Congratulations to our 8VA GRAMMY® Nominees

Christopher Cerrone: Don’t Look Down, performed by Sandbox Percussion

Best Classical Compendium

Cerrone: Don’t Look Down

Sandbox Percussion; Jonathan Allen, Victor Caccese, Christopher Cerrone, Ian Rosenbaum, Terry Sweeney & Mike Tierney, producers

Best Contemporary Classical Composition

Cerrone: Don’t Look Down

Christopher Cerrone, composer (Conor Hanick & Sandbox Percussion)

Best Engineered Album, Classical

Cerrone: Don’t Look Down

Mike Tierney, engineer; Alan Silverman, mastering engineer (Sandbox Percussion)

Don’t Look Down, from contemporary chamber music specialists Sandbox Percussion, reflects the group’s deep connection, friendship, and 10 years of music-making with composer Christopher Cerrone. A bold exploration of the endless possibilities of percussion, Don’t Look Down is a testament to the evolving power of music and collaboration.

Stream the album here.

Kris Bowers: The Wild Robot, featuring Sandbox Percussion

Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media (Includes Film and Television)

The Wild Robot

Kris Bowers, composer

Sandbox Percussion created innovative percussion sounds for The Wild Robot (DreamWorks, 2024), an animated science fiction film directed by Chris Sanders, with music by Kris Bowers. The earthy soundtrack uses a variety of found instruments played by Sandbox Percussion—glass bottles, metal pans, cardboard tubes, coils, coffee mugs, buckets, mixing bowls, chains, an oxygen tank—to bring to life the heartwarming story of Roz, a robot who is stranded on a desert island and learns to use kindness as a survival skill.

Stream the album here.

Beloved: Anne Akiko Meyers, Grant Gershon, and the Los Angeles Master Chorale

Best Choral Performance

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)

Anne Akiko Meyers offers the world premiere recording of Billy Childs’ In the Arms of the Beloved—a requiem for Childs’ mother and the centerpiece of the album—as well as Eric Whitacre’s Seal Lullaby and Ola Gjeilo’s Serenity. All feature the supreme voices of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, conducted by Grant Gershon.

Stream the album here.

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Michael Repper, Curtis Stewart, and the National Philharmonic

Best Orchestral Performance

Coleridge-Taylor: Toussaint L’Ouverture; Ballade Op. 4; Suites From ‘24 Negro Melodies’

Michael Repper, conductor (National Philharmonic)

Best Classical Instrumental Solo 

Coleridge-Taylor: 3 Selections From ‘24 Negro Melodies’

Curtis Stewart; Michael Repper, conductor (National Philharmonic)

Conductor Michael Repper, violinist Curtis Stewart, and the National Philharmonic celebrate the 150th anniversary of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s birth with the world premiere studio recordings of the tone poem Toussaint L’Ouverture and Ballade Op. 4 for Violin and Orchestra. Also included is a newly uncovered suite of 5 Negro Melodies as arranged by Coleridge-Taylor, paired with modern recompositions of 3 Negro Melodies arranged by Curtis Stewart, Hamilton Berry, and Andrew Roitstein. 

Stream the album here.

Karen LeFrak: ROMÁNTICO

Producer of the Year, Classical

Elaine Martone

Karen LeFrak: ROMÁNTICO

Sharon Isbin, Enrico Lopez-Yañez & Orchestra Of St. Luke’s

ROMÁNTICO, by composer Karen LeFrak, features Sharon Isbin, one of the great guitar soloists of our time. The recording includes the world premiere of the three-movement Miami Concerto for Guitar & Orchestra, LeFrak’s homage to the musical heritage of Miami, the New York-based composer’s second home. 

Stream the album here.

Final round GRAMMY® voting opens on December 12, 2025.

For Your GRAMMY® Consideration

Clients are listed in alphabetical order by category:

—Best Orchestral Performance—

Coleridge-Taylor 
Michael Repper, Curtis Stewart, National Philharmonic 


—Best Choral Performance—

Beloved featuring Anne Akiko Meyers
Los Angeles Master Chorale, Grant Gershon

Chamber Music by James Joyce, Vol. 1
Desmond Earley, Choral Scholars of University College Dublin, Solstice Ensemble


—Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance—

Philip Glass: Echorus
Anne Akiko Meyers, Aubree Oliverson, Academy Virtuosi from the Colburn School 

Woodland Songs: Music of Jerod Impichcha̱achaaha' Tate, Pura Fé, and Dvořák
Dover Quartet

Dvořák & Price: Piano Quintets
Marc-André Hamelin, Takács Quartet

French Impressions: Chamber Music by Chausson & Tailleferre
Rachel Barton Pine, Pacifica Quartet, Orion Weiss

Andy Akiho: Pentalateral I
Sandbox Percussion, Andy Akiho


—Best Classical Instrumental Solo—

Philip Glass: Violin Concerto No. 1
Anne Akiko Meyers, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gustavo Dudamel

Michael Daugherty: Blue Electra from Michael Daugherty: Blue Electra, Last Dance at the Surf, & To the New World
Anne Akiko Meyers, Albany Symphony, David Alan Miller

Haochen Zhang Plays Beethoven and Liszt
Haochen Zhang

Karen LeFrak: Miami Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra from ROMÁNTICO
Sharon Isbin, Enrico Lopez-Yañez

Beethoven: Hammerklavier Piano Sonatas Op 106 & Op 2 No 3
Marc-André Hamelin

3 Selections from “24 Negro Melodies” from Coleridge-Taylor
Curtis Stewart, Michael Repper

Stories (re)Traced
Nancy Zhou

J. S. Bach: The Complete Violin Concertos
James Ehnes, National Arts Centre Orchestra

Corelli Violin Sonatas, Op. 5
Rachel Barton Pine, David Schrader, John Mark Rozendaal, Brandon Acker

Shostakovich Preludes & Fugues, Op. 87
Yulianna Avdeeva


—Best Classical Compendium—

Beloved
Anne Akiko Meyers, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Grant Gershon

Michael Daugherty: Blue Electra / Last Dance at the Surf / To the New World
Anne Akiko Meyers, Albany Symphony, David Alan Miller

A Century of New Sounds
Dover Quartet, Imani Winds, Kristin Andlauer, Justin Bernardi, Dasara Beta, Maya Anjali Buchanan, Matthew Christakos, Diogo Fernandes, Emmalena Huning, Sumin Kim, Ania Lewis, Delvan Lin, Daniel Matsukawa, Tae McLoughlin, Katherine Needleman, David Shifrin, Noah Urquidi, Patrick Williams, Jiacheng Xiong, Amy Yang, Natalie Zhu

Cerrone: Don’t Look Down
Sandbox Percussion, Conor Hanick, Elspeth Davis

Censored Anthems
Ian Niederhoffer, Aubree Oliverson, Parlando

ROMÁNTICO
Karen LeFrak, Sharon Isbin, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Enrico Lopez-Yañez


—Best Contemporary Classical Composition—

Billy Childs: In the Arms of the Beloved featuring Anne Akiko Meyers

Michael Daugherty: Blue Electra featuring Anne Akiko Meyers

Philip Glass: New Chaconne featuring Anne Akiko Meyers

Jerod Impichcha̱achaaha' Tate: "Woodland Songs" featuring the Dover Quartet

Karen LeFrak: Miami Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra from ROMÁNTICO

Andy Akiho: Pentalateral I featuring Sandbox Percussion

Chris Cerrone: Don’t Look Down featuring Sandbox Percussion


—Best Engineered Album, Classical—

Karen LeFrak: ROMÁNTICO
Gintas Norvila, Jennifer Nulsen

Coleridge-Taylor
Rick Jacobsohn, Jeanne Velonis

Cerrone: Don’t Look Down featuring Sandbox Percussion
Mike Tierney, Alex Conroy  


—Producer Of The Year, Classical—

Coleridge-Taylor featuring Michael Repper
Judith Sherman


—Best Arrangement, Instrumental, or A Cappella—

Deep River from Coleridge-Taylor 
Curtis Stewart, Hamilton Berry 


—Best Album Notes—

Coleridge-Taylor
Michael Repper

Click here for the official First Round GRAMMY® voting guide from the Recording Academy.