Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Classical

The Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Classical is an honor presented to record producers for quality classical music productions at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards.^[1] Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".^[2]

Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Classical
Awarded for	quality classical music production
Country	United States
Presented by	National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
First award	February 27, 1980; 44 years ago (1980-02-27) (as Grammy Award for Classical Producer of the Year)
Currently held by	Elaine Martone (2025)
Website	grammy.com

Originally known as the Grammy Award for Classical Producer of the Year, the award was first presented to James Mallinson at the 22nd Grammy Awards (1980). The name remained unchanged until 1998, when the category became known as Producer of the Year, Classical. According to the category description guide for the 52nd Grammy Awards, the award is presented to album producers "whose recordings, released for the first time during the eligibility year, represent consistently outstanding creativity in the production of classical recordings".^[3] Producers must have produced at least 51% playing time on three separately released recordings (only one of which can be an opera released in DVD format). Producers may submit content as a team only if they worked together exclusively during the period of eligibility.^[3] Anthony Tommasini, music critic for The New York Times, asserted that "In the struggling field of classical recording, it's the producers who take the real risks and make things happen."^[4] The honor is presented alongside the award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical.

As of 2023, David Frost, Steven Epstein, Robert Woods and Judith Sherman share the record for most wins, with seven each. while James Mallinson and Elaine Martone have been presented the award three times. Two-time recipients include Joanna Nickrenz (once alongside Marc Aubort). David Frost is the son of Thomas Frost,^[5] who received an award in the same category in 1987.

Recipients

Year[I]	Producer(s)	Nominees	Ref.
1980	James Mallinson	Marc Aubort & Joanna Nickrenz Paul Myers Andrew Kazdin Thomas Z. Shepard Vittorio Negri Robert Woods	[6]
1981	Robert Woods	Andrew Kazdin Steven Epstein John McClure Paul Myers	[7]
1982	James Mallinson	Andrew Kazdin Jay David Saks Steven Epstein Robert Woods	[8]
1983	Robert Woods	Steven Epstein Jay David Saks Glenn Gould, Samuel Carter James Mallinson	[9]
1984	Marc Aubort and Joanna Nickrenz	Steven Paul Steven Epstein Jay David Saks Andrew Cornall	[10]
1985	Steven Epstein	Thomas Z. Shepard Marc Aubort, Joanna Nickrenz Jay David Saks Robert Woods	[11]
1986	Robert Woods	Jay David Saks Steven Epstein David Mottley James Mallinson	[12]
1987	Thomas Frost	Marc Aubort, Joanna Nickrenz Jay David Saks Steven Epstein Robert Woods	[13]
1988	Robert Woods	Thomas Frost Michael Haas Jay David Saks Steven Epstein	[14]
1989	Robert Woods	Thomas Frost Andrew Cornall Joanna Nickrenz Steven Epstein	[15]
1990	Robert Woods	Wolf Erichson Michael Haas Patti Laursen Elizabeth Ostrow	[16]
1991	Adam Stern	Michael Fine Judith Sherman Hans Weber Max Wilcox	[17]
1992	James Mallinson	Steven Epstein Thomas Frost Jay David Saks Hans Weber	[18]
1993	Michael Fine	Andrew Cornall Steven Epstein Thomas Frost James Mallinson	[19]
1994	Judith Sherman	Andrew Cornall Michael Haas Adam Stern Robina G. Young	[20]
1995	Andrew Cornall	Anna Barry Wilhelm Hellweg Judith Sherman Max Wilcox	[21]
1996	Steven Epstein	Andrew Cornall John Fraser Jay David Saks Michael Woolcock	[22]
1997	Joanna Nickrenz	Manfred Eicher James Mallinson Martin Sauer Gary Schultz	[23]
1998	Steven Epstein	Wolf Erichson J. Tamblyn Henderson Jr. Andrew Keener Judith Sherman	[24]
1999	Steven Epstein	Manfred Eicher James Mallinson Andreas Neubronner Robina G. Young	[25]
2000	Adam Abeshouse	Andrew Keener Marina A. Ledin and Victor Ledin Robina G. Young James Mallinson	[26]
2001	Steven Epstein	John Fraser Manfred Eicher Thomas Frost James Mallinson	[27]
2002	Manfred Eicher	David Frost James Mallinson Joanna Nickrenz Robina G. Young	[28]
2003	Robert Woods	Andrew Cornall Robina G. Young Manfred Eicher James Mallinson	[29]
2004	Steven Epstein	Manfred Eicher Adam Abeshouse Marina A. Ledin and Victor Ledin Robina G. Young	[30]
2005	David Frost	Manfred Eicher James Mallinson Robina G. Young Daniel Zalay	[31]
2006	Tim Handley	Steven Epstein Christopher Alder Michael Fine Thomas C. Moore	[32]
2007	Elaine Martone	Manfred Eicher James Mallinson Kjellemyr Stephen Johns Sid McLauchlan	[33]
2008	Judith Sherman	Blanton Alspaugh John Fraser Marina A. Ledin and Victor Ledin Robina G. Young	[34]
2009	David Frost	David Groves Judith Sherman Robina G. Young Robert Woods	[35]
2010	Steven Epstein	Blanton Alspaugh John Fraser David Frost James Mallinson	[36]
2011	David Frost	Blanton Alspaugh Tim Handley Marina A. Ledin and Victor Ledin James Mallinson	[37]
2012	Judith Sherman	Blanton Alspaugh Manfred Eicher David Frost Peter Ruitenberg	[38]
2013	Blanton Alspaugh	Tim Handley Marina Ledin & Victor Ledin Dan Merceruio James Mallinson	[39]
2014	David Frost	Manfred Eicher James Mallinson Marina Ledin & Victor Ledin Jay David Saks	[40]
2015	Judith Sherman	Morten Lindberg David Starobin Dimitriy Lipay Elaine Martone	[41]
2016	Judith Sherman	Blanton Alspaugh Manfred Eicher Marina A. Ledin & Victor Ledin Dan Merceruio	[42]
2017	David Frost	Blanton Alspaugh Marina A. Ledin & Victor Ledin Judith Sherman Robina G. Young	[43]
2018	David Frost	Blanton Alspaugh Manfred Eicher Morten Lindberg Judith Sherman	[44]
2019	Blanton Alspaugh	David Frost Elizabeth Ostrow Judith Sherman Dirk Sobotka	[45]
2020	Blanton Alspaugh	James Ginsburg Marina A. Ledin & Victor Ledin Morten Lindberg Dirk Sobotka	[46]
2021	David Frost	Blanton Alspaugh Jesse Lewis Dmitriy Lipay Elaine Martone	[47]
2022	Judith Sherman	Blanton Alspaugh Steven Epstein David Frost Elaine Martone	[48]
2023	Judith Sherman	Jonathan Allen Christoph Franke James Ginsburg Elaine Martone	[49]
2024	Elaine Martone	David Frost Morten Lindberg Dmitriy Lipay Brian Pidgeon
2025	Elaine Martone	Erica Brenner Morten Lindberg Dmitriy Lipay Dirk Sobotka	[50]

^{^[I]} Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.

See also

• Classical music portal

• American classical music
• List of Grammy Award categories