Two Vietnamese artists nominated for Grammy 2025

Vietnamese-American singer Sangeeta Kaur - real name Mai Xuan Loan - and director Bao Nguyen have works nominated for the 2025 Grammy Awards.

In the list of the American Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences on November 8, Sangeeta Kaur was nominated in the category of Best Classical Compendium Album with the work Mythologies II .

Album cover "Mythologies II". Photo: Character provided

The album was composed by composer Danea Xantha Vlasse, based on Greek mythology. The singers performing were soprano Sangeeta Kaur, Hila Plitmann, tenor Omar Najmi and pianist Robert Thies.

The project was performed at Abbey Road Studios in London, England, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra - led by artist Michael Shapiro. The work was then mixed and arranged at Sangeeta Kaur's studio in Austin, Texas, USA.

Singer Sangeeta Kaur. Photo: Character provided

At the 2022 Grammys, Sangeeta Kaur and Hilla Plitmann - Israeli singer - were honored in the category of Best Classical Solo Vocal Album, for Mythologies . The two beat out many names in the classical music world such as Will Liverman, Joyce DiDonato, Jamie Barton and Laura Strickling.

Sangeeta Kaur, 44, whose real name is Mai Xuan Loan, was born and raised in the United States to Vietnamese parents. She graduated with a degree in Opera Performance from the Bob Cole Conservatory of California State University and has a master's degree from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee (USA). The singer has released an album Niguma , Ascension , Mirrors , Compassion and Illuminance.

She is influenced by Indian philosophy, mainly pursuing opera and meditation music. Since 2009, she has taken the stage name Sangeeta Kaur in Indian, meaning "Princess of Music and Harmony". On the page Sangeeta Kaur Music , the singer says, "My life's mission is to create and share music that brings joy and positive energy to listeners."

Alongside Sangeeta Kaur, the documentary project The Greatest Night in Pop by director Bao Nguyen was nominated for the category of Best Musical Film. With unreleased footage, the work goes from the stage of forming ideas, the process of composing songs We Are the World belong to Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson, until the team released the song in March 1985. The highlight was the moment when dozens of big names in the music industry gathered in a studio in Los Angeles, USA, to record the song to help with famine relief in Africa.

Trailer for "The Greatest Night in Pop," premiering on Netflix January 29. Video : Netflix

Previously, The Greatest Night in Pop receive three nominations 2024 Emmys include Outstanding Documentary, Outstanding Directing for a Documentary and Outstanding Sound Editing for a Nonfiction Film. The film received positive reviews from critics, scoring a 98% "fresh" score on Rotten Tomatoes .

Writer Brian Tallerico of the site Roger Ebert writes: "Music documentaries may be out of fashion, but The Greatest Night in Pop made his mark by exploring a historical period in the music industry". Chicago Sun-Times commented: "It's a delight to hear Dionne Warwick's sweet voice blending with Willie Nelson again."

Bao Nguyen said the idea for making the film came about during Covid-19, when people around the world suffered many losses. The situation made the filmmaker think of We Are the World , a song that many audiences searched for when the world faced many crises of natural disasters, epidemics, and racism. "The song was so influential that nearly 40 years later, people around the world still sing it," said the director.

Bao Nguyen He holds a BA in International Relations from New York University and an MA in Documentary Film from The School of Visual Arts, New York. At the Tribeca Film Festival (USA), the documentary Once in a Lullaby - Produced by Bao Nguyen - premiered in 2012, Live from New York! directed by him was selected opening show three years later. Before The Greatest Night in Pop , Bruce Lee project - Be Water (2020) - nominated for Research Achievement: Documentary at the 2021 Emmy.

Director Bao Nguyen. Photo: Character provided

Award ceremony Grammy The 67th edition will take place on February 2, 2025 (local time) at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles (USA), and is expected to last three and a half hours. The expert panel will vote to select the winner from December 12 to January 3, 2025. Singer Beyoncé lead nominated this year with 11 categories, holding the record for the most nominations by an artist with 99. After Beyoncé, singers Charli XCX, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar and Post Malone each received seven nominations. Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan and Taylor Swift followed with six categories.

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