer and librettist (if applicable) of a world premiere opera recording only.
- Heggie: Intelligence
Kwamé Ryan, conductor; Jamie Barton, J'Nai Bridges & Janai Brugger; Blanton Alspaugh, producer (Houston Grand Opera; Gene Scheer) - Huang Ruo: An American Soldier
Carolyn Kuan, conductor; Hannah Cho, Alex DeSocio, Nina Yoshida Nelsen & Brian Vu; Adam Abeshouse, Silas Brown & Doron Schachter, producers (American Composers Orchestra; David Henry Hwang) - Kouyoumdjian: Adoration
Alan Pierson, conductor; Miriam Khalil, Marc Kudisch, David Adam Moore, Omar Najmi, Naomi Louisa O’Connell & Karim Sulayman; Mary Kouyoumdjian, producer (Silvana Quartet; The Choir Of Trinity Wall Street) - O'Halloran: Trade & Mary Motorhead
Elaine Kelly, conductor; Oisín Ó Dálaigh & John Molloy; Alex Dowling & Emma O'Halloran, producers (Irish National Opera Orchestra; Mark O’Halloran) - Tesori: Grounded
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor; Ben Bliss, Emily D’Angelo, Greer Grimsley & Kyle Miller; David Frost, producer (The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; The Metropolitan Opera Chorus; George Brant)
Best Choral Performance
Award to the conductor (and to the choral director where applicable) and to the choral organization/ensemble.
- Advena - Liturgies For A Broken World
Craig Hella Johnson, conductor (Simon Barrad, Emily Yocum Black & Michael Hawes; Conspirare) - Childs: In The Arms Of The Beloved
Grant Gershon, conductor (Billy Childs, Dan Chmielinski, Christian Euman, Larry Koonse, Lyris Quartet, Anne Akiko Meyers, Carol Robbins & Luciana Souza; Los Angeles Master Chorale) - Lang: Poor Hymnal
Donald Nally, conductor (Steven Bradshaw, Michael Hawes, Lauren Kelly, Rebecca Siler & Elisa Sutherland; The Crossing) - Ortiz: Yanga
Gustavo Dudamel, conductor; Grant Gershon, chorus master (Los Angeles Philharmonic; Los Angeles Master Chorale) - Requiem Of Light
Steven Fox, conductor; Emily Drennan & Patti Drennan, chorus masters (Brian Giebler & Sangeeta Kaur; The Clarion Choir)
For new recordings of works with chamber or small ensemble.
- Dennehy: Land Of Winter
Alan Pierson & Alarm Will Sound - La Mer - French Piano Trios
Neave Trio - Lullabies For The Brokenhearted
Lili Haydn & Paul Cantelon - Slavic Sessions
Yuja Wang; Andris Nelsons, conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra) - Standard Stoppages
Third Coast Percussion
Best Classical Instrumental Solo
Award to the instrumental soloist(s) (and to the conductor when applicable).
- Coleridge-Taylor: 3 Selections From '24 Negro Melodies'
Curtis Stewart; Michael Repper, conductor (National Philharmonic) - Hope Orchestrated
Mary Dawood Catlin; Jesús David Medina & Raniero Palm, conductors (Venezuela Strings Recording Ensemble) - Inheritances
Adam Tendler - Price: Piano Concerto In One Movement In D Minor
Han Chen; John Jeter, conductor (Malmö Opera Orchestra) - Shostakovich: The Cello Concertos
Yo-Yo Ma; Andris Nelsons, conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra) - Shostakovich: The Piano Concertos; Solo Works
Yuja Wang; Andris Nelsons, conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra)
Best Classical Solo Vocal Album
Award to vocalists, collaborative Artists, producers, recording engineers/mixers
- Alike - My Mother's Dream
Allison Charney, soloist; Benjamin Loeb, conductor (National Symphonia Orchestra) - Black Pierrot
Sidney Outlaw, soloist; Warren Jones, pianist - In This Short Life
Devony Smith, soloist; Danny Zelibor, pianist; Michael Nicolas, artist - Kurtág: Kafka Fragments
Susan Narucki, soloist; Curtis Macomber, artist - Schubert Beatles
Theo Hoffman, soloist; Steven Blier, pianist (Rupert Boyd, Julia Bullock, Alex Levine, Andrew Owens, Rubén Rengel & Sam Weber) - Telemann: Ino - Opera Arias For Soprano
Amanda Forsythe, soloist; Robert Mealy, Paul O'Dette & Stephen Stubbs, conductors (Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra)
Best Classical Compendium
Award to the artist(s) and to the album producers and engineers
- Cerrone: Don't Look Down
Sandbox Percussion; Jonathan Allen, Victor Caccese, Christopher Cerrone, Ian Rosenbaum, Terry Sweeney & Mike Tierney, producers - The Dunbar/Moore Sessions, Vol. II
Will Liverman; Jonathan Estabrooks, producer - Ortiz: Yanga
Gustavo Dudamel, conductor; Dmitriy Lipay, producer - Seven Seasons
Janai Brugger, Isolde Fair, MB Gordy & Starr Parodi; Nicholas Dodd, conductor; Jeff Fair, Starr Parodi & Kitt Wakeley, producers - Tombeaux
Christina Sandsengen; Shaun Drew & Christina Sandsengen, producers
Best Contemporary Classical Composition
A composer's award for a contemporary classical composition composed within the last 25 years, and released for the first time during the eligibility year.
- Cerrone: Don't Look Down
Christopher Cerrone, composer (Conor Hanick & Sandbox Percussion) - Dennehy: Land Of Winter
Donnacha Dennehy, composer (Alan Pierson & Alarm Will Sound) - León: Raíces (Origins)
Tania León, composer (Edward Gardner & London Philharmonic Orchestra) - Okpebholo: Songs In Flight
Shawn E. Okpebholo, composer (Will Liverman, Paul Sánchez & Various Artists) - Ortiz: Dzonot
Gabriela Ortiz, composer (Alisa Weilerstein, Gustavo Dudamel & Los Angeles Philharmonic)
Find a full list of all 2026 Grammy nominations here.
You might also like:
- Dudamel and LA Phil Win Three 2025 Grammys
- Violinist Curtis Stewart: A Place for the Blues in Classical Music
- Interview with Anne Akiko Meyers: 'Blue Electra' Violin Concerto
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