Three members of the Purchase College Community Took Home Four Grammy Awards
PURCHASE, N.Y., Feb. 6, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Purchase College, SUNY is excited to announce that alumni and faculty members took home GRAMMY Awards this past weekend.
Jazz Studies alum Samara Joy '21, who took home two GRAMMY awards last year, has won a third award for Best Jazz Performance for "Tight." Joy self-produced and recorded the song at New York's legendary Electric Lady Studios. Joy won two GRAMMY's last year—Best New Artist and Best New Jazz Vocal Album for Linger Awhile.
Nicole Zuraitis, Lecturer of Jazz Studies, Voice, received the Best Jazz Vocal Album award for her album, How Love Begins. She was nominated in 2019 for her arrangement of Dolly Parton's "Jolene," co-written with renowned drummer and bandleader Dan Pugach.
Assistant Professor of Music Silas Brown '10, who is an alumnus of Purchase College's studio production program, took home two awards for engineering and producing respectively. He has more than 20 years of production credits, including many GRAMMY-winning and nominated recordings.
This year he won Best Engineered Album, Classical for Contemporary American Composers (Riccardo Muti & Chicago Symphony Orchestra), with engineers David Frost and Charlie Post and Brown as mastering engineer.
He also took home the award for Best Classical Compendium. Brown and Mark Dover were producers of Passion For Bach And Coltrane featuring Alex Brown, Harlem Quartet, Imani Winds, Edward Perez, Neal Smith, and A.B. Spellman.
Jennifer Undercofler, Director of the Conservatory of Music at Purchase College, said, "The faculty, staff, and students of the Conservatory of Music are incredibly proud of our faculty members Silas Brown and Nicole Zuraitis, and our alumna Samara Joy, for their wins at the 66th Annual GRAMMY Awards. The Conservatory provides an environment where talented students from all backgrounds can work with faculty on the caliber of Mr. Brown and Ms. Zuraitis and explore what it means to be a successful musician in the 21st century. Samara is an excellent example of an incredible talent who had the chance to spread her wings and grow into the amazing mature musician she is today, on the campus of Purchase College".
Purchase College President Dr. Milagros (Milly) Peña said, "I congratulate our alumni and faculty members on these prestigious awards and for the international recognition of their immense talent and dedication to their field. From jazz to classical music, our faculty and alumni of the Conservatory of Music are making great strides. I wish them continued success as they inspire our students and music lovers for generations to come."
About Purchase College, SUNY
Purchase College, part of the State University of New York (SUNY) network of 64 universities and colleges, was founded in 1967 by Governor Nelson Rockefeller. His aspiration for Purchase was to create a dynamic campus that combined conservatory training in the visual and performing arts with programs in the liberal arts and sciences, in order to inspire an appreciation for both intellectual and artistic talents in all students. Today, Purchase College, SUNY is a community of students, faculty, and friends where open-minded engagement with the creative process leads to a lifetime of intellectual growth and professional opportunity. For more information about the college, visit www.purchase.edu.
Media Contact
Betsy Aldredge, Purchase College, 1 914.251.6959, [email protected], www.purchase.edu
SOURCE Purchase College
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