Two NYU faculty members were honored by the Recording Academy at the 2014 Grammy Awards, held last night in Los Angeles. Gil Goldstein, instructor at the Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions at the NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development, received a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) for Swing Low, performed by Bobby McFerrin and Esperanza Spalding. Billy Porter, instructor of recorded music at the NYU Tisch Clive Davis Institute, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, won in the category of Best Musical Theater Album for his performance on the album of songs from the Broadway musical, Kinky Boots.
The annual awards recognize the music industry’s best and brightest over the past year in 30 fields (eg. general, pop, rap, gospel) and 82 categories within those fields.
Goldstein’s Grammy marks the fifth of his career, having previously won in 2007 for Best Jazz Instrumental Album for Pilgrimage; in 2005 for Best Instrumental Arrangement for What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?; and in 2003 in the categories of Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album for Wide Angles and Best Instrumental Arrangement for Timbuktu. An accomplished player of the accordion, cello, and piano, he started with the Gil Evans Orchestra in the early 1980s. During the 1980s and 90s he was a member of the group Elements. Goldstein has also composed music for films including the 1994 film Radio Inside, and 1999's Simply Irresistible. In 2007 he co-released an album Your Songs: The Music of Elton John, consisting of jazz arrangements of some of Elton John's most popular songs. He teaches classes in the Jazz Studies program at Steinhardt.
Since winning Star Search in 1992, Billy Porter has made his mark in film, television, live theater, recorded music and directing. He has received the LA Ovation Award for his work in Dreamgirls and the NAACP Theatre Award for Best Direction of a Musical for his production of Once On This Island at Reprise Theatre Company. At the Clive Davis Institute, Porter teaches Stage Presence and The Art of Performance.
###