USF singers nominated for Grammy

Posted Dec 5, 2011 by Lindsay Peterson

Updated Dec 5, 2011 at 04:41 PM

USF contractors designed its new music building with one thing in mind: the quality of the sound.

Seems it succeeded.

A production recorded in the main hall less than three months after the building opened has been nominated for a Grammy.

Of course main kudos go to the performers and producers, including nine USF students and two faculty members, James Bass and Brad Diamond.

It came together last summer when USF partnered with Miami-based choir Seraphic Fire to develop the Professional Choral Institute, a one-of-a-kind, two-week training program for aspiring singers. Bass directed it.

The 30 students from USF and around the country devoted themselves to learning and recording “Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem, Op. 45,” released to raves in August.

And on Wednesday, USF learned it had been nominated for a Grammy in the Best Choral Performance category.

The CD was conducted by Seraphic Fire founder and director Patrick Dupré Quigley and produced by Peter Rutenberg, who has also been nominated for Producer of the Year in the Classical Music category.

Bass directs the choral studies program at USF’s School of Music. He’s also choral master for Seraphic Fire, which earned a second Grammy nomination in the Best Small Ensemble Performance category.