This past Sunday marked one of the biggest nights in music, the 2026 Grammy Awards. Whatever your feeling about awards shows, the Grammys are, if nothing else, always a great way to learn about what is going on now in the musical world we love and celebrate here on Blue Lake Public Radio (and in music in general). In that spirit, host Foley Schuler will, the rest of this week during his afternoon programs, be featuring some of this year's Grammy Award winning classical recordings, including this year's winners for Best Orchestral Performance, Contemporary Classical Composition, Classical Instrumental Solo, Classical Solo Vocal Album, Choral Performance, Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance.
Friday's show will showcase this year's Grammy Award winner for Best Classical Composition, which went to the new cello concerto, Dzonot, written by Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz for cellist Alisa Weilerstein and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
From the online article devoted to the work from its publisher, Boosey & Hawkes:
Dzonot is inspired by the the "cenotes" of the Yucatán peninsula, an intricate system of subterranean rivers and caves. Gabriela Ortiz's Dzonot has garnered critical acclaim for its ambition and potential to become a part of the cello concerto repertoire, following premieres in Los Angeles, New York, and Bogotá with soloist Alisa Weilerstein, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and conductor Gustavo Dudamel.
Critics have noted Dzonot’s suitability for a permanent place among major concertos. Musical America praised the substantial new piece as a “credible bid for acceptance into the small group of major cello concertos,” underscoring "expressive intensity” and freshness of voice. Similarly, the New York Times highlighted Ortiz's ability to create concertos that are both exciting to play and easy to love, pointing to her ability to write works that are “bound to become classics.”
Tune in Friday afternoon to hear this acclaimed new work, as well as several other selections inspired by rivers and waterways, on Classical Music with Foley Schuler.
(You can hear Foley's musical selections—and stories behind the music—every weekday afternoon from 1 until 4 on Blue Lake Public Radio.)
