Press Release
8th April, 2018
JOSH GROBAN TO PERFORM
Biggest selling artist in the U.S last year makes his
Classical BRITs debut
OPERA SUPERSTARS ANNA NETREBKO AND
BRYN TERFEL RETURN
ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER TO RECEIVE THE
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC AWARD
The BPI today announced the nominations for the ninth annual Classical BRIT
Awards with NS&I. The launch, hosted by Myleene Klass and held at
the MayFair Hotel, London, saw Jonathan Ansell, Blake and Lawrence
Power perform to an invited audience of nominees and main show
performers. The winners of the seven categories will be announced at
The Classical BRIT Awards 2008 with NS&I on the 8 May at the Royal Albert Hall.
See Nominations section for the full list of categories and nominations.
The BPI also revealed that the 2007 biggest selling artist in the U.S., Josh Groban and last year’s Classical BRIT Award winner of ‘Singer Of The Year’ and 2008 nominee Anna Netrebko will perform at the Classical BRIT Awards 2008 with NS&I. Multi-million selling pianist, songwriter and vocalist Josh Groban makes his Classical BRIT
Awards debut. With a career that has seen him perform with Barbra
Streisand, Andrea Bocelli and at Live 8 Philadelphia and last year’s
Concert For Diana, his performance is one not to be missed. Recognised
in Time Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2006 and
referred to by BBC Music Magazine as ‘The Greatest Living Soprano’, Anna Netrebko’s performance is set to be a show highlight.
Bryn
Terfel, the world-renowned Welsh bass-baritone, returns to the
Classical BRITs following his sensational reprisal of Falstaff with the
Welsh National Opera.
Classical BRITs Chairmen, Dickon
Stainer and Thomas Kaurich commented: “We can promise that this year’s
show will be the biggest and best in the history of the event, with a
fantastic line up of artists whose combined album sales have exceeded
100 million units worldwide.”
Commenting on her return to the Classical BRIT
Awards, Anna Netrebko said, “I am thrilled to be returning to the
Classical BRITs. It’s a wonderful occasion to meet the stars of the
British classical music scene and a very beautiful event. I am also
really looking forward to performing a piece from my new album, which
will be released in the autumn, and hope that the audience will enjoy
this!”
Josh Groban, Bryn Terfel and Anna Netrebko join
Andrea Bocelli, Nigel Kennedy and Sarah Brightman at the Royal Albert
Hall on 8 May. The London Chamber Orchestra, conducted by David Charles
Abell, will accompany all the performing artists. The LCO
is the longest established professional chamber orchestra in the UK,
founded in 1921 by Anthony Bernard. Recognition for the orchestra has
included invitations to perform at Buckingham Palace from HRH The Prince of Wales in April 2006, and HM The Queen at Kew Palace in the same month. The patron of the LCO is HRH The Duchess of Cornwall.
Celebrating
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 60th Birthday, he will be the recipient of a
special award for Outstanding Achievement, almost 25 years following
the composition of his Requiem Mass which won a Grammy for Best
Contemporary Classical Composition. His musical legacy of course
includes unparalleled success in music theatre for which he has become
famous through the world.
Andrew Lloyd Webber said, “I am absolutely thrilled that my music is being recognised at this year’s Classical BRIT Awards and delighted to be receiving the award for an Outstanding Achievement In Music”.
Leading
the nominees for 2008, British born tenor Alfie Boe has two nominations
for this year’s awards, featuring in both the Male Artist of the Year
and the NS&I Album of the Year categories. This is a meteoric rise
for Alfie Boe, who having performed at the 2007 Classical BRIT
Awards, now rises up the ranks to be the only artist nominated in more
than one category at this year’s prestigious event. One of the
strongest categories in the history of the event, Alfie Boe finds
himself nominated alongside Mexican lyric tenor Rolando Villazon and
the 2002 winner of Male of the Year, Sir Colin Davis.
Female
Artist of the Year will be decided between Canadian Classical pianist
Angela Hewitt, British cellist Natalie Clein and Russian Operatic
Soprano Anna Netrebko who stormed the 2005 show with her magical
performance and in 2007 picked up the award for Singer of the Year.
Violinist
Nicola Benedetti has been nominated in the Young British Classical
Performer or Group category for a third time. Soprano Kate Royal, who
performed on the Paul McCartney 2007 NS&I Album Of The Year Ecce
Cor Meum, gets her debut nomination along with critically acclaimed
violist Lawrence Power. This year’s Young British Classical Performer
or Group Award will be voted for by the BPI Academy.
Classic FM listeners and Classic FM magazine readers choose the NS&I Album of the Year. Visitors to www.classicfm.com
will be able to vote for one of the 10 nominated artists. Joining Alfie
Boe in this category are launch performers Blake alongside All Angels,
Choirboys, Fron Male Voice Choir, Garder Thor Cortes, Hayley Westenra,
Ludovico Einaudi, Natasha Marsh and Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. Voting
for the NS&I Album Of The Year ends at midnight on Friday 11 April.
Soundtrack
of the Year features Dario Marianelli’s Atonement, James Newton
Howard’s Blood Diamond and Craig Armstrong and Ar Rahman’s Elizabeth:
The Golden Age.
Chosen by a panel of music critics from
the national media, the Critics’ Award highlights performances by a
diverse range of artists: Sir Charles Mackerras and the ENO
Chorus & Orchestra performing the Makropulos Case by Janácek; the
Pavel Haas Quartet performing quartets of Janácek and Pavel Haas; and
Steven Isserlis performing the Bach Cello Suites.
The Classical BRIT
Awards were established in 2000 to recognise the outstanding
achievements of classical musicians and the growth of classical music
sales in the UK. The awards have proved their vital importance to the
UK music industry with the huge impact the event has on record sales of
those artists performing, winning and nominated.
Tim Mack,
Head of Marketing and Communications for NS&I said: “NS&I is
delighted to announce its sponsorship of the prestigious Classical BRIT Awards 2008, the fifth consecutive year that the Awards have been sponsored by NS&I. The sponsorship of the Classical BRIT Awards builds on our relationship with Classic FM listeners and also widens our appeal in an exciting way.”
The last remaining tickets for The Classical BRIT Awards 2008 with NS&I have just been released and are now available from the Royal Albert Hall Box Office on 020 7589 8212.