MESA, Arizona — March 4, 2016 — Mesa Community College’s Director of Choral Studies and Music Department Chair, Craig Peterson, performed on Rachmaninoff: All-night Vigil which was recognized by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences with a GRAMMY® Award with top honor for "Best Choral Performance” during the 58th Annual GRAMMY Award Ceremony held February 15, 2016, in Los Angeles.
Rachmaninoff: All-night Vigil was recorded under the direction of Artistic Director Charles Bruffy at St. Peter's Cathedral in Kansas City, Kansas with 56 singers from the Phoenix Chorale and the Kansas City Chorale. The recording was released by Chandos Records on March 10, 2015, the 100th anniversary of the world premiere of Rachmaninoff's All-night Vigil, which was performed by the Moscow Synodal Choir on March 10, 1915.
The choirs, led by maestro Charles Bruffy, included Peterson, Kevin Kriegle of Glendale Community College, and three Phoenix College faculty members: Nina Cole and Ryan Downey, and Dr. Kenny Miller. Miller served as assistant conductor of the Chorale.
The combined ensembles held live performances of the work in April and May 2014 in both Phoenix and in Kansas City along with three days of in-studio recording sessions.
“I think we all knew that we were part of something special,” Peterson said. “The project was two professional choirs performing together with the same conductor. We were one mind from the very beginning.”
Upon accepting the GRAMMY® award for the recording, Bruffy stated, "I could not be more thrilled, and am so proud of these amazing singers who have so willingly gone on this journey with me, and of the overwhelming international reception this album has received."
Jen Rogers, Phoenix Chorale's Interim President and CEO stated, "I would especially like to thank the Phoenix community, including the many donors, patrons and volunteers for their support, without which today would simply not have happened."
Mesa Community College students appreciate being lead by experts in their fields with real life experience. When asked about Peterson’s role in the production of Rachmaninoff: All-night Vigil, MCC Music Student Kristin Adair said, “It’s cool to be taught by someone so accomplished. It’s a great opportunity to work with him.”
MCC Music and other fine arts presentations are open to the public. Please visit mesacc.edu/arts to learn more about performances being offered this Spring.
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Contact: Dawn Zimmer, 480-461-7892, dawn.zimmer@mesacc.edu
Additional information: Including this win, the Phoenix Chorale recordings have now earned a combined total of twelve GRAMMY® nominations and three GRAMMY® wins. Video of Phoenix Chorale in concert with Charles Bruffy conducting can be found can be found here. High res photos can be found here.
About Charles Bruffy: One of the most admired choral conductors in the United States, GRAMMY® Award winning conductor Charles Bruffy began his career as a tenor soloist, performing with the Robert Shaw Festival Singers. Robert Shaw encouraged his development as a conductor and in 1996 he was invited by National Public Radio to help celebrate Shaw's eightieth birthday with an on-air tribute. In 1999, The New York Times named him as the late, great conductor's potential heir. He has been Artistic Director of the Kansas City Chorale since 1988, of the Phoenix Chorale since 1999, and of the Kansas City Symphony Chorus since 2008.
In 2009, he brought the Phoenix Chorale and Kansas City Chorale to Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center for their New York debut, The New York Times praising the choirs' "refined sound and elegant phrasing...vivid intensity...[and] buoyant pulse and energetic finesse." He conducts workshops and clinics across the US and abroad, serves on a number of advisory boards, and served on the Chorus America Board for seven years.
Respected and renowned for his fresh and passionate interpretations of standards of the choral repertoire and for championing new music, he has commissioned and premiered works by composers such as Ola Gjeilo, Matthew Harris, Libby Larsen, Zhou Long, Stephen Paulus, Stephen Sametz, Steven Stucky, Eric Whitacre, and Chen Yi. Under his supervision, the Roger Dean Company, a division of the Lorenz Corporation, publishes a choral series specializing in music for professional ensembles and sophisticated high school and college choirs.
His eclectic discography includes eight recordings for Chandos Records. Five of these recordings have received a total of twelve GRAMMY nominations and five GRAMMY wins. These include 2008 GRAMMY for "Best Engineered Album, Classical" for Grechaninov: Passion Week featuring the Phoenix Chorale and Kansas City Chorale; the 2009 GRAMMY for "Best Small Ensemble Performance" for Spotless Rose: Hymns to the Virgin Mary featuring the Phoenix Chorale; and GRAMMYs in 2012 for "Best Engineered Album, Classical," and "Best Choral Performance" and 2015 for Rachmaninoff: All-night Vigil, for "Best Choral Performance."
About the Phoenix Chorale: The GRAMMY®-winning Phoenix Chorale, under the direction of Artistic Director Charles Bruffy, is regarded as one of the finest choral ensembles in North America. What began in 1958 as a small study group of singers became a fully professional choir in 1992 made up of Arizona residents: highly educated and trained singers, teachers and professionals. In 2004, the Phoenix Chorale became the first North American choir to record for the U.K.'s prestigious Chandos Records and, since then, the Chorale's recordings have earned a total of twelve GRAMMY nominations and three GRAMMY® wins. www.phoenixchorale.org
About the Kansas City Chorale: Founded in 1981, the Kansas City Chorale is a professional vocal ensemble that enriches local, national, and international communities through its dedication to excellence in performing music from diverse historical periods. The Chorale has received an ASCAP Award for adventurous programming in addition to receiving multiple GRAMMY® nominations and several wins, most recently in 2012 for "Best Choral Performance" for Life and Breath: Choral Works by René Clausen. Under the artistic direction of Charles Bruffy since 1988, the Kansas City Chorale has recorded works for Chandos Records and Nimbus Records, and was the first North American choir signed to that label. www.kcchorale.org
About Mesa Community College
Mesa Community College is nationally recognized for its service-learning, civic engagement and innovative educational programs, which include university transfer, career and technical, workforce development, and life-long learning. Host to 40,000 students annually, MCC offers more than 195 degrees and certificate programs at its two campuses and additional locations. MCC’s student body hails predominantly from the East Valley of Phoenix and includes Veteran, American Indian and International students who enrich the learning experience. Award-winning faculty are dedicated to student success providing the education and training that empowers MCC students to compete locally and globally. MCC is one of 10 colleges that comprise the Maricopa County Community College District. The District also includes the Maricopa Corporate College and two skill centers. For additional information, visit mesacc.edu.
Mesa Community College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) http://www.ncahlc.org, 800-621-7440.
The Maricopa County Community College District is an EEO/AA institution and an
equal opportunity employer of protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.
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