University of South Carolina bassoon professor Michael Harley (pictured above) and guitar assistant professor Mak Grgić are among the artists nominated for the 68th Annual Grammy Awards to be presented Feb. 1 in Los Angeles.
- Harley’s ensemble Alarm Will Sound is a nominee for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance and for Best Contemporary Classical Composition, both for the collaborative piece Land of Winter by composer Donnacha Dennehy.
- Also nominated for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance are Grgić and colleague
Mateusz Kowalski for Slavic Sessions. It is Grgić’s fourth nomination and second since arriving at USC in 2022.
Harmonious honors
Previous Grammy nominees with USC connections include:
- Claire Bryant, assistant professor of cello
- The USC Wind Ensemble
- Alumni Chaz Bundick (Toro y Moi), Andy Akiho and Amos Lee
- Grammy-winning Hootie and the Blowfish members Darius Rucker, Mark Bryan, Dean Felber and Jim Sonefeld
“We are fortunate to have faculty musicians in the USC School of Music who are elite national and international performers,” says Tayloe Harding, USC School of Music dean. “It is not surprising that they would garner such attention when they have released recent recordings of music representing especially high quality and reach.
“Acknowledgement of excellence as identified with a Grammy nomination is always a superb honor, and we at Carolina are proud of them all, both these two noteworthy ones in 2025 and in previous years as well.”