Dudamel, Jorge Glem and Richard Scofano among classical winners at Latin Grammys

Odyssey, featuring the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, won Best Classical Album, while Scofano received the composition prize for a work for bandoneón and strings.

Odyssey, recorded by Gustavo Dudamel, Jorge Glem and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, won Best Classical Album at the 2026 Latin Grammy Awards. Richard Scofano received the classical composition award for Adagio de las tres y diez, for bandoneón and string orchestra, at the ceremony held on November 12 in Las Vegas.

The winning recordings bring two instruments closely associated with traditional music—the Venezuelan cuatro and the bandoneón—into orchestral repertoire.

Odyssey: three contemporary orchestral works

Released by Platoon in August 2025 to mark the 50th anniversary of El Sistema, Odyssey features works by Gonzalo Grau, Ricardo Lorenz and Arturo Márquez. The Academy’s album credits name Glem, Dudamel, producer Dmitriy Lipay and the Simón Bolívar orchestra.

Glem is the soloist in Grau’s Odisea: Concerto for Venezuelan Cuatro and Orchestra, which places the four-stringed instrument at the centre of an orchestral work. The programme also includes Lorenz’s Todo terreno and Márquez’s Danzón No. 9, dedicated to Dudamel.

Dudamel and Lipay were also nominated in the same category for Gabriela Ortiz: Yanga, with Alisa Weilerstein and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The remaining contenders were Opus 33 “Romantic Cello”, featuring Gregorio Nieto and the London Symphony Orchestra under Josep Vicent; Sinfonia em quadrinhos, featuring Hermeto Pascoal and the Orquestra Jovem Tom Jobim under Tiago Costa; and the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s live collection of Tania León’s Horizons, Raíces (Origins), Stride and Pasajes, conducted by Karina Canellakis, Edward Gardner and Dima Slobodeniouk.

Richard Scofano’s tribute to his father

Scofano won the composition award for Adagio de las tres y diez, a work for bandoneón and string orchestra inspired by the death of his father. The composer is also the recording’s bandoneón soloist.

His music draws on the traditions of northeastern Argentina alongside Brazilian and concert music. His previous orchestral works include Iberá, a bandoneón concerto premiered in 2016 by the Oistrakh Symphony of Chicago under Mina Zikri and subsequently performed in Argentina and Brazil.

The other nominated compositions were Grau’s Odisea, León’s Raíces (Origins), Elodie Bouny’s Tríptico sudamericano and Ortiz’s Yanga. Their nominated recordings featured, respectively, Glem and the Simón Bolívar orchestra; Gardner and the London Philharmonic; Berta Rojas with Pedro Franco, Federico Tarazona and Glem; and Dudamel with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Master Chorale and Tambuco Percussion Ensemble.

Beyond the two dedicated classical categories, Grau also won Best Arrangement for “Dando y dando”, recorded by Luis Enrique.