Dear Alum,
We want to give a big shout out to music greats with UNT ties who won big at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards last night. They are part of our great music legacy, continuing a longstanding tradition of members of the UNT family winning Grammys and earning nominations for everything from jazz and classical music to vocal performance.
This year's winners include:
- Country star newcomer and former student Maren Morris (top center, photo courtesy of AP), who won the Grammy for Best Country Solo Performance. She previously won the New Artist of the Year award from the Country Music Association.
- Jazz band Snarky Puppy (bottom), a group made up of several College of Music alumni, who won the Best Contemporary Instrumental Album Grammy. Alumnus Michael League is Snarky Puppy's founder, bassist and composer. Among the other alumni who make up the band that has roughly two dozen rotating members are Nate Werth, percussion; Justin Stanton ('10 M.M.), trumpet and keyboards; Bob Lanzetti ('04), guitar; Mike Maher ('04), trumpet; Chris Bullock, tenor saxophone; Chris McQueen ('06), electric guitar; and Jay Jennings, trumpet.
- Composition alumnus Michael Daugherty ('76) (top left, photo courtesy of AP), who won three Grammy Awards for Best Contemporary Classical Composition, Classical Instrumental Solo and Classical Compendium.
- Opera stars and alumni Patricia Racette ('88) (top right, photo courtesy of Devon Cass) and Scott Scully ('99), who provided vocals for the album Corigliano: The Ghosts of Versailles, which won Grammy Awards for Best Opera Recording and Engineered Album, Classical.
- Saxophonist Tyler Summers (ΚΌ02), who played on Kirk Franklin's album Losing My Religion, which won Best Gospel Album.
There also were several in the UNT family who were nominated. They include piano faculty member Joseph Banowetz, who played the piano on the album Friedman: Original Piano Compositions, for which the producers were nominated for Producer of the Year, Classical. Alumna Carmen Cusack, who is principal soloist for Bright Star, also was nominated for Best Musical Theater Album. You can find the full list of winners and nominees in The North Texan.
We're so proud of these talented musical artists for their success. They join other UNT family members who have earned Grammy Awards, such as Norah Jones, and those who have been nominated including our very own One O'Clock Lab Band.
We can't wait to hear what's next from all of these music standouts!
UNT Proud,
Neal Smatresk
President
 @UNTPrez |
