Gateway Chamber Orchestra earning high marks for second album

Clarksville, TN – Last spring, Clarksville’s Gateway Chamber Orchestra quietly released its second album, “Chamber Symphonies,” featuring works by Romanian composer George Enescu and Austrian composers Franz Schreker and Arnold Schoenberg.

The group, made up of Austin Peay State University music faculty and other professional musicians, then took some time off for the summer break. When they returned to Clarksville last fall, the orchestra quickly set to work on one of its most ambitious seasons yet.

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Gateway Chamber Orchestra recognized on 55th Annual Grammy Awards nominees list

Clarksville, TN – On Wednesday night, following a nationally televised concert in Nashville, the nominees for the 55th Annual Grammy Awards were announced.

Near the very bottom of that list of nominees, available online at www.grammy.com/nominees, was the category for “Producer of the Year, Classical,” and the name Blanton Alspaugh.

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APSU’s Gateway Chamber Ensemble Recognized on Grammy Nomination List

Clarksville, TN – Last week, the Grammy Award nominations were announced, and some of the expected names – Jay-Z, Lady Gaga and Eminem – were at the top of the list. But the Grammys recognize more than simply pop music, and if you were to scroll down that list, you would see the category for “Producer of the Year, Classical,” and the name Blanton Alspaugh.

Alspaugh’s name might not carry the weight in some circles as say a Lady Gaga, but in the classical music world, he’s a respected and revered producer. And, according to the Grammy website, one of the reasons he was nominated this year for a coveted Grammy Award stems from his work producing the first album for a chamber ensemble founded by several Austin Peay State University music faculty members. That group, the Gateway Chamber Ensemble, was also considered for nominations in three other categories, including “Best Small Ensemble Performance.”

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New CD by APSU’s Gateway Chamber Ensemble Lauded by National Music Magazine

Classical music aficionados were surprised last month when they picked up the latest issue of Fanfare Magazine and read that a chamber ensemble out of Clarksville had recorded the definitive version of Mozart’s “Wind Serenade in B flat” and Richard Strauss’s “Wind Serenade in E flat.” Music critic Jerry Dubins even said the recordings by this previously unknown group ranked above the performances by prominent ensembles from New York, London and around the world.

The Gateway Chamber Ensemble, which consists of Austin Peay State University faculty members and professional musicians from around the region, released its first CD, “Wind Serenades,” in March, and critics with Fanfare Magazine, one of the genre’s pre-eminent publications, immediately took note of the recording’s high quality.

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