When you call something “Symphony of a Thousand”, it does evoke a sense of BIGness that doesn’t have to be literal. Mahler didn’t actually dub his symphony No. 8 with that title (in fact, he wasn’t a fan), but that popular moniker definitely gets the point across. Scored for a huge orchestra, soloists, two SATB choirs and children’s choir, it’s typically cast with what one scholar has called “as many choirs as you can cram in”, resulting in a behemoth production that is an accomplishment just to present, and ditto to record.
So when the award for “[Best] Choral Performance” went to the LA Phil’s recording of that work tonight at the GRAMMY awards in Las Vegas, the honor went not just to the Phil organization (although their admins and handlers deserve a special medal for pulling this off), but also to conductor Gustavo Dudamel; chorus masters Grant Gershon, Robert Istad, Fernando Malvar-Ruiz and Luke McEndarfer; soloists Leah Crocetto, Mihoko Fujimara, Ryan McKinny, Erin Morley, Tamara Mumford, Simon O’Neill, Morris Robinson and Tamara Wilson; as well as to the LA Philharmonic orchestra, the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, the National Children’s Chorus and to Pacific Chorale. That may not be a whole thousand people, but it certainly covers a lot of collaborative ground.
We wish you all a hearty congratulations, and big virtual hugs to the many Listers in the group, as well as all of those nominated and winning this year. All of you — way to make SoCal proud. For those of you who haven’t heard it yet, you can get the MP3 album through Amazon here, or stream it if you have Amazon Music.
View the full list of winners here
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