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
Michael Stern
Kansas City Symphony
Keith O. Johnson, Sean Royce Martin
Best Contemporary Classical Composition
Adam Schoenberg: Picture Studies
from Adam
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.