Kansas City is well-represented in Grammy nominations

The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences on Monday announced the nominees for the 58th Grammy Awards, and Kansas City is represented three times in classical music. And a former Kansas City resident is a nominee in a jazz category.

In classical music, “Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3, ‘Organ,’ ” performed by the Kansas City Symphony directed by Michael Stern, is a nominee for best-engineered album. The Symphony won a Grammy in 2011 in the best surround sound category for “Britten’s Orchestra.” David Frost, who produced “Britten’s Orchestra,” also won a Grammy for best classical producer.

In the same category: “Rachmaninoff: All-Night Vigil,” performed by the Kansas City Chorale and the Phoenix Chorale, conducted by Charles Bruffy.

The Kansas City Chorale and Bruffy are no strangers to the Grammy nomination committees. In 2012, their recording “Life and Breath: Choral works by Rene Clausen” won Grammys for best chorale performance, best engineered album and for producer Blanton Alspaugh. In 2007, their recording of Alexander Grechaninov’s “Passion Week,” also performed with the Phoenix Chorale, was nominated for five Grammys; it won for best-engineered album.

Prairie Village native Joyce DiDonato is a nominee in the classical solo vocal album category for “Joyce & Tony: Live From Wigmore Hall,” which features DiDonato with accompanist Antonio Pappano. In 2012, DiDonato won the Grammy in the same category for “Diva Divo.”

And in the jazz vocal album category, former Kansas City resident Karrin Allyson is a nominee for “Many a New Day: Karrin Allyson Sings Rodgers & Hammerstein.” This is her fifth Grammy nomination.

In a statement, executive director Frank Byrne said the Symphony was honored by the nomination.

“It confirms the superb partnership between the Kansas City Symphony and the Reference Recordings team, showing what is possible with an outstanding orchestra, great concert hall, and a musically focused recording team,” Byrne said. “This nomination will help the world to know what great things are happening here in Kansas City.”

Also, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra was nominated for best orchestral performance for Symphony “Humen 1839,” written by UMKC Conservatory composition professors Zhou Long and Chen Yi.

Rapper Kendrick Lamar led all nominees with 11. Taylor Swift and Canadian crooner the Weeknd were tied for second with seven each.

The 2016 Grammy Awards will be broadcast Feb. 15 from the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

This story was originally published December 7, 2015 at 4:18 PM with the headline "Kansas City is well-represented in Grammy nominations."