Paulus: and the GRAMMY goes to…

Paulus Prayers TrueConc CD art

…And the GRAMMY goes to….the music of Stephen Paulus! On February 15, the 58th Annual GRAMMY Awards took place and two recordings featuring the composer’s works were honored with GRAMMY-gold trophies!

Paulus’ choral work Prayers and Remembrances – recorded by True Concord Voices and Orchestra with Music Director Eric Holten — was named “Best Classical Contemporary Composition.” The work is featured on the ensemble’s first international release “Far in the Heavens: Choral Music of Stephen Paulus” (Reference Recordings FR-716). “I can’t imagine,” Holten shares, “a more fitting honor for Stephen Paulus and a life and career dedicated to writing music of immense beauty and inspiration. I’m very happy for Patty [Paulus] and their sons to be able to bring home this award for an American luminary and tremendous human being whom we all loved and lost too soon.” Prayers and Remembrances was commissioned by True Concord (formerly known as Tucson Chamber Artists) and premiered on September 11, 2011 as a tenth anniversary memorial of the 9/11 tragedy. In spring 2015, the group recorded the album. The disc was released on September 11, 2015 when True Concord also performed the New York premiere at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall. The recording also showcases some of Paulus’ more recent choral works and previously unrecorded pieces including Nunc dimittis, The Incomprehensible, I Have Called You By Name, Little Elegy, and When Music Sounds.

Paulus 3 Places of Enlightenment cover artPaulus-GRAMMY No. 2 was awarded to The Nashville Symphony and Giancarlo Guerrero for “Best Classical Compendium,” for its recording of Paulus’ Three Places of Enlightenment (Concerto for String Quartet), Veil of Tears, and Grand Concerto (for Organ and Orchestra) (Naxos 8.559740). Alan D. Valentine, the orchestra’s President and CEO, comments. “This latest GRAMMY win for the Nashville Symphony’s recording of works by Stephen Paulus is especially meaningful and poignant for our orchestra, as this collection represents one of his final artistic statements. We put special care into this project and sought to convey the powerfully moving qualities of Paulus’ music on this collection. Speaking for Maestro Giancarlo Guerrero, organ soloist Nathan Laube, and the entire Nashville Symphony, I can say that we all feel incredibly proud of this work and gratified by the recognition it has received.”