The Recording Academy has announced the classical nominees for the 68th Annual GRAMMY Awards, which will take place on Sunday, 1 February 2026, at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The telecast will air live on CBS and stream on Paramount+. This year’s slate highlights established names and new voices alike — among them Yo-Yo Ma, Yuja Wang, Curtis Stewart, Third Coast Percussion, and conductors Gustavo Dudamel, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Andris Nelsons, and Esa-Pekka Salonen.
Here’s the full list of this year’s classical nominees
Best Orchestral Performance
Award to the conductor and to the orchestra.
Coleridge-Taylor: Toussaint L’Ouverture; Ballade Op. 4; Suites From “24 Negro Melodies” — Michael Repper, conductor (National Philharmonic)
Messiaen: Turangalîla-Symphonie — Andris Nelsons, conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra)
Ravel: Boléro, M. 81 — Gustavo Dudamel, conductor (Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela)
Still & Bonds — Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor (The Philadelphia Orchestra)
Stravinsky: Symphony in Three Movements — Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor (San Francisco Symphony)
Best Opera Recording
Award to the conductor, album producer(s) and principal soloists, and to the composer and librettist (if applicable) of a world-premiere recording only.
Heggie: Intelligence — Kwamé Ryan, conductor; Jamie Barton, J’Nai Bridges & Janai Brugger; Blanton Alspaugh, producer (Houston Grand Opera; Gene Scheer)
Huang Ruo: An American Soldier — Carolyn Kuan, conductor; Hannah Cho, Alex DeSocio, Nina Yoshida Nelsen & Brian Vu; Adam Abeshouse, Silas Brown & Doron Schachter, producers (American Composers Orchestra; David Henry Hwang)
Kouyoumdjian: Adoration — Alan Pierson, conductor; Miriam Khalil, Marc Kudisch, David Adam Moore, Omar Najmi, Naomi Louisa O’Connell & Karim Sulayman; Mary Kouyoumdjian, producer (Silvana Quartet; The Choir of Trinity Wall Street)
O’Halloran: Trade & Mary Motorhead — Elaine Kelly, conductor; Oisín Ó Dálaigh & John Molloy; Alex Dowling & Emma O’Halloran, producers (Irish National Opera Orchestra; Mark O’Halloran)
Tesori: Grounded — Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor; Ben Bliss, Emily D’Angelo, Greer Grimsley & Kyle Miller; David Frost, producer (The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; The Metropolitan Opera Chorus; George Brant)
Best Choral Performance
Award to the conductor, and to the choral director/chorus master and ensemble where applicable.
Advena – Liturgies for a Broken World — Craig Hella Johnson, conductor (Simon Barrad, Emily Yocum Black & Michael Hawes; Conspirare)
Childs: In the Arms of the Beloved — Grant Gershon, conductor (Billy Childs, Dan Chmielinski, Christian Euman, Larry Koonse, Lyris Quartet, Anne Akiko Meyers, Carol Robbins & Luciana Souza; Los Angeles Master Chorale)
Lang: Poor Hymnal — Donald Nally, conductor (Steven Bradshaw, Michael Hawes, Lauren Kelly, Rebecca Siler & Elisa Sutherland; The Crossing)
Ortiz: Yanga — Gustavo Dudamel, conductor; Grant Gershon, chorus master (Los Angeles Philharmonic & Los Angeles Master Chorale)
Requiem of Light — Steven Fox, conductor; Emily Drennan & Patti Drennan, chorus masters (Brian Giebler & Sangeeta Kaur; The Clarion Choir)
Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance
For new recordings by chamber/small ensemble (≤24 players, not including conductor).
Dennehy: Land of Winter — Alan Pierson & Alarm Will Sound
La Mer – French Piano Trios — Neave Trio
Lullabies for the Brokenhearted — Lili Haydn & Paul Cantelon
Slavic Sessions — Yuja Wang; Andris Nelsons, conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra)
Standard Stoppages — Third Coast Percussion
Best Classical Instrumental Solo
Award to the instrumental soloist(s) and to the conductor when applicable.
Coleridge-Taylor: 3 Selections from “24 Negro Melodies” — Curtis Stewart; Michael Repper, conductor (National Philharmonic)
Hope Orchestrated — Mary Dawood Catlin; Jesús David Medina & Raniero Palm, conductors (Venezuela Strings Recording Ensemble)
Inheritances — Adam Tendler
Price: Piano Concerto in One Movement in D minor — Han Chen; John Jeter, conductor (Malmö Opera Orchestra)
Shostakovich: The Cello Concertos — Yo-Yo Ma; Andris Nelsons, conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra)
Shostakovich: The Piano Concertos; Solo Works — Yuja Wang; Andris Nelsons, conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra)
Best Classical Solo Vocal Album
Award to vocalist(s), collaborative artist(s), producer(s), and engineers/mixers (for albums with more than 50% new material).
Alike – My Mother’s Dream — Allison Charney, soloist; Benjamin Loeb, conductor (National Symphonia Orchestra)
Black Pierrot — Sidney Outlaw, soloist; Warren Jones, pianist
In This Short Life — Devony Smith, soloist; Danny Zelibor, pianist; Michael Nicolas, artist
Kurtág: Kafka Fragments — Susan Narucki, soloist; Curtis Macomber, artist
Schubert Beatles — Theo Hoffman, soloist; Steven Blier, pianist (Rupert Boyd, Julia Bullock, Alex Levine, Andrew Owens, Rubén Rengel & Sam Weber)
Telemann: Ino – Opera Arias for Soprano — Amanda Forsythe, soloist; Robert Mealy, Paul O’Dette & Stephen Stubbs, conductors (Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra)
Best Classical Compendium
Award to the artist(s), album producer(s) and engineer(s); and to the composer/librettist with over 50% playing time of a world-premiere recording.
Cerrone: Don’t Look Down — Sandbox Percussion; Jonathan Allen, Victor Caccese, Christopher Cerrone, Ian Rosenbaum, Terry Sweeney & Mike Tierney, producers
The Dunbar/Moore Sessions, Vol. II — Will Liverman; Jonathan Estabrooks, producer
Ortiz: Yanga — Gustavo Dudamel, conductor; Dmitriy Lipay, producer
Seven Seasons — Janai Brugger, Isolde Fair, MB Gordy & Starr Parodi; Nicholas Dodd, conductor; Jeff Fair, Starr Parodi & Kitt Wakeley, producers
Tombeaux — Christina Sandsengen; Shaun Drew & Christina Sandsengen, producers
Best Contemporary Classical Composition
A composer’s award (for works composed within the last 25 years and released for the first time during the eligibility year).
Cerrone: Don’t Look Down — Christopher Cerrone, composer (Conor Hanick & Sandbox Percussion)
Dennehy: Land of Winter — Donnacha Dennehy, composer (Alan Pierson & Alarm Will Sound)
León: Raíces (Origins) — Tania León, composer (Edward Gardner & London Philharmonic Orchestra)
Okpebholo: Songs in Flight — Shawn E. Okpebholo, composer (Will Liverman, Paul Sánchez & Various Artists)
Ortiz: Dzonot — Gabriela Ortiz, composer (Alisa Weilerstein, Gustavo Dudamel & Los Angeles Philharmonic)
Best Engineered Album, Classical
An engineer’s award (artist names in parentheses).
Cerrone: Don’t Look Down — Mike Tierney, engineer; Alan Silverman, mastering engineer (Sandbox Percussion)
Eastman: Symphony No. 2; Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 2 — Gintas Norvila, engineer; Jennifer Nulsen, mastering engineer (Franz Welser-Möst & The Cleveland Orchestra)
Shostakovich: Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District — Shawn Murphy & Nick Squire, engineers; Tim Martyn, mastering engineer (Andris Nelsons, Kristine Opolais, Günther Groissböck, Peter Hoare, Brenden Gunnell & Boston Symphony Orchestra)
Standard Stoppages — Sean Connors, Robert Dillon, Peter Martin, Bill Maylone, Judith Sherman & David Skidmore, engineers; Joe Lambert, mastering engineer (Third Coast Percussion)
Yule — Morten Lindberg, engineer; Morten Lindberg, mastering engineer (Trio Mediæval)
Producer of the Year, Classical
A producer’s award (artist names in parentheses).
Blanton Alspaugh — All Is Miracle – The Choral Music of Kyle Pederson (Timothy J. Campbell & Transept); Heggie: Intelligence; Marsalis: Blues Symphony; Massenet: Werther; The Mirage Calls; Sheehan: Ukrainian War Requiem; Sun, Moon, Stars, Rain
Sergei Kvitko — Biedenbender: Enigma; River of Time; Chiaroscuro; Dancing in a Still Life; Excursions; Four Hands. Two Hearts. One Hope; Here and Now – Trumpet Music by Virginia Composers; Lansky: Touch and Go; Orbiting Garden; Would That Loving Were Enough
Morten Lindberg — Fred Over Jorden (Peace to the World); Stjernebru; Yule
Dmitriy Lipay — Heggie: Before It All Goes Dark; Odyssey; Ortiz: Yanga
Elaine Martone — Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique; Chopin & Rachmaninoff: Cello Sonatas; Dear Mrs. Kennedy; Eastman: Symphony No. 2; Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 2; LeFrak: Romántico; Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 27 & Symphony No. 29; The Poet and the Prodigy; Shapes in Collective Space; Songs of Orpheus
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