Calendar of events to celebrate musical diversity and culminate with Music's Biggest Night
GRAMMY.com
(For a complete list of 51st GRAMMY Awards winners, please click here.)
The Recording Academy today officially launched GRAMMY Week, a calendar of Los Angeles-based events highlighting the organization's year-round mission dedicated to cultural enrichment, arts advocacy, education, and honoring music excellence. GRAMMY Week will culminate with Music's Biggest Night, the 51st GRAMMY Awards, on Feb. 8.
GRAMMY Salute To Classical Music will take place Feb. 2 at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and will honor Sir Neville Marriner and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra with the President's Merit Award for outstanding achievement and significant contributions to classical music and the community at large.
GRAMMY Salute To Jazz will take place Feb. 3 at Club Nokia at L.A. Live and will honor Blue Note Records in recognition for the label's long-standing history and importance to the jazz community.
On Feb. 4 more than 1,000 local high school students will attend GRAMMY Career Day at the University of Southern California. Presented by the Gibson Foundation, this GRAMMY Foundation program provides students with advice from industry professionals and allows them to participate in music career-specific workshops and panel discussions.
The GRAMMY Foundation will also host "Music In Focus," the 11th Annual GRAMMY Foundation Music Preservation Project, on Feb. 4 at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre. The event will feature a discussion with photographers Danny Clinch, Robert Knight and Herman Leonard, showcase their work, and highlight the invaluable contributions of music photography to the American cultural landscape.
The Academy's Producers & Engineers Wing will present "Rock My Soul" on Feb. 5 at Village Recording Studios. The event will pay tribute to legendary industry professionals Tom Dowd, Ahmet & Nesuhi Ertegun, Arif Mardin, and Jerry Wexler and their indelible mark on the music community.
The GRAMMY Foundation will present its 11th Annual Entertainment Law Initiative Luncheon & Scholarship Presentation on Feb. 6 at the Century Plaza Hotel. Nokia executive Tero Ojanperä will deliver the keynote address and the event will also feature ELI contest-winning student authors discussing essays on relevant legal topics facing the music industry today.
GRAMMY Town Hall will take place Feb. 6 at the Los Angeles Convention Center and will feature a discussion on the fight for a traditional radio performance royalty for artists with participants including U.S. Reps. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich) and Darrell Issa (D-Calif.), and GRAMMY-nominated artist Josh Groban.
GRAMMY-winning artist Neil Diamond will be honored as the 2009 MusiCares Person of the Year on Feb. 6 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Diamond is being honored in recognition of his artistic achievements and philanthropic work. The gala will feature auctions, a dinner and tribute performances, including a performance by Diamond. Proceeds from this annual event provide essential support for MusiCares.
The Special Merit Awards Ceremony will take place Feb. 7 at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre. The event will honor this year's recipients of The Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award, Trustees Award, and the Technical GRAMMY Award.
On Feb. 7 Sony Music Worldwide Chief Creative Officer and three-time GRAMMY winner Clive Davis and The Recording Academy will present the annual Pre-GRAMMY Gala. As part of the evening's festivities, The Academy will present Davis with the President's Merit Award at the 2009 GRAMMY Salute To Industry Icons. This exclusive, star-studded celebration will take place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel the evening prior to the 51st Annual GRAMMY Awards.
Throughout the week the GRAMMY Jazz Ensembles — consisting of 30 talented high school musicians — will perform at a number of events, including dedicated performances on Feb. 2 at Spaghettini Italian Grill & Jazz Club with special guest saxophonist Gerald Albright and Feb. 4 at the Vic with special guest trumpeter Terence Blanchard.
GRAMMY Week will conclude with the 51st Annual GRAMMY Awards, which will be held Feb. 8 at Staples Center in Los Angeles and broadcast live in high-definition TV and 5.1 Surround Sound on the CBS Television Network at 8–11:30 p.m. (ET/PT). The show will also be supported on radio via Westwood One worldwide and covered online at GRAMMY.com and CBS.com, on Twitter at "theGRAMMYs," on Facebook at "The Recording Academy," on YouTube at "51stGRAMMYs," and on Last.fm at "the51stgrammys." The GRAMMY Pre-Telecast will be streamed live on GRAMMY.com on Feb. 8 at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT.
(Follow our GRAMMY Week event blogs.)
