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Stephen Sondheim attends 2019 American Songbook Gala

Stephen Sondheim attends 2019 American Songbook Gala

Photo: Roy Rochlin/Getty Images

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Remembering Stephen Sondheim’s Legacy stephen-sondheim-dies-legacy-composer-theater-company-west-side-story

Stephen Sondheim’s Immeasurable Influence: How The Iconic Composer Helped Bring Musical Theater To The Mainstream

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After the world lost one of theater's legends on Nov. 26, GRAMMY.com explores the mark Stephen Sondheim left on the musical world and beyond
Rob LeDonne
GRAMMYs
Nov 29, 2021 - 3:08 pm

Up until the day Stephen Sondheim died, the American theater legend was still creating. "What else am I going to do?" the 91-year-old told the New York Times in an interview conducted just days before his Nov. 26 passing. "What else would I do with my time but write?"

In an artform full of cliches and overflowing with hyperbole, to say that Sondeim changed the very nature of the American musical is neither. In fact, it’s perhaps an understatement, with Sondheim living in the rarefied air names like Shakespeare reside.

Stephen Sondheim was the American musical; his influences ricocheting through American culture at large since the modern infancy of the artform. It’s a vast legacy that began in the 1950s — the decade he wrote the lyrics to West Side Story — to the present day, when the very plot of the Lin-Manuel Miranda-directed film adaptation of Jonathan Larson’s Tick, Tick… Boom (a movie that premiered the weekend of the icon’s passing), stands as a tribute to the deep reverence, hushed tones, and towering regard theater professionals take to when describing Sondheim.

"Future historians, Stephen Sondheim was real," Miranda wrote on Twitter before listing the composer’s most memorable characters. "Yes, he wrote Tony & Maria AND Sweeney Todd AND Bobby AND George & Dot AND Fosca AND countless more. Some may theorize Shakespeare's works were by committee but Steve was real & he was here & he laughed SO loud at shows & we loved him."

It was through those disparate personalities, whether the rag-tag and romantic Tony from West Side Story or the titular George of Sunday in the Park with George fame, that the master endeared himself to audiences and earned a treasure chest of acclaim along the way.

His first recognition from the Recording Academy came in 1959, when the then-29 year-old garnered a Song of the Year nomination at the second-ever GRAMMY Awards for "Small World," which he co-wrote with Jule Styne for the Broadway hit Gypsy. Demonstrating the scope of Sondheim’s career, it was a gig he accepted after both Irving Berlin and Cole Porter turned producers down.

How Sondheim was included in a list of those icons while still in his 20s had to do with an association with yet another theater legend. Sondheim looked to Oscar Hammerstein II — his mentor — like a father, both personally and creatively. As a child, Sondheim even attended the first previews of Oklahoma!, a revolutionary new show at the time, soaking up all he could. Hammerstein remained a guiding force in Sondheim’s life up until his death in 1960.

"For Gypsy, he had a couple things to say about song placement, not about rewriting a song," Sondheim later recalled of Hammerstein’s advice during his initial success. "He never said, 'Gee, I think that song is wrong' or 'I wish that lyric were more graceful.' He probably restrained himself from that purposefully. I wasn't calling him down to say, 'Is this line a good line?' I sought his advice as a grand master of musical theater."

He would quickly take that mantle and run with it, going on to collect eight GRAMMY trophies from a total of 17 nominations. Most recently receiving the National Trustees Award in 2007, he won Best Musical Theater Album (a category that has had various names throughout the decades) on a semi-regular basis: for Company (1970), A Little Night Music (1973), Sweeney Todd (1979), Sunday in the Park with George (1984), Into the Woods (1988), and Passion (1996).

His first win in the category, Company, was another landmark in the genre thanks to its zig-zagging styles, from the zany ragtime of "Side by Side by Side/What Would We Do Without You?" to stunning ballads like "Being Alive," "Another Hundred People," or "Ladies Who Lunch" — the latter of which would forever define Elaine Stritch, another Broadway legend. Now on Broadway for yet another revival, each Company song constitutes a character study of a group of friends all dealing with their own personal trials, emotional and otherwise.

"I mean, an awful lot of people have gone historically to musicals to 'forget their troubles, come on, get happy,'" he said in 1995. "I'm not interested in that. I'm not interested in making people un-happy, but I'm not interested in not looking at life. I don't know why I would write it otherwise."

In that vein he was a fierce experimenter, tackling ornery subjects for a musical,  ranging from the men who have killed Presidents (Assassins) to mental institutions (Anyone Can Whistle) and even the vicious barbarism of serial killers (Sweeney Todd), demonstrating to future mentees that no subject was off limits, whether it was AIDS (Jonathan Larsen’s RENT) or stuffy American history (Miranda’s Hamilton).

"Sondheim was one of the first people I told about my idea for a piece about Alexander Hamilton, back in 2008," Miranda once explained. "He asked me what I was working on next. I told him 'Alexander Hamilton,' and he threw back his head in laughter and clapped his hands. 'That is exactly what you should be doing. No one will expect that from you. How fantastic.'"

As David Benedict, Sondheim’s official biographer, remembers, "He loathed the idea of repeating himself. He was forever searching for and creating new forms with which to express ideas. It’s that which made widespread commercial success for much of his work elusive. Yet it also made him the most influential theatre artist of the second half of the 20th century."

Songs like "Everything’s Coming Up Roses" and "Together, Wherever We Go" (both from Gypsy, which made Cole Porter reportedly gasp at when he first heard it) have so defined the Broadway style that they are representative of the artform: instantly hummable, serving as the epitome of a classic Great White Way tune, sung along to ad nauseam at Theater District piano bars. As distinct as singer Ethel Merman’s voice, Sondheim is the man who coined the very term "Everything’s coming up roses." At the same time, West Side Story classics like "America" are synonymous with the immigrant experience, while "I Feel Pretty" is synonymous with a feminine perspective.

Sondheim’s sonic impact changed the very nature of musical theater, exploding it into the mainstream in the ‘60s when the soundtrack for West Side Story the film — surpassing the likes of the Beatles, Elvis and Sinatra — became the biggest-selling album of the decade after sitting at No. 1 on Billboard’s album charts for a record-setting total of 54 weeks. No longer was the music of a Broadway hit culturally confined to the stage.

"Send in the Clowns," from A Little Night Music, has also transcended into the canon of American popular music, as it was recorded by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Barabara Streisand and Judy Collins — the latter of whom received a nomination for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female at the 18th GRAMMY Awards in 1976. (In a social media tribute to Sondheim, Paul McCartney called it one of his favorite songs.)

The vociferous reception to the theater pioneer’s daring output extended far beyond charts or awards, too: Sunday in the Park with George is one of only 10 musicals to win a Pulitzer Prize.

"The whole idea of getting across to an audience and making them laugh, making them cry — just making them feel — is paramount to me," he once explained to NPR, summing up a landmark career that not only set him apart from his peers, but made him peerless. It’s that feeling Sondhiem injected into the American musical that made him so revolutionary.

To send Sondheim off as eloquently as possible, why not borrow some lines courtesy the master himself? "How would we ever get through?" so goes one of Company’s many memorable tunes. "What would we do without you?"

Remembering Jim Steinman: 10 Songs To Know

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Saluting GRAMMY And Tony Winners

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View a list of the individuals who have won a GRAMMY for Best Musical Theater Album and a Tony for their work on the same show
Paul Grein
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 4:06 pm

The GRAMMYs have had a category for original cast albums every year since the inception of the awards in 1958. The category was called Best Original Cast Album (Broadway Or TV) that first year. It's now called Best Musical Theater Album.

Over the years, 40 talented individuals have won both a GRAMMY in the cast album category and one or more Tony Awards for their work on a given show. Stephen Sondheim has won both awards for his work on five different shows — "Company," "A Little Night Music," "Sweeney Todd," "Into The Woods," and "Passion." Richard Rodgers, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice, and Stephen Oremus have each won both awards for their work on two different shows.

To get you in the mood for this year's Tony broadcast, which airs June 8 on CBS, here's a list of everyone who has won a GRAMMY in the cast album category and also received one or more Tonys for the same show.

1958: "The Music Man," Meredith Willson, composer/lyricist. As the show's composer/lyricist and co-writer of the book, Willson shared the prize when this won a Tony for Best Musical. The Beatles later included the show's wistful ballad, "Till There Was You," on Meet The Beatles!

1959: "Redhead," Gwen Verdon, principal soloist. GRAMMYs were awarded to the stars of the shows, rather than the creators, this year. That worked out well for Verdon, who tied for the GRAMMY with Ethel Merman ("Gypsy") and also won a Tony for Best Actress (Musical).

1960: "The Sound Of Music," Richard Rodgers, composer; Oscar Hammerstein II, lyricist. As the show's creators and co-producers, Rodgers and Hammerstein shared in the victory when "The Sound Of Music" won for Best Musical (in a tie with "Fiorello!"). The show spawned such standards as "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" and "My Favorite Things."

1961: "How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying," Frank Loesser, composer/lyricist. As the show's creator, Loesser shared the Tony for Best Musical. The show, which also won a Pulitzer Prize, featured "I Believe In You" and "Brotherhood Of Man."

1962: "No Strings," Richard Rodgers, composer/lyricist. Rodgers won a Tony for Best Composer and also received a special Tony. The standout song from the show, "The Sweetest Sounds," received a GRAMMY nomination for Song Of The Year.

1967: "Cabaret," John Kander, composer; Fred Ebb, lyricist. The Tonys said "Willkommen" to Kander and Ebb with Tonys in the Best Musical and Best Composer and Lyricist categories.

1970: "Company," Stephen Sondheim, composer/lyricist. Sondheim won two Tonys: Best Lyrics (Musical) and Best Score. Elaine Stritch's performance of "The Ladies Who Lunch" is legendary.

1973: "A Little Night Music," Stephen Sondheim, composer/lyricist. Sondheim won a Tony for Best Score (Musical). The show's most famous song, "Send In The Clowns," won 1975's GRAMMY for Song Of The Year (after it was popularized by Judy Collins).

1975: "The Wiz," Charlie Smalls, composer/lyricist. Smalls won a Tony for Best Score (Musical). Smalls was the first African-American to win both a GRAMMY and a Tony for his work on a given show. So he didn't just "Ease On Down The Road." He helped pave it.

1977: "Annie," Charles Strouse, composer and album co-producer; Martin Charnin, lyricist. The pair won a Tony for Best Score. "Tomorrow" was ubiquitous in the late '70s. Jay Z sampled "It's The Hard-Knock Life" in the title track for his 1998 GRAMMY-winning album, Vol. 2…Hard Knock Life.

1979: "Sweeney Todd," Stephen Sondheim, composer/lyricist. Sondheim won a Tony for Best Score. Barbra Streisand included "Not While I'm Around" on her 1986 GRAMMY winner, The Broadway Album.

1980: "Evita," Andrew Lloyd Webber, composer and album co-producer; Tim Rice, lyricist and album co-producer. Webber and Rice won a Tony for Best Score. Rice won a second Tony for Best Book (Musical). Olivia Newton-John and Carpenters recorded "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" even before the show opened. Madonna made it a Top 10 hit in 1997.

1982: "Dreamgirls," Tom Eyen, lyricist. Eyen won a Tony for Best Book (Musical). In addition, the show's Tony-winning star, Jennifer Holliday, won a GRAMMY for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female for the show-stopper "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going."

1983: "Cats," Andrew Lloyd Webber, producer. Webber had been nominated in this category as a composer in 1982 for the London production of the show. Under GRAMMY rules, composers and lyricists can be nominated in those capacities only once for a specific show. Webber's nomination and win this year were for his role as producer of the Broadway cast album. Webber won a Tony for Best Score in tandem with his lyricist, legendary poet T.S. Eliot. "Memory" is among the most famous theater songs of recent decades.

1987: "Les Miserables," Claude-Michel Schönberg, composer and album co-producer; Alain Boublil, lyricist and album co-producer; Herbert Kretzmer, lyricist. All three men won a Tony for Best Score. Schönberg and Boublil won a second Tony for Best Book (Musical). Susan Boyle later had great success with the show's most famous song, "I Dreamed A Dream."

1988: "Into The Woods," Stephen Sondheim, composer/lyricist. Sondheim won a Tony for Score (Musical). Mandy Patinkin, among others, has recorded the show's most notable song, "Children Will Listen."

1991: "The Will Rogers Follies," Cy Coleman, composer; Betty Comden and Adolph Green, lyricists. The team won a Tony for Best Score (Musical). The show featured "Never Met A Man I Didn't Like."

1993: "The Who's Tommy," Pete Townshend, composer/lyricist. The rock star won a Tony for Score (Musical) (in a tie with Kander and Ebb for "Kiss Of The Spider Woman — The Musical"). The show gave new life to such classics as "Pinball Wizard" and "See Me, Feel Me."

1994: "Passion," Stephen Sondheim, composer/lyricist. Sondheim won a Tony for Original Music Score.

2000: "Aida," Elton John, composer; Tim Rice, lyricist. The team won a Tony for Best Original Musical Score. John was the second British rock star to win both awards. He and LeAnn Rimes had a Top 30 hit with the show's "Written In The Stars."

2001: "The Producers," Mel Brooks, composer/lyricist. Brooks took home three Tonys: Best Musical, Best Original Musical Score and Best Book (Musical). The show included "Springtime For Hitler" and "I Wanna Be A Producer."

2002: "Hairspray," Marc Shaiman, composer/lyricist and album producer; Scott Wittman, lyricist. The team won for Best Original Musical Score. The show spawned "Good Morning Baltimore" and "You Can't Stop The Beat."

2007: "Spring Awakening," Duncan Sheik, composer and album producer; Steven Sater, lyricist. Sheik and Sater shared the Tony for Best Score (Music and/or Lyrics). In addition, each man won a second Tony on his own. Sheik won for Best Orchestrations; Sater, for Best Book of a Musical.

2008: "In The Heights," Lin-Manuel Miranda, composer/lyricist and album co-producer; Alex Lacamoire and Bill Sherman, album co-producers. Miranda won a Tony for Best Score (Music and/or Lyrics). Lacamoire and Sherman shared the award for Best Orchestrations. The show includes "Piragua," named after a Puerto Rican ice dessert.

2011: "The Book Of Mormon," Robert Lopez, Trey Parker & Matt Stone, composers/lyricists and album co-producers; Anne Garefino, Stephen Oremus and Scott Rudin, album co-producers. Lopez, Parker and Stone won Tonys for Best Score (Music and/or Lyrics) and Best Book of a Musical. Parker won a third Tony as co-winner of Best Director (Musical). Garefino and Rudin were among the winners for Best Musical. Oremus was a co-winner for Best Orchestrations.

2012: "Once: A New Musical," Steve Kazee, principal soloist; Martin Lowe, album co-producer. Kazee won a Tony for Best Actor (Musical). Lowe won for Best Orchestrations. The show featured "Falling Slowly," which won an Oscar after it was featured in the 2006 film Once.

2013: "Kinky Boots," Cyndi Lauper, composer/lyricist and album co-producer; Billy Porter, principal soloist; Stephen Oremus, album co-producer. Lauper, who was the 1984 GRAMMY winner for Best New Artist, won a Tony for Best Score (Music and/or Lyrics). Porter won for Best Actor (Musical). Oremus won for Best Orchestrations.

* How about Lena Horne? The legendary star won a special Tony in 1981 for her one-woman show, "Lena Horne — The Lady And Her Music." The cast album from the show, subtitled Live On Broadway, won a GRAMMY for Best Cast Show Album. So why isn't she on the list? The GRAMMY went only to the album's producer, Quincy Jones, so technically she didn't meet our criteria. But, for the record, Horne did take home a GRAMMY for the album in the Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female category.

(Paul Grein, a veteran journalist and music historian, writes frequently for Yahoo Music. His Chart Watch blog runs each Wednesday.)

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Barbra Streisand

Photo: George Pimentel/WireImage.com

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The GRAMMY/Tony Awards Pedigree

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Get ready for the 2013 Tony Awards with an overview of the individuals who have shined on Music's Biggest Night and Broadway's biggest stage
Tim McPhate
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 4:06 pm

Cyndi Lauper was 31 and having plenty of fun when she picked up her first career GRAMMY for Best New Artist at the 27th Annual GRAMMY Awards in 1985. Nearly three decades later, "Kinky Boots," a musical with music and lyrics by Lauper, leads the field with 13 nominations for the 2013 Tony Awards, taking place June 9 in New York.

The production's collective nods include Best Musical, Best Choreography and Best Sound Design of a Musical, as well as a nomination for Lauper for Best Original Score (Music And/Or Lyrics) Written For The Theatre category. Should Lauper emerge a winner, she would join a select company of individuals who have won both a GRAMMY and a Tony and form one of the latest connections between the two awards shows, which have more than 120 years of collective history between them.

That history has intersected on numerous occasions. For example, recent Tony Award-winning musicals that have won GRAMMYs in the Best Musical Theater Album category include Once — A New Musical (2012), American Idiot — Featuring Green Day (2010) and West Side Story (2009).

Actress Julie Harris, who won a GRAMMY in 1977 for Best Spoken Word Recording, ranks as the performer with the most Tony Awards with six. Seven-time GRAMMY winner Stephen Sondheim ranks as the composer with the most Tony Awards with eight.

Of the nearly 1,000 recordings in the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame, 31 have been inducted in the Musical Show category to date. GRAMMY Hall Of Fame-inducted recordings of musicals that have earned Tony Awards include the original Broadway cast recordings of "Camelot" (1960), "Fiddler On The Roof" (1964), "Hello, Dolly!" (1964), "The Music Man" (1958), and "My Fair Lady" (1956).

Of course, these examples represent but a taste of the GRAMMY/Tony shared lineage. In advance of Sunday's 67th annual Tony Awards, here is a serving of individuals who have doubled their career pleasure with both a GRAMMY and a Tony.

GRAMMY/Tony Awards Playlist

 

Tony Award GRAMMY Winners

Mel Brooks*
Brooks has worn many hats in his esteemed career, including actor, comedian, composer, film director, lyricist, producer, and screenwriter. After winning his first GRAMMY for Best Spoken Comedy Album in 1998, Brooks took home two GRAMMYs in 2001 for "The Producers," his hit musical based on his 1968 film of the same name. "The Producers" currently stands as the musical production that has been awarded the most Tony Awards with 12. In addition to his career awards, Brooks earned a World War II Victory Medal for his service in the U.S. Army. 

David Bryan
Bryan's day job as keyboardist for Bon Jovi has yielded platinum albums and sold-out tours worldwide. The New Jersey rockers picked up their first career GRAMMY for Best Country Collaboration With Vocals for "Who Says You Can't Go Home" with Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles in 2006. A classically trained pianist, Bryan turned his talents to a different stage with "Memphis," a production based loosely on Memphis disc jockey Dewey Phillips, one of the first white DJs to play black music in the '50s. The musical, which made its Broadway debut in 2009, earned Bryan two Tony Awards for Orchestrations and Score (Music And/Or Lyrics) in 2010. 

Cy Coleman
Impressively, Coleman earned GRAMMY nominations in five consecutive decades, from the '50s to the '90s. His first career nomination came at the inaugural GRAMMY Awards in 1958 for Song Of The Year for "Witchcraft," a Top 10 hit for Frank Sinatra. In 1991 Coleman broke through with his first career GRAMMY for Best Musical Show Album for The Will Rogers Follies. That same year, Coleman picked up his third and final Tony for Score (Musical) for "The Will Rogers Follies," a production based on the life and career of humorist Will Rogers. Coleman died in 2004. 

Whoopi Goldberg*
The multitalented Goldberg has scaled heights as a comedian, singer/songwriter, actress, and talk-show host. She won a GRAMMY in 1985 for Best Comedy Recording for Whoopi Goldberg — Original Broadway Show Recording. Goldberg's lone Tony to date came in 2002 as a producer of the musical "Thoroughly Modern Millie," a tale of small-town girl Millie Dillmount who moves to New York. 

Marvin Hamlisch*
In 1974 Hamlisch took home four GRAMMYs, including Song Of The Year for "The Way We Were." Featured in the 1973 film of the same name, the song features lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman (both GRAMMY winners who have yet to pick up Tony Awards) and sublime vocals courtesy of Barbra Streisand. In 1976 Hamlisch won his lone Tony Award for Score (Musical) for "A Chorus Line," which garnered a nomination for Best Cast Show Album in 1975. The musical also earned the composer a Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Hamlisch died Aug. 6, 2012. 

Audrey Hepburn*
A film and fashion icon, Hepburn's résumé included such notable films as Roman Holiday (1953), Funny Face (1957) and Breakfast At Tiffany's (1961), the latter featuring music by 20-time GRAMMY winner Henry Mancini. She won her first Tony in 1954 for Actress (Dramatic) for her role in "Ondine" and later was honored with a Special Tony Award in 1968. Hepburn earned her lone career GRAMMY for Best Spoken Word Album For Children for Audrey Hepburn's Enchanted Tales in 1993, the same year she died. 

John Kander And Fred Ebb
The dynamic songwriting team of composer Kander and lyricist Ebb was arguably best known for writing music for stage musicals. But the duo also composed music for film, including writing "Theme From New York, New York," the theme song from Martin Scorcese's 1977 drama New York, New York that would later become one of Frank Sinatra's signatures. The duo's hit musicals include "The Happy Time" (1968), "Zorba" (1968), "Chicago" (1975), and "Woman Of The Year" (1981), all of which spawned GRAMMY nominations. Kander and Ebb earned their lone career GRAMMY for Best Score From An Original Cast Show Album for Cabaret in 1967. That same year, the musical "Cabaret" earned the duo a Tony for Composer And Lyricist. The 1972 film adaptation starred Liza Minnelli, a Tony winner and GRAMMY Legend Award recipient. The film's soundtrack was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame in 2008. 

Rita Moreno*
A singer, dancer and actress, Moreno's career has spanned nearly 70 years. In 1972 she earned her lone career GRAMMY to date for Best Recording For Children for The Electric Company, a soundtrack album for the popular children's television program. In 1975 she earned her sole Tony Award for Actress, Supporting or Featured (Dramatic) for her portrayal of Googie Gomez in "The Ritz." More recently, Moreno was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from The Latin Recording Academy in 2012.

Tim Rice
A master lyricist, Rice earned his first of six career GRAMMYs in 1980 for Best Cast Show Album for Evita — Premier American Recording. He also notched a Song Of The Year win in 1993 for "A Whole New World (Aladdin's Theme)" with fellow GRAMMY/Tony winner Alan Menken. In 2000 Rice won a GRAMMY for Best Musical Show Album for the album accompanying his hit musical collaboration with Sir Elton John, "Aida." The musical also earned Rice a Tony for Original Musical Score.

Richard Rodgers* And Oscar Hammerstein II
The late legendary duo of composer Rodgers and lyricist Hammerstein won their lone collective GRAMMY in 1960 for Best Show Album (Original Cast) for The Sound Of Music. The original Broadway production of "The Sound Of Music" opened in 1959 and has resurfaced with many revivals in the years since. The musical won a Tony for Musical in 1960, tying with "Fiorello!" Collectively, the duo's musicals earned 34 Tony Awards. The original Broadway cast recordings from the duo's musicals that have been inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame include "Oklahoma!" (1943), "Carousel" (1945), "South Pacific" (1949), and "The King And I" (1951).

Stephen Sondheim
Sondheim's storied GRAMMY history includes a win for Song Of The Year in 1975 for "Send In The Clowns." With vocals by Glynis Johns, the song was featured in "A Little Night Music," an adaptation of Ingmar Bergman's 1955 film Smiles Of A Summer Night. The musical earned Sondheim a Tony in 1973 for Score (Musical). Sondheim went on to earn GRAMMYs in three consecutive decades, with his latest award coming in 1994 for Best Musical Show Album for Passion. Sondheim also has a Pulitzer Prize for drama to his credit. 

Barbra Streisand*
Streisand's GRAMMY star was born in 1963 when she won the first two of her eight career awards, including Album Of The Year (Other Than Classical) for her debut, The Barbra Streisand Album. In addition to two Tony nominations, including Actress (Musical) in 1964 for her portrayal of entertainer Fanny Brice in "Funny Girl," Streisand was honored with a Special Tony Award in 1970. The original Broadway cast recording of "Funny Girl" was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame in 2004. Streisand was honored as MusiCares Person of the Year in 2011 for her career accomplishments and philanthropic endeavors. 

Charles Strouse
In 1977 Strouse earned GRAMMYs as a producer and composer for Best Cast Show Album for Annie, the album from the Broadway musical based upon the popular Harold Gray comic strip Little Orphan Annie. Strouse's score also won him a Tony for Score that same year. A decade prior, Strouse won his first Tony in 1961 for the music to "Bye, Bye Birdie," which also earned him a nomination for Best Show Album (Original Cast) at the 3rd Annual GRAMMY Awards in 1960.

Jonathan Tunick
A masterful orchestrator, Tunick is arguably best known for his collaborations with Sondheim, beginning with 1970's musical comedy "Company." He won his lone GRAMMY to date in 1988 for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocal(s) for "No One Is Alone," a song featured on the 1987 album Cleo Laine Sings Sondheim. In 1997 Tunick picked up his first Tony for Orchestrations for musical adaptations featured in the show "Titanic."

* Denotes one of a select group of individuals to win a GRAMMY, Emmy, Oscar, and Tony

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EducationWatch: Dudamel's Discoveries Benefit El Sistema

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THE GRAMMYs
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 3:22 pm

Los Angeles Philharmonic Music Director Gustavo Dudamel supports José Antonio Abreu's El Sistema music instruction network

GRAMMY.com
Laurel Fishman

Gustavo Dudamel, internationally celebrated conductor and music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, recently joined his mentor, 2009 Latin Recording Academy Trustees Award recipient José Antonio Abreu, in Toronto to spread the word and support Venezuela's extraordinary progress in music education. While in preschool, Dudamel had attended Abreu's El Sistema, Venezuela's network of music instruction and ensembles. A new Dudamel compilation recording, Discoveries, will help fund El Sistema initiatives in Los Angeles, home to a new El Sistema-style youth orchestra. For his efforts in music education, Abreu also recently received the Polar Music Prize, Sweden's most prestigious music award. In accepting his Latin Academy honor, Abreu emphasized the importance of providing free music education to disadvantaged children.

A new educational music and travel TV series, "Music Voyager," will debut on PBS and Nat Geo Music & Adventure in February 2010. The series covers the globe to present musical adventures and discoveries, including the "Road To A GRAMMY" special. In the buildup to Music's Biggest Night, the show will travel nationwide and beyond to provide personal looks at the backgrounds of five 52nd GRAMMY Awards nominees. An interactive, broadband social media campaign will allow global visitors to meet the GRAMMY nominees and impact the filming as it progresses.

Two-time GRAMMY-winning children's musician Bill Harley is offering a free download of his flu-fighting latest song, "Wash Your Hands," and he is hosting a contest inviting kids, families and classrooms to create music videos based on some of his songs.

The GRAMMY Museum will honor children's music artists with the second annual GRAMMY Children's Music Showcase on Jan. 30. Invited nominees in the Best Musical Album For Children category will perform, and nominees in the Best Spoken Word Album For Children category will also be recognized.

Current Best Musical Album For Children GRAMMY nominees Milkshake made a rousing appearance at the GRAMMY Museum in November. The children's rockers are PBS KIDS, Nick Jr. and Discovery Kids favorites, and songs on their nominated album, Great Day, explore themes of friendship, inclusion, family, self-esteem, and goals, set to music with all-ages appeal.

Nominated alongside Milkshake are popular GRAMMY winners Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer for Banjo To Beatbox, featuring Christylez Bacon. Fink and Marxer currently are readying a new Meet The Instruments educational DVD series for preschoolers, with two videos: Things With Strings and Tap And Clap. At the recent National Association for the Education of Young Children conference in Washington, D.C., Fink and Marxer met with hundreds of preschool educators and offered free teaching techniques for music in the classroom.

Heart's Wilson sisters have shown their heart for children, as guitarist Nancy Wilson released Baby Guitars, a melodic collection of acoustic lullabies, in October. Also newly available is Dog & Butterfly, based on the Heart song of the same name, written and illustrated by Nancy and her sister, Heart vocalist Ann Wilson.

Music education will get literal on Jan. 1 with the release of the intelligent new CD Why Does Gray Matter?...And Other Brainy Songs For Kids! by Roger Day. Day's lyrics draw from science and medicine, including how Ringo Starr's brain transforms a thought about drumming into actual performance, among many other colorful gray matters.

New book releases are providing an educational look at well-loved musical genres. Geniuses Of The American Musical Theatre is a witty, warmhearted paean to 28 of the theater's most prolific songwriters and lyricists, including Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, and Stephen Sondheim. Life In Opera: Truth, Tempo And Soul gets personal with larger-than-life luminaries of the grand opera, including GRAMMY Salute To Classical Music honoree Plácido Domingo. In The DownBeat — The Great Jazz Interviews (A 75th Anniversary Anthology), the magazine's publisher, Frank Alkyer, showcases the best interviews and features written by jazz legends themselves, including Cannonball Adderley, Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, and Jelly Roll Morton. Young People's Guide To Classical Music is written especially for youngsters and parents of music students, using cultural and historical context to help young minds grasp the music's significance.

Honoring Les Paul, multiple-GRAMMY winner and recipient of The Recording Academy's Trustees and Technical GRAMMY Awards, The Modern Era Of The Les Paul Legacy: 1968–2009 by Robb Lawrence documents the music pioneer's career and the history of the Gibson Les Paul guitar, with never-before-seen photos and exclusive interviews with guitarists such as Al Di Meola, Warren Haynes, Neal Schon, and Slash. Paul received many awards during his career, including the first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award in Music Education in 2004, established by the Wisconsin Foundation for School Music to salute Wisconsin natives who have made outstanding contributions to music.

Two new books provide go-to expertise for aspiring music professionals. The second edition of The Desktop Studio, A Guide To Computer-Based Audio Production by Emile D. Menasche, and The Studio Musician's Handbook by Bobby Owsinski and Paul Ill, impart skills in home computer-based recording, including audio production hardware and software, and demonstrate how to develop a career as a studio musician.

A fascinating new read, Chicken Soup For The Soul: The Story Behind The Song, edited by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and industry executive Jo-Ann Geffen, reveals deeply personal, entertaining tales about the creation of 101 popular songs across musical genres, with the foreword written by legendary GRAMMY-winning songwriter and Recording Academy Trustee Lamont Dozier.

(Laurel Fishman is a writer and editor specializing in entertainment media. She reports regularly for GRAMMY.com and GRAMMY magazine, and she is an advocate for the benefits of music making, music listening, music education, music therapy, and music-and-the-brain research.)
 

Photo of the Las Vegas skyline and the Strip at dusk

Las Vegas skyline and the Strip at dusk

Photo: Stuart Dee

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2022 GRAMMYs: New Date & Location Announced 2022-grammys-awards-64th-new-air-show-date-location-las-vegas-april-3-announcement

New Air Date & Location For 2022 GRAMMYs Show Announced: April 3 In Las Vegas

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The 2022 GRAMMYs, officially known as the 64th GRAMMY Awards, have been rescheduled and will now be broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 3
GRAMMYs
Jan 18, 2022 - 12:15 pm

The following is a statement from Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr.: 

I'm so pleased to let you know that the 64th Annual GRAMMY Awards have been rescheduled and will now be broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 3 (8:00-11:30 PM, live ET/5:00-8:30 PM, live PT) on the CBS Television Network and will be available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+. Trevor Noah, the Emmy Award-winning host of "The Daily Show," will return as master of ceremonies for Music's Biggest Night. 

Additional details about the dates and locations of other official GRAMMY Week events, including the GRAMMY Awards Premiere Ceremony, MusiCares' Person of the Year, and the Pre-GRAMMY Gala, will be announced soon. 

We are excited to take the GRAMMYs to Las Vegas for the very first time, and to put on a world-class show. From the moment we announced the postponement of the original show date, we have been inundated with heartfelt messages of support and solidarity from the artist community. We are humbled by their generosity and grateful for their unwavering commitment to the GRAMMY Awards and the Academy's mission. We appreciate the leadership CBS and our production partners at Fulwell 73 have shown during these challenging weeks and the flexibility of everyone who worked toward this solution. 

Onward, 
Harvey 

2022 GRAMMYs Awards Show: Complete Nominations List

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Some of the content on this site expresses viewpoints and opinions that are not those of the Recording Academy and its Affiliates. Responsibility for the accuracy of information provided in stories not written by or specifically prepared for the Academy and its Affiliates lies with the story's original source or writer. Content on this site does not reflect an endorsement or recommendation of any artist or music by the Recording Academy and its Affiliates.