Gordonsville, Va., violinist chosen to perform with Foo Fighters on 50th GRAMMY Awards
GRAMMY.com
(For a complete list of 50th GRAMMY Award winners, please click here.)
The YouTube and text message votes are in and music fans have made Gordonsville, Va., violinist Ann Marie Calhoun the "My GRAMMY Moment 2008" winner on the 50th Annual GRAMMY Awards.
Calhoun surpassed thousands of hopefuls on YouTube, and was chosen to perform on Music's Biggest Night with multi-GRAMMY nominees the Foo Fighters as part of their orchestra. She ultimately won the opportunity to be the featured instrumentalist of the ensemble. Led Zeppelin's legendary multi-instrumentalist John Paul Jones arranged the orchestral piece and conducted the orchestra, supplemented by back-up instrumentalists.
Together, the Foo Fighters, Jones and this talented musical ensemble provided the world with an entirely new take on the Foo Fighters' hit single "The Pretender" as they rocked a large crowd of fans in the new Nokia Plaza at the L.A. Live complex across from Staples Center.
"The anticipation and excitement has been building throughout GRAMMY Week for these three gifted instrumentalists," said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy. "With hundreds of thousands of fans involved throughout this process, we warmly congratulate our 'My GRAMMY Moment 2008' winner Ann-Marie Calhoun. All 15 who made it into the Foo Fighters orchestra are talented, and we expect that they will also benefit from The Academy's 'ultimate' career development experience. And special thanks to our partners CBS, YouTube, and especially the Foo Fighters and John Paul Jones for being enthusiastic and involved participants in this program."
The Top 15 finalists who made the Foo Fighters Orchestra:
Luis Alberto (23, violin), Hattiesburg, Miss.
Ann Marie Calhoun (28, violin), Gordonsville, Va.
Lisa Dondlinger (33, violin), Winnetka, Calif.
Brian Fitzgerald (23, violin), Coatsville, Penn.
Tina Guo (22, cello), Sun Valley, Calif.
Rami Hachache (20, trumpet), Los Angeles
Jeffrey Hughes (25, violin), Denver
Tara Klein (27, cello), Cleveland
Jennifer Lynn (25, violin), Bonsall, Calif.
Michelle Morales (25, cello), Chicago
Emily Palen (29, violin), Oakland, Calif.
Andrew Pearson (18, violin), Batavia, Ill.
Cameron Summers (23, trumpet), New York
Abigail Wilenksy (21, violin), Nashville, Tenn.
Christine Wu (31, violin), Santa Monica, Calif.
The Academy's interactive "My GRAMMY Moment 2008" program engages music fans in the telecast while also continuing the organization's mission of discovering and nurturing music makers. To view the video submissions of the top three finalists and Calhoun's "My GRAMMY Moment" performance, music fans can log on to YouTube.
