Mezzo soprano Michelle DeYoung shared her simple pleasure at the two nights when she won three GRAMMY Awards, speaking with the San Francisco Chapter at the 2017 Aspen Music Festival. At the 44th GRAMMY Awards (2001) Berlioz: Les Troyens won Best Classical Album and Best Opera Recording, with DeYoung in the role of Didon, with Sir Colin Davis conducting. She related how she went from being terrified at her first audition to taking on a larger role at the last minute. "Then we win two GRAMMY Awards for it, which was so cool," DeYoung said. "I'm very proud of that." At the 46th GRAMMY Awards, as she relates, her recording of Mahler's Kindertotenlieder, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas, was an experience of grief after 9/11 that ultimately felt healing. Finishing that intensity with GRAMMY recognition for Best Classical Album was a high. "It was the coolest thing ever to win a GRAMMY after that experience," she said. DeYoung also expressed gratitude for the talents of conductors Pierre Boulez and James Levine, and for the "emotional journey" that composer Gustav Mahler writes in his music.

GRAMMY Winners Blog: Sharon Isbin