JOHNSON CITY – East Tennessee State University is represented by faculty and an alumnus among the nominees for the 2016 Grammy Awards.
Dr. Ted Olson, a professor in the department of Appalachian Studies, received a nomination for Best Album Notes for the liner notes in "Portrait of an American Singer," the boxed set he produced on Tennessee Ernie Ford's music. This Bear Family Records set contains all the secular-themed studio recordings of the Bristol-born Ford between 1949 and 1960, including the hit single "Sixteen Tons," which saw its 60th anniversary in 2015.
Dr. Alan Stevens, assistant professor and associate director of choral activities in the department of music, is a tenor vocalist with True Concord Voices & Orchestra. "Far in the Heavens: Choral Music of Stephen Paulus," the album by True Concord that was released on Reference Recordings in September, received nominations for Best Choral Performance as well as Best Contemporary Classical Composition for Paulus' work, "Prayers and Remembrances."
In addition, one nomination for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album – "Sylva" by Snarky Puppy and Metropole Orkest – involves the work of ETSU alumnus Justin Stanton. The jazz trumpeter and pianist is a member of the instrumental fusion band Snarky Puppy. Stanton is an Elizabethton native and graduated from ETSU with a bachelor's degree in music in 2005. Metropole Orkest is a jazz and pop orchestra from the Netherlands.
The 2016 Grammy Awards will be presented on Feb. 15.
