The Grammy Award Ceremony, scheduled for 31 January 2021 on CBS, has been postponed. A press release by the organisers of the Grammy Awards reads:

After thoughtful conversations with health experts, our host and artists scheduled to appear, we are rescheduling the 63rd Annual GRAMMY Awards^® to be broadcast Sunday 14 March 2021.

Nominations in the classical music categories include Cecilia Bartoli with Giovanni Antonini conducting Il Giardino Armonico, for the album Farinelli (Best Classical Solo Vocal Album); Thomas Adès and Kirill Gerstein for the recording of Adès’ Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (Best Contemporary Classical Composition and Best Classical Instrumental Solo); and Handel’s Agrippina with Elsa Benoit, Joyce DiDonato, Franco Fagioli, Jakub Józef Orliński and Luca Pisaroni, with Maxim Emelyanychev conducting Il Pomo D’Oro (Best Opera Recording).

The deteriorating Covid situation in Los Angeles, with hospital services being overwhelmed, ICUs having reached capacity, and new guidance from state and local governments have all led us to conclude that postponing our show was the right thing to do. Nothing is more important than the health and safety of those in our music community and the hundreds of people who work tirelessly on producing the show.

We want to thank all of the talented artists, the staff, our vendors and especially this year’s nominees for their understanding, patience and willingness to work with us as we navigate these unprecedented times.

Classical Music Nominations 2021

Best Orchestral Performance
Award to the Conductor and to the Orchestra.

• ASPECTS OF AMERICA – PULITZER EDITION
  Carlos Kalmar, conductor (Oregon Symphony)
   
• CONCURRENCE
  Daníel Bjarnason, conductor (Iceland Symphony Orchestra)
   
• COPLAND: SYMPHONY NO. 3
  Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor (San Francisco Symphony)
   
• IVES: COMPLETE SYMPHONIES
  Gustavo Dudamel, conductor (Los Angeles Philharmonic)
   
• LUTOSłAWSKI: SYMPHONIES NOS. 2 & 3
  Hannu Lintu, conductor (Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra)

Best Opera Recording
Award to the Conductor, Album Producer(s) and Principal Soloists.

• DELLO JOIO: THE TRIAL AT ROUEN
  Gil Rose, conductor; Heather Buck & Stephen Powell; Gil Rose, producer (Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Odyssey Opera Chorus)
   
• FLOYD, C.: PRINCE OF PLAYERS
  William Boggs, conductor; Alexander Dobson, Keith Phares & Kate Royal; Blanton Alspaugh, producer (Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra; Florentine Opera Chorus)
   
• GERSHWIN: PORGY AND BESS
  David Robertson, conductor; Frederick Ballentine, Angel Blue, Denyce Graves, Latonia Moore & Eric Owens; David Frost, producer (The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; The Metropolitan Opera Chorus)
   
• HANDEL: AGRIPPINA
  Maxim Emelyanychev, conductor; Elsa Benoit, Joyce DiDonato, Franco Fagioli, Jakub Józef Orliński & Luca Pisaroni; Daniel Zalay, producer (Il Pomo D’Oro)
   
• ZEMLINSKY: DER ZWERG
  Donald Runnicles, conductor; David Butt Philip & Elena Tsallagova; Peter Ghirardini & Erwin Stürzer, producers (Orchestra Of The Deutsche Oper Berlin; Chorus Of The Deutsche Oper Berlin)

Best Choral Performance
Award to the Conductor, and to the Choral Director and/or Chorus Master where applicable and to the Choral Organization/Ensemble.

• CARTHAGE
  Donald Nally, conductor (The Crossing)
   
• DANIELPOUR: THE PASSION OF YESHUAH
  JoAnn Falletta, conductor; James K. Bass & Adam Luebke, chorus masters (James K. Bass, J’Nai Bridges, Timothy Fallon, Kenneth Overton, Hila Plitmann & Matthew Worth; Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra; Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus & UCLA Chamber Singers)
   
• KASTALSKY: REQUIEM
  Leonard Slatkin, conductor; Charles Bruffy, Steven Fox & Benedict Sheehan, chorus masters (Joseph Charles Beutel & Anna Dennis; Orchestra Of St. Luke’s; Cathedral Choral Society, The Clarion Choir, Kansas City Chorale & The Saint Tikhon Choir)
   
• MORAVEC: SANCTUARY ROAD
  Kent Tritle, conductor (Joshua Blue, Raehann Bryce-Davis, Dashon Burton, Malcolm J. Merriweather & Laquita Mitchell; Oratorio Society Of New York Orchestra; Oratorio Society Of New York Chorus)
   
• ONCE UPON A TIME
  Matthew Guard, conductor (Sarah Walker; Skylark Vocal Ensemble)

Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance
For new recordings of works with chamber or small ensemble (twenty-four or fewer members, not including the conductor). One Award to the ensemble and one Award to the conductor, if applicable.

• CONTEMPORARY VOICES
  Pacifica Quartet
   
• HEALING MODES
  Brooklyn Rider
  
• HEARNE, T.: PLACE
  Ted Hearne, Steven Bradshaw, Sophia Byrd, Josephine Lee, Isaiah Robinson, Sol Ruiz, Ayanna Woods, Diana Wade & Place Orchestra
  
• HYNES: FIELDS
  Devonté Hynes & Third Coast Percussion
   
• THE SCHUMANN QUARTETS
  Dover Quartet

Best Classical Instrumental Solo
Award to the Instrumental Soloist(s) and to the Conductor when applicable.

• ADÈS: CONCERTO FOR PIANO AND ORCHESTRA
  Kirill Gerstein; Thomas Adès, conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra)
   
• BEETHOVEN: COMPLETE PIANO SONATAS
  Igor Levit
   
• BOHEMIAN TALES
  Augustin Hadelich; Jakub Hrůša, conductor (Charles Owen; Symphonieorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks)
   
• DESTINATION RACHMANINOV – ARRIVAL
  Daniil Trifonov; Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor (The Philadelphia Orchestra)
   
• THEOFANIDIS: CONCERTO FOR VIOLA AND CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
  Richard O’Neill; David Alan Miller, conductor (Albany Symphony)

Best Classical Solo Vocal Album
Award to: Vocalist(s), Collaborative Artist(s) (Ex: pianists, conductors, chamber groups) Producer(s), Recording Engineers/Mixers with 51% or more playing time of new material.

• AMERICAN COMPOSERS AT PLAY – WILLIAM BOLCOM, RICKY IAN GORDON, LORI LAITMAN, JOHN MUSTO
  Stephen Powell (Attacca Quartet, William Bolcom, Ricky Ian Gordon, Lori Laitman, John Musto, Charles Neidich & Jason Vieaux)
   
• CLAIRIÈRES – SONGS BY LILI & NADIA BOULANGER
  Nicholas Phan; Myra Huang, accompanist
   
• FARINELLI
  Cecilia Bartoli; Giovanni Antonini, conductor (Il Giardino Armonico)
   
• A LAD’S LOVE
  Brian Giebler; Steven McGhee, accompanist (Katie Hyun, Michael Katz, Jessica Meyer, Reginald Mobley & Ben Russell)
   
• SMYTH: THE PRISON
  Sarah Brailey & Dashon Burton; James Blachly, conductor (Experiential Chorus; Experiential Orchestra)

Best Classical Compendium
Award to the Artist(s) and to the Album Producer(s) and Engineer(s) of over 51% playing time of the album, if other than the artist.

• ADÈS CONDUCTS ADÈS
  Mark Stone & Christianne Stotijn; Thomas Adès, conductor; Nick Squire, producer
   
• SAARIAHO: GRAAL THÉÂTRE; CIRCLE MAP; NEIGES; VERS TOI QUI ES SI LOIN
  Clément Mao-Takacs, conductor; Hans Kipfer, producer
   
• SEREBRIER: SYMPHONIC BACH VARIATIONS; LAMENTS AND HALLELUJAHS; FLUTE CONCERTO
  José Serebrier, conductor; Jens Braun, producer
   
• THOMAS, M.T.: FROM THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK & MEDITATIONS ON RILKE
  Isabel Leonard; Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor; Jack Vad, producer
   
• WOOLF, L.P.: FIRE AND FLOOD
  Matt Haimovitz; Julian Wachner, conductor; Blanton Alspaugh, producer

Best Contemporary Classical Composition
A Composer’s Award. (For a contemporary classical composition composed within the last 25 years, and released for the first time during the Eligibility Year.) Award to the librettist, if applicable.

• ADÈS: CONCERTO FOR PIANO AND ORCHESTRA
  Thomas Adès, composer (Kirill Gerstein, Thomas Adès & Boston Symphony Orchestra)
   
• DANIELPOUR: THE PASSION OF YESHUA
  Richard Danielpour, composer (JoAnn Falletta, James K. Bass, Adam Luebke, UCLA Chamber Singers, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra & Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus)
   
• FLOYD, C.: PRINCE OF PLAYERS
  Carlisle Floyd, composer (William Boggs, Alexander Dobson, Kate Royal, Keith Phares, Florentine Opera Chorus & Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra)
  
• HEARNE, T.: PLACE
  Ted Hearne, composer (Ted Hearne, Steven Bradshaw, Sophia Byrd, Josephine Lee, Isaiah Robinson, Sol Ruiz, Ayanna Woods & Place Orchestra)
   
• ROUSE: SYMPHONY NO. 5
  Christopher Rouse, composer (Giancarlo Guerrero & Nashville Symphony)