Nicola Benedetti to perform at GRAMMY Awards Premiere Ceremony®
Nicola Benedetti to perform at the GRAMMY Awards Premiere Ceremony® (Photo credit: PA / Classic Brit Awards)
For Immediate Release — Violinist Nicola Benedetti will perform at the GRAMMY Awards Premiere Ceremony® which takes place at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday, January 26, 2020. It will be streamed live internationally via GRAMMY.com at 3:30pm-6:30pm ET / 12:30pm-3:30pm PT / 8:30pm-11:30pm GMT.
Preceding the 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards® Telecast, the Premiere Ceremony will be hosted by two-time GRAMMY® winner and current nominee Imogen Heap. Presenting the first GRAMMY Awards of the day will be current nominees Luis Fonsi, Nathalie Joachim, PJ Morton and former Recording Academy® Chair Jimmy Jam. Cheche Alara will serve as musical director. Other performances currently include jazz legend Chick Corea, folk music supergroup I'm With Her and Best New Artist nominee Yola.
Nicola Benedetti is nominated for Best Classical Instrumental Solo (Marsalis: Violin Concerto; Fiddle Dance Suite). Wynton Marsalis is nominated for Best Contemporary Classical Composition (Marsalis: Violin Concerto) and Cristian Măcelaru is nominated for his role as Conductor for Best Classical Instrumental Solo (Marsalis: Violin Concerto).
The album, available on Decca Classics, features premiere recordings of two works written especially for Benedetti by Marsalis: Violin Concerto in D and Fiddle Dance Suite for Solo Violin. Benedetti performs Violin Concerto in D with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Cristian Măcelaru. The concerto was co-commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra, Ravinia Festival, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra of Washington, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and Netherlands Radio Philharmonic. Benedetti performed the world premiere with the London Symphony under conductor James Gaffigan in London in November 2015.
Nicola Benedetti commented: “I am so honored to perform at the GRAMMY Awards Premiere Ceremony® and to be nominated for this project which has been a deeply edifying experience for me and one I will always reflect on with immense gratitude. It has been a privilege to learn and perform these two inspired and unequivocal masterpieces, and to deepen my understanding of Wynton’s compositional language, cultural richness and philosophical insights. Long-form musical pieces are often described as a journey and this sure has been a rich and fascinating one.”
The live stream of the Premiere Ceremony will commence on January 26, 2020 at 3:30pm ET / 12:30pm PT / 8:30pm GMT and will remain on GRAMMY.com as video on demand for 90 days following the event. It will be followed by the 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards, which will be broadcast live on the CBS Television Network at 8:00pm-11:30pm ET / 5:00pm-8:30pm PT.