'And the winner is' ... taking home a Grammy
What’s it like to win a Grammy?
Just ask Gloria Cheng, concert pianist and member of the UCLA Music Department faculty, who sat in agony for nearly two hours — through seemingly endless categories of Hawaiian music, gospel, bluegrass, polka, rap and more — before hearing her name announced as the winner of the “Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (Without Orchestra)” in the classical music category.
So how did she feel?
“I think I was somewhat relieved!” Cheng said, laughing. “It was not exhilaration; it was relief. And my husband actually said the same thing, because he thought I’d be very difficult to live with if I didn’t win.”
Cheng shared the elation of winning a major music award with two other UCLA Arts faculty members. Jesus Guzman, a lecturer in the Department of Ethnomusicology, won a Grammy for “Best Regional Mexican Album” as a member of Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano. The group’s album, “Amor, Dolor y Lágrimas: Música Ranchera,” tied with the Mariachi Divas’ “Canciones de Amor” for the top musical honor.
At the 40th NAACP Image Awards ceremony on Feb. 12, Cheryl Keyes, associate professor of ethnomusicology, won an award for “Outstanding World Music Album” for her album, “Let Me Take You There.” For four decades, the NAACP Image Awards has recognized outstanding achievement in black literature and entertainment.
But if you watched the Grammy Awards telecast on Feb. 8, you didn’t get to see Cheng receive her award for her winning CD, titled “Piano Music of Salonen, Stucky and Lutoslawski.” That’s because the majority of the 100-plus awards were given out at a pre-telecast that took place in the Los Angeles Convention Center, just hours before the televised ceremony in the Staples Center.
Cheng read an acceptance speech onstage, but was later chagrined to find that she had accidentally left out two names.
“The first is Sue Bienkowski, and the other is the late Betty Freeman,” Cheng said. “Both of them unhesitatingly helped me with the production of my CD. I left them out because their names were right on the fold of the sheet that I brought up with me, and in my nervousness, when I turned the sheet over, I just missed seeing their sentence. I would love to acknowledge them a little bit!”
After her win, Cheng said she was whisked away through “a gigantic maze of rooms” that included various official media rooms. The press photo room was the funniest, she recalled.
“It was my 'Angelina Jolie' moment,” Cheng said. “There were about 20 photographers there, all of them calling my name. I had never experienced such a thing, and I’m quite sure I will never experience it again. It was mayhem.”
An accomplished musician who earned her M.F.A. at UCLA, Cheng often performs live but has also recorded four solo CDs. She can be heard on several film soundtracks, including the ones for all three “Matrix” films, composed by fellow UCLA alumnus Don Davis. She has also worked frequently with another Bruin, composer James Horner, and recently participated in a closed recording session on a new theme for PBS’ “Great Performances,” under the direction of composer John Williams.
Jesus Guzman won a Grammy as a member of Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano for "Best Regional Mexican Album."
“I really enjoy working with composers,” Cheng said. “I love the interaction and the act of collaborating with someone who has created some
Cheryl Keyes captured the NAACP's Image Award for her album, "Let Me Take You There."
amazing music.”
Cheng is currently sharing her love of "contemporary" classical music with UCLA students through a fledgling contemporary music ensemble she helped create. Open to all instruments, including voice, the course is for those who are interested in playing contemporary music and working with composers.
“We’re off to a really good start,” Cheng said. “Our inaugural concert will be kind of low-key. But in the spring quarter we’re going to have it in the Popper Theater and will publicize it a little more widely. The name of the ensemble is Contempo Flux.”
Sounding like a veteran award-winner already, Cheng was quick to acknowledge some important people in her life, including her mentors at UCLA: her piano teacher, the late Aube Tzerko; and faculty member Robert Winter, “who is still a wonderful friend to me,” she said. “The two of them taught me so much about what I needed to know about being a musician.”
At home, though, Cheng manages a hectic life filled with performing, recording and teaching with the help of her “very wonderful husband” — Lefteris, a professional photographer who shot the cover for her Grammy-winning CD.
“In the throes of doing this CD, which just really took over my life for about six months, Lefteris was great,” she said. “He was extraordinarily supportive.”
