The music industry’s highest honors were awarded during the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, held on February 8, 2015, in Los Angeles. The Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences in Gilbert, Ariz., reports that 19 of its graduates hold credits for projects that earned 21 Grammy Award wins. Among the credits received by CRAS graduates are nominations for Record, Song and Album of the Year, including music from Pharrell, Ed Sheeran, Beck, Taylor Swift, and Iggy Azalea with Charlie XCX.
In total, 47 different graduates of CRAS hold credits for their work with 50 artists or bands that are up for awards in 42 out of 83 categories. An example of a credit would be formal professional credit as an Engineer, Assistant Engineer Production Assistant, etc., on a nominated song or album. While individuals with a credit aren’t personally called to the stage to accept the award, they directly played a role in the nominated recording.
One CRAS graduate, Darrell Thorp, took the stage with Beck to accept the award for Album of the Year. Thorp was nominated for two Grammys, Album of the Year and Best Engineered Album for his work as an engineer on Beck’s Morning Phase.
Of the CRAS graduates who were nominated, three had the potential to be called to the stage. Two CRAS graduates competed for Record of the Year, as Eric Weaver was nominated as vocal engineer for “Fancy” (Iggy Azalea featuring Charli XCX), and Sam Holland as engineer for Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off”.
“We love all the awards shows because there are always so many CRAS graduates that are nominated and win!” says Kirt Hamm, Administrator of CRAS. “We take great pride in the success of our graduates but there are few phone calls we love receiving more than from a graduate calling to tell us about their first award nomination. You don’t need to be an audio expert to hear the joy and pride in their voice as they thank us for helping them achieve this career milestone.”
“When I attended CRAS, I merely wanted to be able to put food on the table while making records, and now I have the honor of being nominated for a Grammy,” says CRAS graduate Eric Weaver. “My time in Arizona at CRAS gave me the necessary technical vocabulary and knowledge to be an immediate asset capable of understanding the studios’ and clients’ needs. That preparation allowed me to maximize the learning experiences available when working hand in hand with the industry’s most talented engineers, producers, and artists.”
CRAS is a nationally accredited, private postsecondary college dedicated to those that seek a career in the music, game audio, live sound, broadcast and post production for film and TV industries. CRAS graduates succeed in the highly competitive fields of studio recording technology and engineering, live sound engineering, and music production/post-production for film, corporate presentations, television and game audio design. Widely recognized as a leading audio recording school in the U.S., students attend the five-day per week, 11-month program held at CRAS’s Arizona campuses in Gilbert and Tempe.
View a PDF showing all of the 57th Grammy Award wins by CRAS graduates.
Names highlighted in blue denote direct nominations where their name actually appears on the award should they win, while the other nominations denote formal credits for their work on the nominated recording.
For more information about CRAS visit www.cras.edu.
