The Metropolitan Opera's recording of Terrence Blanchard's Champion has received the 2024 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording. The award was given to conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin; principal soloists Ryan Speedo Green, Latonia Moore, and Eric Owens; and producer David Frost.
Blanchard's opera, about the life of boxer Emile Griffith, had its Met premiere last season, starring Green and Owens as the younger and older Griffith. This marks the Met Opera's fourth consecutive win in this category, following wins for Blanchard's Fire Shut Up in My Bones in 2023, Philip Glass’s Akhnaten in 2022, and Gershwin's Porgy and Bess in 2021. Also nominated in this category were John Corigliano's The Lord Of Cries and David T. Little's Black Lodge.
The Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance went to Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic for their recording of Thomas Adès' Dante, the world premiere audio recording of the ballet score inspired by Dante's The Divine Comedy. Best Choral Performance was awarded to the Uusinta Ensemble, Helsinki Chamber Choir, and conductor Nils Schweckendiek for their recording of Kaija Saariaho's Reconnaissance. Vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth received the award for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance for Rough Magic, the premiere recording of four works created for the ensemble by William Britelle, Eve Beglarian, Caroline Shaw, and Peter Shin.
Soprano Julia Bullock was awarded the Grammy for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album for her first solo album, Walking in the Dark. Pianist Yuja Wang, meanwhile, won Best Classical Instrumental Solo for The American Project, with conductor Teddy Abrams and the Louisville Orchestra. These are the first Grammy awards for Bullock and Wang, and their first and fifth nominations respectively.
Jessie Montgomery received the award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition for the premiere recording of Rounds. The piece for piano and string orchestra is inspired by T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets. Also nominated in this category were Thomas Adès for Dante, Andy Akiho for In That Space, At That Time, William Brittelle for Psychadelics (one of the pieces featured on Roomful of Teeth's previously-awarded Rough Magic), and Missy Mazzoli's Dark With Excessive Bright.
