67th GRAMMY Awards Nominations include
Sewanee Faculty Members
November 8, 2024
’Tis the season! The 2025 GRAMMY OFFICIAL nominations have just been released, and members of Sewanee’s very own Music Department are among the nominees. This year’s awards feature 94 categories with five finalists in each, three of which involve faculty members Erik Gustafson, instructor of voice; Dr. Kerry Ginger, associate professor of voice; and Dr. Sarah Rimkus, visiting assistant professor of music theory and composition.
The GRAMMY Awards, originally The Gramophone Awards, began in 1958 to provide recognition and appreciation of composers, songwriters, and musicians in the industry. One of the four most notable annual American awards (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony), the Grammy nominates on an individual and/or ensemble basis. Two rounds of voting are conducted to determine nominees and ultimate winners, and the awardees will be announced at the annual ceremony on February 2, 2025 at the Crypto Arena in Los Angeles, California.
Professor Erik Gustafson, tenor, is active across the country as a soloist and choral artist. He sings on Skylark Vocal Ensemble’s album Clear Voices in the Dark, which has been nominated for Best Choral Performance as well as Best Engineered Album, Classical. This album pairs poignant American Civil War-era songs with Figure Humaine, which Francis Poulenc composed in 1943 in Vichy, France. The work employs the poems of Paul Eluard and features eight movements for unaccompanied choir on the themes of war, tragedy, and resistance, evoking a sense of optimism and liberty in the face of oppression. The Boston Globe has described Skylark’s music as “somber and contemplative to reassuring and ecstatic.” Based in eastern Massachusetts, the ensemble now boasts four GRAMMY nominations.
Dr. Kerry Ginger, mezzo-soprano, represents Sewanee nationally as a voice pedagogue, performer, clinician, and scholar. She sings on True Concord Voices and Orchestra’s album A Dream So Bright: Choral Music of Jake Runestad, which has been nominated for Best Choral Performance. This album features two world premiere recordings by Jake Runestad, incorporating text from poets Brian Turner, a veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, and Todd Boss. True Concord seeks to provide a creative and synergistic experience between audience and performers, a feat Runestad describes as “compassionate, emotionally layered, elegant, and poignant.” Based in Tucson, Arizona, True Concord incorporates voices and instrumentalists of the highest caliber from across the country and is thriving in their 20th season.
Dr. Sarah Rimkus, composer, has received many commissions across the United States and the United Kingdom, including a recent appointment by the multiple Grammy-winning professional chamber choir, The Crossing. A vocal ensemble dedicated to performing new music highlighting social, environmental, and political issues, Philadelphia-based The Crossing have been nominated for Best Choral Performance for their album Ochre, which explores relationships with the Earth. The New York Times has reported their music to “combine an embrace of the new, a social conscience and fearless technique.” In a recent interview by Shoutout LA, conductor Donald Nally states, “I love telling stories and the one I’m most interested in is the one we’re all living [in] right now.” Last March, selections from Rimkus’s Babylon, which highlights themes of refugeeism and isolation, were introduced to audiences of The Crossing, who had but one request: “more!” The group recently selected Dr. Rimkus to be their resident composer for the 2024-2025 season, entitled “Transcendental Idealists.” For that post, she has been commissioned to compose a new piece for the ensemble, which will premiere in December 2025.
We applaud these three music faculty for their dedication and hard work yielding these incredible and well deserved accomplishments. Stay tuned for updates on their nominations and works in the new year!
