Music’s biggest celebration was a momentous one for the Frost School of Music this year, as faculty and alumni took home eight awards and two high-profile special honors from the 2026 GRAMMY Awards.
But the accolades went beyond golden gramophones. For the Frost School, the week of parties and events leading up to last Sunday’s telecast was marked by a joyful feeling of community and pride in the school’s influence in the music world.
Frost School music education alumna Jennifer Jimenez was awarded the 2026 Music Educator Award, greeted with a standing ovation at a Saturday ceremony, and congratulated by figures like Bernie Taupin, Elton John’s songwriting partner, and Erika Ender, co-writer of megahit “Despacito.” Alumna and Frost School Centennial Medalist Jessie Allen, managing director of GRAMMY U—the Recording Academy’s college and young professional development program—oversaw an intensive, exhilarating week of events for 14 student representatives, including Florida Chapter representative and Frost School student Adyna Silverberg. In Miami, GRAMMY U hosted a watch party at the Knight Center for Music Innovation on campus so students could join the celebration together.
The Frost School hosted its first GRAMMY week alumni gathering in Los Angeles, welcoming performers, educators, and graduates working in every corner of the music world, including 2025 graduate and Rock Symphonic co-founder Dawson Fuss and Mason Soria, M.M. ’22, tuba player for the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Each event heightened participants’ sense that the Frost School and the ethos which shaped them was also helping to shape the music industry.
“You realize how we’re all connected,” said John Daversa, chair of the Department of Studio Music and Jazz. He flew to Los Angeles to attend Saturday’s Premiere Ceremony, where “Some Days Are Better: The Lost Scores,” a recording of music by Canadian-British jazz icon Kenny Wheeler that Daversa co-created, was nominated for best large jazz ensemble album. “It’s like being with family, and we’re all making great music together.”
The Premiere Ceremony is where the majority of GRAMMY awards—those not included in the telecast—are presented in front of a music industry audience. Frost School alumnus Mike Cardone played trumpet in the onstage band for the event.
“Lost Scores,” which Daversa created with Nick Smart, jazz program leader at London’s Royal Academy of Music, and recorded in 2024 at the famed Abbey Road Studios with members of the Frost Jazz Orchestra and the Academy’s jazz orchestra, did not win. But Daversa said that for a music school project to be nominated alongside albums by such renowned artists as Christian McBride, whose “Without Further Ado, Vol. 1” was the winner, was an enormous honor in itself.
“I don’t think any of us in our wildest dreams thought this would be possible,” Daversa said. “To be GRAMMY-nominated is a really big deal for all the students and shows how high the level of excellence and standard of music making is at our institutions.”
Yet McBride’s win was also a win for the Frost School. The famed bassist, composer, and bandleader is the artistic director of the JAS Academy, the summer jazz program in Aspen, Colorado, run by the Frost School and Jazz Aspen Snowmass.
Most of the awards for Frost School artists were in jazz and Latin music, areas where the school has long excelled. Faculty member Gonzalo Rubalcaba, the renowned Cuban jazz pianist, won the GRAMMY for best Latin jazz album for “A Tribute to Benny Moré and Nat King Cole," with Yainer Horta and Joey Calveiro. Acclaimed jazz singer Samara Joy, whose album "Portrait" won for best jazz vocal album, thanked her co-producer Brian Lynch, a Frost School professor and GRAMMY-winning jazz artist, while flanked by her Frost School alumni bandmembers: pianist Connor Rohrer, saxophonist David Mason, and trumpet player Jason Charos.
Miami Latin music icons Gloria and Emilio Estefan, honorary Frost School doctorate holders, supporters, and frequent collaborators, received the GRAMMY for best tropical Latin album for “Raíces,” commemorating their Cuban musical roots and family. The Latin music trailblazers shared in the GRAMMY spotlight on superstar Bad Bunny, with Gloria sitting at his table and Emilio getting a hug backstage from the album of the year winner.
Alumni Federico Vindver, B.M. ’08, a major Latin music producer, and Danny Flores, M.A. '22, an increasingly successful producer in the field, both worked on Ca7riel and Paco Amoroso’s “Papota,” winner of the GRAMMY for best Latin rock or alternative album.
Jack Manning, B.S. ’20, an engineer at New York’s famed Electric Lady Studios, shared in one of the four biggest GRAMMYs of the night, for record of the year, for Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther.” The award recognizes the artist and the production and engineering team.
And composer Danielle Wertz, a 2016 alumna, shared in the GRAMMY for best instrumental composition for “First Snow” on the Nordkraft Big Band album “Silent Course.”
Iconic artist, producer, and entrepreneur Pharrell Williams, a friend of Dean Shelton G. Berg and frequent Frost School collaborator with a 2023 master’s in music industry from Frost Online, was honored with the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award, given to Black music creators who have greatly influenced the industry. Williams and hip-hop duo Clipse—with whom Williams shared the GRAMMY for best rap performance—closed the telecast with a spectacular performance featuring gospel choir Voices of Fire.
The possibility of also taking that stage someday is the reason Daversa keeps the three GRAMMY Awards for his album “American Dreamers: Voices of Hope, Music of Freedom,” on the windowsill in his office.
“When students walk in, they can see that if I can do it, so can they,” Daversa said. “They understand the possibility that it’s not just a dream, but it can be something real.”
Look for our profile of 2026 Music Educator Award recipient Jennifer Jimenez, Frost School music education alumna and director of magnet bands at South Miami Senior High School, in Frost News on Thursday, Feb. 5.
Frost School of Music 2026 GRAMMY winners
2026 Music Educator Award
Jennifer Jimenez, B.M. ’03
Dr. Dre Global Impact Award
Pharrell Williams, M.M. ’23
Record of the Year
Jack Manning, B.S. ’20
Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album - “Without Further Ado, Vol. 1”
Christian McBride, artistic director JAS Academy; artist
Best Latin Jazz Album - “A Tribute to Benny Moré and Nat King Cole"
Gonzalo Rubalcaba, faculty member; artist (with Yainer Horta and Joey Calveiro)
Best Jazz Vocal Album - “Portrait” by Samara Joy
Brian Lynch, faculty member; co-producer
Best Latin Tropical Album – “Raices”
Gloria and Emilio Estefan, honorary doctorate holders; artists, songwriters, producers
Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album – “PAPOTA” by CA7RIEL and Paco Amoroso
Federico Vindver, B.M. ’08 – producer and arranger
Danny Flores, M.A. ’22 – producer and arranger (as Coast City)
Best Instrumental Composition - “First Snow” on the Nordkraft Big Band's “Silent Course.”
Danielle Wertz, B.M. ’16 – composer
Best Rap Performance – “Chains and Whips”
Pharrell Williams, M.M. ’23 – artist (with Clipse and Kendrick Lamar)
