FREDONIA, N.Y. — The 2025 Grammy nominations have been announced and this years list features some local talent.
SUNY Fredonia Professor and Coordinator of Sound Recording Technology, Bernd Gottinger has been nominated for Best Classical Compendium as producer of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra’s performance of Lukas Foss’ “Symphony No. 1; Renaissance Concerto; Three American Pieces; Ode.”
Gottinger was also engineer and producer of the Buffalo Philharmonic’s performance of Zoltán Kodály’s “Háry János Suite,” which has been nominated for Best Orchestra Performance.
Both performances were conducted by Music Director JoAnn Falletta. Fredonia School of Music faculty including trombonist Jonathan Lombardo and head of trumpet Alex Jokipii are members of the orchestra.
Randy Merrill, School of Music Sound Recording Technology alumnus ’97, was nominated for four Grammys. The recognitions include mastering engineer for Record of the Year for Chappell Roan’s “Good Luck Babe!” and for Taylor Swift’s “Fortnight,” featuring Post Malone. He was also nominated in the category of Album of the Year as mastering engineer for Roan’s “Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess,” and for Swift’s “Tortured Poets Department.”
Merrill graduated from Falconer Central High School in 1992, went on to study at Jamestown Community College and graduated from SUNY Fredonia's Sound Recording Technology program in 1997. As of 2024, he has 29 Grammy nominations and eight wins.
John Kerswell, SUNY Fredonia Sound Recording Technology alumnus ’88, was engineer, along with nominees David Frost and mastering engineer Silas Brown for Best Opera Recording. The recording is "Puts: The Hours" with Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor; Joyce DiDonato, Renée Fleming & Kelli O'Hara; David Frost, producer (Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; Metropolitan Opera Chorus).
Frost also worked on another nominee within the Best Opera Recording category: "Catán: Florencia En El Amazonas" with Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor; Mario Chang, Michael Chioldi, Greer Grimsley, Nancy Fabiola Herrera, Mattia Olivieri, Ailyn Pérez & Gabriella Reyes; David Frost, producer (The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; The Metropolitan Opera Chorus).
"Chappell Roan, JoAnn Falletta, Post Malone, Renée Fleming, Taylor Swift, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin are respected as performing musicians who are shaping ways people engage in, around, and through music," Dean of the Fredonia School of Music David Stringham said. "We are honored that faculty and alumni musicians from our campus are these distinguished artists’ collaborators, and congratulate Bernd, John, and Randy on this well-deserved recognition of their work."
The 67th Grammy Awards will take place Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025 live at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
