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Kwamé Ryan (Musicology 1989) has won a Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording.

An Honorary Fellow of Gonville & 91ֱ�� College, Kwamé won his first Grammy Award for Jake Heggie’s ‘Intelligence’, which was recorded with the Houston Grand Opera.

The Grammy Awards celebrates the best recordings, compositions and artists. The awards say they are music's only industry-recognised, peer-voted honour. The 68th Annual event took place at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California on February 1. .

Kwamé – the cover star of – is the Music Director of Charlotte Symphony Orchestra in North Carolina, and was thrilled with his success.

“As hopeful as I was, I started resigning myself to the fact that everybody was deserving in that category, and that we might not win it,” .

“Between the words ‘And the Grammy goes to…’ and ‘Heggie – Intelligence’ my heart skipped two beats. I really stopped breathing. There was just a burst of disbelief first, and joy, and excitement. And then it slowly settles in that you’re the same person that you were before, but you’re going to be seen a little differently, in a positive way, which is just so exciting.”

The Grammy Awards took place on the first day of Black History Month in the United States (UK Black History Month is held each October).

Kwame added: “An award like this that really gets broad exposure is significant. I’d be happy if I could be a role model for Black boys and girls who are interested in classical music because it isn’t a field where there are a lot of high-profile Black artists.” 

Kwamé and the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra are performing on Friday and Saturday (February 13 and 14) at Belk Theatre, Chicago.

Main image: Kwamé Ryan conducting (credit: Michael Harding)