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RR Awards and Nominations

AWARDS and NOMINATIONS for REFERENCE RECORDINGS Projects

From the Recording Academy

2024 GRAMMY® Award Nominations (66th GRAMMY Awards)

Best Engineered Album, Classical

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 & Schulhoff: Five Pieces – Mark Donahue, engineer; Mark Donahue, mastering engineer (Manfred Honeck & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)

2022 GRAMMY® AWARD Nominations (64th GRAMMY Awards)

Best Orchestral Performance

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 – Manfred Honeck, conductor (Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)

Best Engineered Album, Classical

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 – Mark Donahue, engineer; Mark Donahue, mastering engineer (Manfred Honeck, Mendelssohn Choir Of Pittsburgh & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)

Producer of the Year, Classical

David Frost – One Movement Symphonies (Michael Stern & The Kansas City Symphony)

2021 GRAMMY® AWARD Nominations (63rd GRAMMY Awards)

Best Opera Recording

Carlisle Floyd: Prince Of Players — William Boggs, conductor; Keith Phares & Kate Royal; Blanton Alspaugh, producer (Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra; Florentine Opera Chorus)

Best Contemporary Classical Composition  

Carlisle Floyd: Prince Of Players — Carlisle Floyd, composer (William Boggs, Kate Royal, Keith Phares, Florentine Opera Chorus & Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra)

Producer of the Year, Classical

Blanton Alspaugh for Blessed Art Thou Among Women, Peter Jermihov, Katya Lukianov & PaTRAM Institute Singers

David Frost for Holst: The Planets; The Perfect Fool, Michael Stern & Kansas City Symphony

2020 GRAMMY® AWARD Wins (62nd GRAMMY Awards)

Best Classical Compendium

The Poetry of Places – Nadia Shpachenko; Marina A. Ledin & Victor Ledin, producers

2020 GRAMMY® Nominations (62nd GRAMMY Awards)

Best Immersive Audio Album

The Orchestral Organ – Keith O. Johnson, immersive audio engineer; Keith O. Johnson, immersive audio mastering engineer; Marina A. Ledin & Victor Ledin, immersive audio producers (Jan Kraybill)

Best Classical Instrumental Solo

The Orchestral Organ – Jan Kraybill

Producer of the Year, Classical

The Orchestral Organ – Marina A. Ledin, Victor Ledin

Best Engineered Album, Classical

Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 – Mark Donahue, engineer; Mark Donahue, mastering engineer (Manfred Honeck & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)

Best Orchestral Performance

Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 – Manfred Honeck, conductor (Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)

Producer of the Year, Classical

Dirk Sobotka (Bruckner: Symphony No. 9)

Best Engineered Album, Classical

Hermitage Piano Trio: Rachmaninoff – Keith O. Johnson & Sean Royce Martin, engineers; Keith O. Johnson, mastering engineer (Hermitage Piano Trio)

Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance

Hermitage Piano Trio: Rachmaninoff – Hermitage Piano Trio

Producer of the Year, Classical

Hermitage Piano Trio: Rachmaninoff – Marina A. Ledin, Victor Ledin

Best Choral Performance

The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom – Peter Jermihov, conductor (Evan Bravos, Vadim Gan, Kevin Keys, Glenn Miller & Daniel Shirley; PaTRAM Institute Singers)

Producer of the Year, Classical

Blanton Alspaugh (The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom)

Best Classical Compendium

The Poetry of Places – Nadia Shpachenko; Marina A. Ledin & Victor Ledin, producers

Producer of the Year, Classical

Marina A. Ledin, Victor Ledin (The Poetry of Places & Bates: Children of Adam; Vaughan Williams: Dona Nobis Pacem)

2019 GRAMMY® Nominations (61st GRAMMY Awards)

Best Orchestral Performance

Best Engineered Album, Classical

Beethoven: Symphony No. 3; Strauss Horn Concerto No. 1
Manfred Honeck, conductor; William Caballero, Horn
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

Best Engineered Album, Classical

Best Classical Compendium

John Williams At The Movies
Jerry Junkin, conductor; Christopher Martin, Trumpet Soloist
The Dallas Winds

Best Choral Performance

Teach Me Thy Statutes
Vladimir Gorbik
PaTRAM Institute Male Choir

2018 GRAMMY® Winner (60th GRAMMY Awards)

Best Orchestral Performance

Best Engineered Album, Classical

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5; Barber: Adagio for Strings
Manfred Honeck
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

2018 GRAMMY® Nominations (60th GRAMMY Awards)

Best Engineered Album, Classical

Adam Shoenberg: American Symphony; Finding Rothko; Picture Studies
Michael Stern
Kansas City Symphony
Keith O. Johnson, Sean Royce Martin

Best Contemporary Classical Composition

Adam Schoenberg: Picture Studies
from Adam Shoenberg: American Symphony; Finding Rothko; Picture Studies
Michael Stern
Kansas City Symphony

2016 GRAMMY® Winner (58th GRAMMY Awards)

Best Contemporary Classical Composition

Paulus: Prayers & Remembrances
from album: Far In The Heavens
Award to the composer:
Stephen Paulus (deceased)

2016 GRAMMY® Nominations (58th GRAMMY Awards)

Best Engineered Album, Classical

Saint-Saens: Symphony No. 3 “Organ”

Kansas City Symphony/ Michael Stern
Keith O. Johnson, Sean Royce Martin

Best Orchestral Performance

Bruckner: Symphony No. 4
Manfred Honeck
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

Best Choral Performance

Paulus: Far In The Heavens
Eric Holtan
True Concord Voices & Orchestra

Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance

Track: Flaherty: Airdancing for Toy Piano, Piano & Electronics
From album: Woman at the New Piano
Nadia Shpachenko
Genevieve Feiwen Lee

Best Classical Compendium

Woman at the New Piano
Nadia Shpachenko
Marina A. Ledin and Victor Ledin (producers):
Encore Consultants LLC

2015 GRAMMY® NOMINATION (57th GRAMMY® Awards)

Best Orchestral Performance

FR-713SACD: Bruckner: Symphony No. 4
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Manfred Honeck

2014 GRAMMY® NOMINATION (56th GRAMMY® Awards)

Best Orchestral Performance

FR-710SACD: Dvořák/ Janáček
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Manfred Honeck

2010 GRAMMY® AWARD

Best Surround Sound Album

RR-120 SACD: BRITTEN’S ORCHESTRA
Michael Stern & Kansas City Symphony
Keith O. Johnson, surround mix engineer/surround mastering engineer
David Frost, surround producer

2007 GRAMMY® NOMINATION

Best Engineered, Classical

RR-108 Garden of Dreams (music by David Maslanka)
Dallas Wind Symphony, Jerry Junkin conducting
Prof. Johnson’s seventh nomination for a Grammy® engineering award!

2004 GRAMMY® AWARD

Best New Classical Composition

Dominick Argento: Casa Guidi
ARGENTO: Casa Guidi (RR-100)
Frederica von Stade, mezzo-soprano
Minnesota Orchestra/Eiji Oue

2004 GRAMMY® NOMINATIONS

Best Classical Producer

ARGENTO: Casa Guidi (RR-100)
Frederica von Stade, mezzo-soprano
Minnesota Orchestra/Eiji Oue
J. Tamblyn Henderson, Jr. – producer
Keith O. Johnson – engineer

Best Vocal Performance

ARGENTO: Casa Guidi (RR-100)
Frederica von Stade, mezzo-soprano
Minnesota Orchestra/Eiji Oue

2003 GRAMMY® NOMINATION

Best Engineered, Classical

RACHMANINOFF (RR-96) was engineered by Keith O. Johnson using HDCD (High Definition Compatible Digital) technology, which he co-invented. It was produced by J. Tamblyn Henderson, Jr., 1998 Grammy® nominee for Best Classical Producer. Recording sessions with Eiji Oue and the Minnesota Orchestra were in Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis, May 31– June 1, 2001.

2002 GRAMMY® NOMINATION

Best Engineered, Classical

RESPIGHI (RR-95) was engineered by Keith O. Johnson. It was produced by J. Tamblyn Henderson, Jr., 1998 Grammy® nominee for Best Classical Producer. Recording sessions with Eiji Oue and the Minnesota Orchestra were in Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis, September 28-29, 1999; the release date was March 14, 2000.

Earlier GRAMMY®-nominated titles

  • MALCOLM ARNOLD OVERTURES (London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by the composer), RR-48
  • BOLERO (Eiji Oue/Minnesota Orchestra), RR-92
  • STRAVINSKY: The Rite of Spring, The Song of the Nightingale, The Firebird Suite (Eiji Oue/Minnesota Orchestra), RR-70
  • BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 9 (Stanislaw Skrowaczewski/Minnesota Orchestra), RR-81

1986 GRAMMY® AWARD

Best New Classical Artist

CHICAGO PRO MUSICA RR-2102 (originally issued as RR-16 and RR-17, reissued as a 2-CD set)

OTHER INDUSTRY AWARDS

2018 ICMA/International Classical Music Awards

Manfred Honeck, 2018 Artist of the Year 

2018  BLUES MUSIC AWARDS given by THE BLUES FOUNDATION

Doug MacLeod:  Break The Chain (RR-141): Acoustic Album of theYear

2016 BLUES MUSIC AWARDS given by THE BLUES FOUNDATION

Doug MacLeod: Acoustic Artist of the Year

THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN INTERNATIONAL HI FI PRESS AWARDS 2016

Best Audiophile Recording – Analogue

Igor Stravinsky: Le Sacre Du Printemps ( RM-1515 LP)
Minnesota Orchestra/Eiji Oue

2016 BLUES MUSIC AWARDS given by THE BLUES FOUNDATION

Doug MacLeod: Acoustic Artist of the Year

2014 BLUES MUSIC AWARDS given by THE BLUES FOUNDATION

  • Doug MacLeod: Acoustic Artist of the Year
  • There’s A Time (RR-130): Acoustic Album of the Year

THE ABSOLUTE SOUND GOLDEN EAR AWARDS

  • RACHMANINOFF: Symphonic Dances, etc. (Eiji Oue/Minnesota Orchestra), RR-96
  • RIMSKY-KORSAKOFF: Scheherazade, etc. (Jose Serebrier/London Philharmonic Orchestra), RR-89

THE ACADEMY for the ADVANCEMENT of HIGH PERFORMANCE AUDIO & VIDEO AWARDS:

  • BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 9 (Stanislaw Skrowaczewski/Minnesota Orchestra), RR-81
  • FROM THE AGE OF SWING (Dick Hyman),RR-59
  • ARNOLD OVERTURES (Arnold/London Philharmonic Orchestra), RR-48

NAIRD “INDY” AWARDS (“Best Original Recording”):

  • RESPIGHI: Belkis, Queen of Sheba, etc. (Eiji Oue/Minnesota Orchestra) RR-95
  • TRITTICO (Frederick Fennell/Dallas Wind Symphony), RR-52

More Awards for RR Technical Director Keith Johnson

2008 Audio Engineering Society Silver Medal Award

The Silver Medal Award (formerly the Emile Berliner Award) is given in recognition of outstanding development or achievement in the field of audio engineering.

Other winners of this award include: Ray Dolby, Paul Klipsch, Robert Moog, Willi Studer

2010 Founder’s Award from the Nation’s Largest Audio Society

It is with great pleasure and admiration that the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society, America’s largest audio society with over 600 members, announces the winner of the Founder’s Award for 2010, the Society’s highest honor, to Keith O. Johnson. As the leading recording engineer in the world for truly fine music and the torch bearer for audiophile recordings at renowned Reference Recordings, we recognize his continuing passion for the high-end. As technical director for Spectral Audio, he continues to design and develop ever more important resources for our enjoyment of great music. Therefore, we declare “Professor” Keith O. Johnson the winner of the Society’s Founder’s Award and 2010 the Year of Reference Recordings. In the history of the award, this is the first year the winner is directly involved in the production of recorded music.

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