Seattle Symphony press release–December 5, 2014
Seattle Symphony Media’s Recording of Works by Henri Dutilleux Receives Nominations for:
Best Orchestral Performance
Best Classical Instrumental Solo by Xavier Phillips
Best Engineered Performance
Seattle Symphony Commission and Performance of Become Ocean by John Luther Adams Receives Nominations for:
Best Contemporary Composition
Best Engineered Performance
Seattle Symphony Media Recording Engineer Dmitriy Lipay Nominated for Producer of the Year
It was announced today that the Seattle Symphony has received six nominations in the classical category for the 2015 Grammy Awards®. This marks a historic moment in the Symphony’s 111-year history as the most nominations received in a single year. Nominations include Best Orchestral Performance, Best Classical Instrumental Solo by Xavier Phillips, and Best Engineered Performance for Seattle Symphony Media’s Recording of Works by Henri Dutilleux. In addition, Seattle Symphony’s commission and performance of Become Ocean by John Luther Adams received nominations for Best Contemporary Composition and Best Engineered Performance. Seattle Symphony Media Recording Engineer Dmitriy Lipay is nominated for Producer of the Year.
“Both of these recordings are very personal to me because of my relationship with the late Henri Dutilleux, my special creative collaboration with John Luther Adams, and my friendship with the wonderful cellist Xavier Phillips,” says Music Director Ludovic Morlot, “but perhaps even more personal is that these nominations bring recognition to the extraordinary people whom I’m lucky enough to work with in Seattle – our musicians, who inspire me at every concert, our magnificent audio engineer, Dmitriy Lipay, and the entire staff team who brought our new CD label to life.”
Seattle Symphony Executive Director Simon Woods states: “It’s an absolute joy and honor for all of us at the Seattle Symphony to receive so many nominations in this year’s Grammys. We’re thrilled to have been able to bring John Luther Adams’ innovative and moving creation into the world. And ever since the launch of our new in-house label earlier this year, we felt that we had something very special indeed with this first disc in our Dutilleux series. It’s one of those rare occasions when great music, stunning artistry on stage, and superb technical production all comes together in a quite magical way.”
About the Recordings
The recording of orchestral works by Henri Dutilleux was the first recording released on Seattle Symphony’s newly launched record label Seattle Symphony Media. It was created using the Symphony’s own state-of-the art in-house recording facility, supervised by audio engineer Dmitriy Lipay. In the first of three projected discs surveying the orchestral works of Henri Dutilleux, the Seattle Symphony selected the composer’s Symphony No. 1, the cello concerto Tout un monde lointain (“A Whole Distant World”) with cellist Xavier Phillips, and The Shadows of Time with boy sopranos Benjamin Richardson, Kepler Swanson and Andrew Torgelson. Symphony No. 1 and Tout un monde lointain were recorded in studio sessions and The Shadows of Time was recorded live.
Regarding The Shadows of Time, Morlot recalls, “I first met Henri Dutilleux in the fall of 2001 after having spent the summer as a student at Tanglewood, the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s summer home. The Boston Symphony commissioned The Shadows of Time and I had the privilege of sitting next to Dutilleux during rehearsals as he reworked his score from its previous premiere. I witnessed firsthand his considerable creative powers, as he was a perfectionist in the best sense of the word and always engaged. We subsequently met over martinis in Paris, discussing music and literature. He made an important era of 20th century music come alive for me, and in the process deepened and enriched my understanding. I feel grateful to have known him.”
John Luther Adams’ atmospheric and revolutionary piece Become Ocean was commissioned by the Seattle Symphony and received its world premiere in Seattle on June 20, 2013. Adams received a 2014 Pulitzer Prize in Music for this composition earlier this spring. Music Director Ludovic Morlot and the Seattle Symphony gave its east coast premiere at Carnegie Hall earlier this spring as part of Spring for Music, and the acclaimed recording of Become Ocean – made in November 2013 at the Symphony’s acoustically superb Benaroya Hall in Seattle – was released on September 30, 2014 by Cantaloupe Music. The recording was created using the Symphony’s own state-of-the art in-house recording facility, supervised by audio engineer Dmitriy Lipay.
For more information and sound clips, visit Seattle Symphony Media online
About Dmitry Lipay
Seattle Symphony’s Director of Audio & Recording Dmitriy Lipay has nearly three decades of experience as an audio engineer and recording producer. Following a career with Russian National TV & Radio in St. Petersburg, Russia, where he produced TV and radio programs featuring numerous classical luminaries, he was a producer, engineer and editor with Sony Classical in both St. Petersburg and New York. His work has appeared on numerous record labels including Sony Classical, Naxos, Harmonia Mundi, Cantaloupe Music, JVC Classics, Crystal Records and Romeo Records. Since he joined the Seattle Symphony in 1996, he has been producing, engineering, recording, editing and mastering recordings for CD production and concert broadcasts which air on Classical KING FM 98.1. In April, 2014, he received two Emmy Awards from the New York Chapter of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in the categories of Special Event Coverage and Audio: Post Production.
He is nominated for Producer of the Year, Classical, for his work on the following six Seattle Symphony recordings:
- Adams, John Luther: Become Ocean (Ludovic Morlot & Seattle Symphony)
- Dutilleux: Symphony No. 1; Tout Un Monde Lointain; The Shadows Of Time (Ludovic Morlot & Seattle Symphony)
- Fauré: Masques Et Bergamasques; Pelléas Et Mélisande; Dolly (Ludovic Morlot, Seattle Symphony Chorale & Seattle Symphony)
- Hindemith: Nobilissima Visione; Five Pieces For String Orchestra (Gerard Schwarz & Seattle Symphony)
- Ives: Symphony No. 2; Carter: Instances; Gershwin: An American In Paris (Ludovic Morlot & Seattle Symphony)
- Ravel: Orchestral Works; Saint-Saëns: Organ Symphony (Ludovic Morlot & Seattle Symphony)
About Ludovic Morlot
French conductor Ludovic Morlot is now in his fourth season as Music Director of the Seattle Symphony. During the 2014–2015 season he will lead the Symphony in performances of works ranging from Dvo?ák’s final three symphonies, the Mozart Requiem, Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette and Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, to pieces by Ives, Dutilleux and Esa-Pekka Salonen, to world premieres by Sebastian Currier, Julian Anderson and Trimpin.
Morlot is also Chief Conductor of La Monnaie, one of Europe’s most prestigious opera houses. This season sees him conduct the world-premiere performance of Pascal Dusapin’s Penthesilea and a new production of Don Giovanni, concert performances of music by Brahms, Dutilleux and Dvo?ák, Berlioz’s L’enfance du Christ and a complete symphony cycle by Schumann.
Morlot’s orchestral engagements this season include returns to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic. He also has a strong connection with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which he conducts regularly in Boston and Tanglewood, and recently on a West Coast tour. This relationship began when he was the Seiji Ozawa Fellowship Conductor at the Tanglewood Music Center and was subsequently appointed Assistant Conductor to the orchestra and Music Director James Levine (2004–07). Morlot has also conducted the New York Philharmonic and the symphony orchestras of Cleveland, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Elsewhere, Morlot’s engagements have included the Budapest Festival, Czech Philharmonic, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Staatskapelle, London Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, Royal Concertgebouw, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin and Tokyo Philharmonic.
Trained as a violinist, Morlot studied conducting in London and was Conductor in Residence with the Orchestre National de Lyon (2002–04). He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in 2014. He is Chair of Orchestral Conducting Studies at the University of Washington School of Music, and lives in Seattle with his wife, Ghizlane, and their two children.
About the Seattle Symphony
The Seattle Symphony, founded in 1903, is recognized as a major symphonic orchestra in the United States and is internationally acclaimed for its innovative programming and extensive recording history. Under the leadership of Music Director Ludovic Morlot the Symphony is heard live from September through July by more than 315,000 people. Its innovative education and community engagement programs reach over 100,000 children and adults each year. The orchestra has completed more than 140 recordings, received twelve Grammy nominations, two Emmy Awards and numerous other accolades. The Seattle Symphony performs in one of the world’s finest concert venues – the acoustically superb Benaroya Hall – in downtown Seattle.
Seattle Symphony Media CDs are generously supported by Joan Watjen in memory of her husband Craig.
The Dutilleux recording is made possible by the French-American Fund for Contemporary Music, a program of FACE with major support from the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, SACEM, Institut Francais, the Florence Gould Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Xavier Phillips’ performances were generously underwritten by Sheila Noonan and Peter Hartley.
The Seattle Symphony’s commission of John Luther Adams’ Become Ocean was generously underwritten by Lynn and Brian Grant. The premiere of this piece was supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
