The nominations for the 2023 Grammy Awards have been announced, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin leads the Canadian contingent with five nods in four categories.
He’s tied with a prolific music producer, and several other Canadian artists making a splash on the international stage.
The Yannick Nézet-Séguin/Canadian classical music nods
Here are the categories, and other contenders, where the Montréal conductor and musician is nominated.
Best Opera Recording
Award to the Conductor, Album Producer(s) and Principal Soloists, and to the Composer and Librettist (if applicable) of a world premiere Opera recording only.
- Aucoin: Eurydice — Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor; Barry Banks, Nathan Berg, Joshua Hopkins, Erin Morley & Jakub Józef Orliński; David Frost, producer (The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; The Metropolitan Opera Chorus)
- Blanchard: Fire Shut Up In My Bones — Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor; Angel Blue, Will Liverman, Latonia Moore & Walter Russell III; David Frost, producer (The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; The Metropolitan Opera Chorus)
- Davis: X — The Life And Times Of Malcolm X — Gil Rose, conductor; Ronnita Miller, Whitney Morrison, Victor Robertson & Davóne Tines; Gil Rose, producer (Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Odyssey Opera Chorus)
Best Choral Performance
Award to the Conductor, and to the Choral Director and/or Chorus Master where applicable, and to the Choral Organization/Ensemble.
- Bach: St. John Passion — John Eliot Gardiner, conductor (English Baroque Soloists; Monteverdi Choir)
- Born — Donald Nally, conductor (Dominic German, Maren Montalbano, Rebecca Myers & James Reese; The Crossing)
- Verdi: Requiem — The Met Remembers 9/11 — Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor; Donald Palumbo, chorus master (Michelle DeYoung, Eric Owens, Ailyn Pérez & Matthew Polenzani; The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; The Metropolitan Opera Chorus)
Best Classical Solo Vocal Album
Award to: Vocalist(s), Collaborative Artist(s) (Ex: pianists, conductors, chamber groups) Producer(s), Recording Engineers/Mixers with greater than 50% playing time of new material.
- Eden — Joyce DiDonato, soloist; Maxim Emelyanychev, conductor (Il Pomo D’Oro)
- How Do I Find You — Sasha Cooke, soloist; Kirill Kuzmin, pianist
- Okpebholo: Lord, How Come Me Here? — Will Liverman, soloist; Paul Sánchez, pianist (J’Nai Bridges & Caen Thomason-Redus)
- Stranger — Works For Tenor By Nico Muhly — Nicholas Phan, soloist (Eric Jacobson; Brooklyn Rider & The Knights; Reginald Mobley)
- Voice Of Nature — The Anthropocene — Renée Fleming, soloist; Yannick Nézet-Séguin, pianist
Best Classical Compendium
Award to the Artist(s) and to the Album Producer(s) and Engineer(s) of over 50% playing time of the album, and to the Composer and Librettist (if applicable) with over 50% playing time of a world premiere recording only.
- An Adoption Story — Starr Parodi & Kitt Wakeley; Jeff Fair, Starr Parodi & Kitt Wakeley, producers
- Aspire — JP Jofre & Seunghee Lee; Enrico Fagone, conductor; Jonathan Allen, producer
- A Concert For Ukraine — Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor; David Frost, producer
- The Lost Birds — Voces8; Barnaby Smith & Christopher Tin, conductors; Sean Patrick Flahaven & Christopher Tin, producers
Other classical Canadian connections
Under Producer of the Year, Classical, Judith Sherman gets a nod for her work on two releases by Québécois virtuoso Marc-André Hamelin: Bach, C.P.E.: Sonatas & Rondos (Marc-André Hamelin) and Bolcom: The Complete Rags (Marc-André Hamelin). She’s also recognized for her work on severla other 2022 releases.
Under Best Historical Album, compilation producer Robert Russ and mastering engineer Martin Kistner are nominated for The Goldberg Variations — The Complete Unreleased 1981 Studio Sessions, a tribute to the late, legendary Canadian pianist Glenn Gould.
Other Canadian Grammy nods
Romanian-Canadian audio engineer and mixer Serban Ghenea ties Nézet-Séguin’s five Grammy nominations. Among others, he’s up for record of the year for Mary J. Blige’s Good Morning Gorgeous. Ghenea has previously won 19 Grammy Awards.
- Toronto producer Boi-1da, aka Matthew Samuels, garnered four nominations, two for album of the year category for Beyoncé’s Renaissance and Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers;
- Drake is recognized in three categories, in spite of boycotting the Grammys for years.;
- Michael Bublé’s Higher is nominated for traditional pop vocal album;
- DJ and producer Kaytranada’s Intimidated featuring H.E.R., is recognized for dance/electronic recording;
- Bryan Adams is nominated for best rock performance for his song “So Happy It Hurts”;
- Arcade Fire gets a nod for best alternative music album for We;
- Winnipeg-born mixing engineer Jesse Ray Ernster is nominated for record of the year for his work on Doja Cat’s Woman;
- Along with Ghenea, Shawn Everett from Bragg Creek, Alta, and Vancouver producer Tobias Jesso Jr. are nominated for album of the year for Adele’s 30;
- Montréal film director Xavier Dolan and Quebec producer Nancy Grant are nominated for best music video for Adele’s “Easy On Me”;
- Montréal artist Allison Russell is nominated for best American roots performance for her contributions to “Prodigal Daughter,” alongside Aoife O’Donovan.
- Justin Bieber and his film crew are nominated for best music film Grammy for his documentary Our World;
- Also in the best music film category, Neil Young’s A Band A Brotherhood A Barn documentary gets a nod.
The 65th Grammy Awards will be hosted by Trevor Noah and broadcast Feb. 5 on Citytv and CBS from Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena.
Good luck to all.
#LUDWIGVAN
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