FOR YOUR
GRAMMY® Consideration
24 American Caprices // A Soulful Nexus // Benkan // BMP: Songbook // Dark Imagining // Dust and the Moon // Eat The Document // Lili Elbe // MotherLoad // Passing Go // Rhubarb // Rubispheres // Same Face! // Songs of Remembering // Sound of the Sun // Tulevaisuus // Vipers at the Onyx // What Belongs to You // xmachina
24 AMERICAN CAPRICES
ARTIST: CURTIS STEWART
”24 American Caprices finds Curtis Stewart standing tall”
— Strings Magazine
”Across two discs, violinist-composer Curtis Stewart’s 24 American Caprices takes the virtuoso caprice tradition in a strikingly wide-ranging direction”
— The Strad
“Curtis Stewart is something of a 21st-century Nicolò Paganini: virtuoso violinist and composer, and now creator of a collection inspired by his 19th-century Italian predecessor.
— Gramophone
Best Classical Instrumental Solo
Best Contemporary Classical Composition
A SOULFUL NEXUS
ARTIST: AKROPOLIS REED QUINTET
The Akropolis Reed Quintet’s 7th release, A Soulful Nexus by Derrick Skye, is an album-length transcultural work shaped by deep listening across musical traditions. Persian classical music, Balkan vocal lines, and electronic dance rhythms intersect through intricate ornamentation and microtonal color. Across five movements, a kaleidoscope of geographies and sonic languages—rhythmic, polyphonic, groove-based, and meditative—interweave to reveal a shared purpose: music that listens to the world.
Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance
Best Instrumental Composition
Derrick Skye: A Soulful Nexus, V. A Soulful Nexus
BENKAN
ARTIST: DJÉKADY, Ft. Balla Kouyaté & Mike Block
Worldwide Indie Feature Release
— Apple Music Classical
Benkan is the debut album from Djékady, a six-piece ensemble led by Grammy-winning musicians Balla Kouyaté, born in Mali, and Mike Block, raised in Kansas, USA. The two met as members of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silkroad Ensemble, and their collaboration has deepened through years of shared musical exploration. Rooted in both West African and American traditions, Djékady expands the possibilities of American music by celebrating the cultural richness shaped by global connection.
Best Global Music Album
Best Global Music Performance
Balla Kouyaté: Democracy
Best African Music Performance
Traditional Jamaican/Salif Keita: Koromanti # 1 / Primpin
BMP: SONGBOOK
WORKS BY: Missy Mazzoli, Royce Vavrek, Du Yun, David Lang, Ted Hearne, David T. Little, Ellen Reid, Michael Gordon, Ricky Ian Gordon, Paola Prestini, Nico Muhly, and more
FEATURING: International Contemporary Ensemble, Alan Pierson, Contemporaneous, Nathan Gunn, Anonymous 4, Choir of Trinity Wall Street, NOVUS NY, Marc Kudisch, Kiera Duffy, Jennifer Zetlan, Bang on a Can Opera Ensemble, Anthony Roth Costanzo, and more
The BMP: Songbook is the first CD release from acclaimed opera producer Beth Morrison, marking 20 years of Beth Morrison Projects.
Volume 1: Best Classical Compendium
Volume 2: Best Historical Album
DARK IMAGINING
ARTIST: RACHEL SCHUTZ, ANDREA CHRISTIE
COMPOSED BY JEFF MYERS
“...Myers displays a deep understanding of the chosen texts through his compositions...."
— La Scena Musicale
New York composer Jeff Myers’ third album, Dark Imagining, weaves together vocal works that traverse beauty, darkness, and transformation. From the gothic world of Poe and Baudelaire to the quiet drama of Jennifer de Guzman and the radiant beauty of Hawaiian lore, soprano Rachel Schutz and pianist Andrea Christie bring Myers’ musical storytelling to life. Cellist Christopher Gross and clarinetist Ashleé Miller join for two of the Hawaiian pieces, adding vibrance and character to an album that celebrates the gamut of human experience.
Best Classical Solo Vocal Album
Best Contemporary Classical Composition
Jeff Myers: Poe Songs
DUST AND THE MOON
ARTIST: RITE OF STRINGS
Edward Perez, Ehsan Matoori, Eylem Basaldi, Engin Kaan Günaydın. Featuring Ismail Lumanovski
“Dust and the Moon is the debut album by a remarkable act called Rite of Strings.”
— World Music Central
“Each and everyone of them is a seasoned and top notch instrumentalist.”
— Pan M 360
”There are moments when music transcends geography. It becomes a conversation, one spoken through shared experience, mutual respect, and the timeless language of melody. That is precisely where Dust and the Moon, the debut album from Rite of Strings, begins.”
— The Sound Cafe
Best Contemporary Instrumental Album
Best Global Music Performance
Qeshm (arr. Ehsan Matoori)
Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella
Gnossienne No. 1 (arr. Edward Perez)
EAT THE DOCUMENT
COMPOSER: John Glover
LIBRETTO: Kelley Rourke
Based on the novel by Dana Spiotta
Cast: Paul Chwe MinChul An, Danielle Buonaiuto, Adrienne Danrich, Amy Justman, Michael Kuhn, Paul Pinto, Tim Russell, Natalie Trumm
"No opera is created in a vacuum, but the timing of this production and this week’s release of the recording certainly proves to be a thoughtful examination of current events as well as the ones depicted in the opera.”
— Cultural Attaché
Best Opera Recording
Best Contemporary Classical Composition
LILI ELBE
COMPOSER: Tobias Picker
LIBRETTIST: Aryeh Lev Stollman
DRAMATURG: Lucia Lucas
SINFONIEORCHESTER ST. GALLEN,
CONDUCTOR: Modestas Pitrėnas
★★★★ BBC Music Magazine
“An Opera of Transitions for a Trans Pioneer”
— The New York Times
“A riveting performer, Lucas sings from that thing we call the soul”
— Bay Area Reporter
“The strength of the entire project is proof enough that the neglect is undeserved.”
— San Francisco Classical Voice
Best Opera Recording
Best Contemporary Classical Composition
MOTHERLOAD
ARTIST: TASHA WARREN, DAVE EGGAR
Featuring Priya Darshini, Norah Jones, Pete Remm, Phil Faconti, Dika Chartoff, Martha Redbone, Dan Sadownik, Anne Drummond
“MotherLoad and Love Is Born are my two favorites on an album that is filled with great music.”
— Cultural Attaché
A lullaby is a song passed across generations, offering comfort, reassurance, and care. MotherLoad represents a collective catharsis, responding to the lullabies of childhood and the experience of becoming a parent through new works by seven mothers.
Best Instrumental Composition
Love is Born; MotherLoad; Quintet for Two
Best Contemporary Classical Composition
Dika Chartoff: Suspiro
Best American Roots Performance
Martha Redbone, Dave Eggar, Tasha Warren: I am Too from the Womb
Best Contemporary Instrumental Record
PASSING GO
ARTIST: BIRIBÁ UNION
”we are dealing with a band that cannot disappoint us.”
— Roadie Music
”Biribá Union is Bringing Back Real Instruments and Cultural Diversity to the Music Industry”
— Jejune Magazine
”a luminous gem, brimming with happy and romantic moods, effortlessly navigating between pop rock and indie rock … this single confirms Biribá Union as one of the most exciting and innovative projects of the year.”
— Radio Castor
Best Contemporary Folk Album
Best American Roots Performance Lamentations
Best American Roots Song Rough Picture
RHUBARB
ARTIST: FLORENT GHYS
Composed by Aphex Twin, “Rhubarb” (often referred to as #3 from the album Selected Ambient Works Volume II) is an iconic ambient work. My cover for double basses and digital effects reimagines its calm through layered bowed textures, reverb, and gentle distortion, blurring acoustic and electronic worlds as a personal tribute.
Best Arrangement, Instrumental Or A Cappella
Florent Ghys: Rhubarb (arr. for Bass and Electronics)
RUBISPHERES
ARTIST: MARIAM ADAM, VALERIE COLEMAN
With Monica Ellis, Tai Murray, Brook Speltz, Alex Brown, Dashon Burton, and Blair String Quartet
Featured Release on Apple Music Classical
- Women in Classical Music
- Contemporary Classical
Celebrating a three-decade musical partnership, Rubispheres features Grammy-nominated flutist and composer Valerie Coleman and internationally acclaimed clarinetist Mariam Adam. As founding members of the legendary Imani Winds, they have reshaped the landscape of wind chamber music. Coleman’s original works, now staples of the international repertoire, offer listeners a front-row seat to the creative synergy that defines their collaboration in these definitive recordings.
Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance
SAME FACE!
ARTIST: OWEN WEAVER, DAVID COSSIN
COMPOSED BY FLORENT GHYS
Same Face! is an album by bassist, composer, and video artist Florent Ghys featuring works written for percussionists Owen Weaver and David Cossin. At its center is the five-movement audiovisual work Same Face! for drums and glockenspiel, a playful meditation on identity and the digital mediation of reality. The album also features RYB, a piece for drums and pipes that explores color combinations and the language of color through the perspective of a color-blind performer. Through these works, Ghys investigates how perception and identity are shaped through sound, image, and the expressive possibilities of percussion.
Best Instrumental Composition
Florent Ghys: Same Face!
Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance
SONGS OF REMEMBERING
ARTIST: TONALITY, ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE, WILD UP
“a dignified act of remembrance, pain and anger … touching and done with a clear sense of love.”
— BBC Music Magazine
Songs of Remembering features Tonality and Wild Up with Angel Blue, Jamal M. Moore, and Ogi. The centerpiece, Running From, Running To, honors Ahmaud Arbery, a young Black man whose 2020 killing while jogging sparked national outcry. With new arrangements of “Poor Wayfaring Stranger” and the world-premiere recording of “Deep River,” the album calls for justice, healing, and resilience through song.
Album of the Year
Best Choral Performance
Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella
Alexander Lloyd Blake, Ogi, and Antonio Fernandez: Running From, Running To: A Musical Reflection on Ahmaud Arbery, "No More!”
Best Engineered Album, Classical
John Chapman
Producer of the Year, Classical
Joseph Trapanese
SOUND OF THE SUN
ARTIST: ERIC JACOBSEN, VIRGINIA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
WITH BRANFORD MARSALIS
“Under Jacobsen's direction, the VSO offers a vibrant palette against which Marsalis soars.”
— AllMusic
The soulful sounds of the saxophone played by multi-GRAMMY-award-winning Branford Marsalis pairs perfectly with the evocative works of British composer Sally Beamish and Mahler. Led by Eric Jacobsen with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, this album delivers the songful melancholy of the Mahler songs, played by Marsalis, combined with the freneticism and imagery of Sally Beamish’s two rarely heard works, brought to a center stage.
Best Classical Instrumental Solo
Best Arrangement, Instrumental Or A Cappella
Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 2, mvt IV. Urlicht (Primal light)
TULEVAISUUS
ARTIST: MACKENZIE MELEMED
“[Melemed] makes a striking debut CD with a program that pairs canonical piano works with contemporary responses to them.”
— American Record Guide
“Melemed’s performance is solid throughout. At 30 years old he has the potential for quite an amazing career … What an impressive way to start.”
— Cultural Attaché
Mackenzie Melemed’s debut album Tulevaisuus (Finnish for “future”) pairs music that has shaped his artistry with new works by Laura Kaminsky, Stephen Hough, and Avner Dorman, each inspired by Bach, Liszt, or Brahms. Rooted in the past yet alive in the present, Tulevaisuus explores how memory and tradition can shape the music of the future.
Best Classical Instrumental Solo
Best Contemporary Classical Composition
Avner Dorman: Lament and Variations
VIPERS AT THE ONYX
ARTIST: PRAGUE FILMHARMONIC, ADAM KLEMENS, CURTIS STEWART, JAN VOBORIL
COMPOSED BY DAVE SOLDIER
“This is a brilliant musical portrait of American composer and neuroscientist Dave Soldier. Virtuosic, expressive and full of life.”
— BBC Music Magazine ★★★★★
“Across all tracks, the Prague Filmharmonic Orchestra under Adam Klemens brings the tight ensemble work and zest necessary to enact the constant shifts in Soldier's lively scores.”
— AllMusic ★★★★★
“I listened to this first when I received the album and then went back and listened to the whole recording. It was that compelling.”
— Cultural Attaché
Best Orchestral Performance
Best Contemporary Classical Composition
Dave Soldier: Stuff Smith's Unfinished Concerto
Best Engineered Album, Classical
Jan Holzner
WHAT BELONGS TO YOU
ARTIST: KARIM SULAYMAN, ALAN PIERSON, ALARM WILL SOUND
Music and Text by David T. Little
EDITOR’S CHOICE: "Tender and confronting, it roughs you up while giving you a lesson in music-theatre. Not bad for an opera with a cast of one."
— Limelight
“Karim Sulayman gives a finely concentrated performance ... with an unflinching focus on the narrator's vulnerability.”
— BBC Music Magazine
“Alan Pierson’s 16-piece Alarm Will Sound chamber ensemble – an even spread of winds, strings and percussion, including the composer’s clarinetist wife Eileen Mack – seem to be able to handle anything. And they do.”
— Gramophone
Best Opera Recording
Best Engineer, Classical Andrew McKenna Lee
Best Album Notes, Alex Ross
Best Contemporary Classical Composition
David T. Little: What Belongs To You
xmachina
ARTIST: CLARA YANG
“She smartly anticipates the future without stripping away foundations that allow us to feel grounded and secure.
As a pianist, there's nothing, it seems, she can't do.”
— Textura
xmachina is a sonic exploration of the evolving relationship between human agency and machine process. Centered on the piano, an instrument that is both mechanism and expressive voice, the album brings together works by Reena Esmail, Philip Glass, Liliya Ugay, Christopher Cerrone, Clara Yang, and other distinctive composers, alongside a genre-crossing collaboration with hip-hop artist Suzi Analogue. Through these sound worlds, xmachina offers a reflection on how technology shapes creative practice, authorship, and the future of musical expression.
Best Classical Compendium
Best Instrumental Composition
Clara Yang & Suzi Analogue: Deep ConditioNN Redux
Best Engineered Album, Classical Matthew Snyder