Two Hartt Alumni Nominated for Grammy Awards

When the Grammy Awards are handed out this evening, two Hartt School alumni will be among the anxious nominees.

Hartt alumnus Peter Boyer MM ’93, DMA ’95, and The Borealis Wind Quintet, which includes Hartt alumna and oboist Tamar Beach Wells, BMUS ’79, have been nominated for Grammy Awards.

The 48th Annual Grammy Awards will be presented today at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The televised portion of the awards will be broadcast on CBS beginning at 8 p.m., but many of the awards will be presented prior to the telecast.

Boyer has been nominated in the "Best Classical Contemporary Composition" category for his work, Ellis Island: The Dream of America. The award in this category is given to a composer for a work that was written within the last 25 years, and released for the first time during the past year. The Naxos label released Ellis Island: The Dream of America in May 2005.

Boyer’s Ellis Island, a blend of oral history and symphonic music that celebrates the American immigrant experience, has become one of the most-performed large-scale American orchestral works of the last decade, with 40 performances around the United States from 2002 to 2006.

Read an earlier article about Boyer's Grammy nomination.

The Borealis Wind Quintet has been nominated for a Grammy Award in the "Best Chamber Music Performance" category for its latest CD, A La Carte: Short Works for Winds, released by MSR Classics. The award in this category is given to artists for recordings released from Oct. 1, 2004, through Sept. 30, 2005.

The Borealis Wind Quintet has been acclaimed as one of America's preeminent chamber ensembles and features Wells on oboe; Katherine Fink on flute, Kathryn Taylor on clarinet; Wayne Hileman on bassoon; and Dan Culpepper on horn.

Borealis has recorded four CDs, including Grammy nominee A la Carte, a melange of audience favorites including the little known work, "Pastorale," by Mrs. H.H.A. Beach, and "Potpourris Fantastico sul Barbieri di Siviglia" by Guilio Briccialdi.

The Borealis has won numerous awards and prizes, including grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and Chamber Music America. The quintet has toured throughout the United States with notable performances at Carnegie Hall's Weill Concert Hall, the Frick Museums in New York City and Pittsburgh, and Wolf Trap in Virginia.

The Borealis Wind Quintet presents educational programs in conjunction with its performances, and offers programs in the Connecticut public school system. For more information about The Borealis Wind Quintet, visit www.borealiswindquintet.com.