LSU Opera Alumnus Performs In 2024 GRAMMY Award Winning Production
February 21, 2024
BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU School of Music and Turner-Fischer Center for Opera alumnus Paul Groves was featured in the role of boxing manager Howie Albert in the New York Metropolitan Opera's GRAMMY-winning production of Champion, which was recently recognized at the 2024 Recording Academy GRAMMY Awards.
Paul Groves
The Met Opera's recording of Terence Blanchard’s Champion won the 2024 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording – the Met Opera's fourth consecutive award in that category. Champion is a two-act opera based on the life of the late professional boxer Emile Griffith, who is haunted by guilt over the death of Benny "The Kid" Paret following their widely publicized 1962 contest.
"We are tremendously proud of Paul for his contributions in bringing this complex and poignant production to life," said Eric Lau, Dean of the LSU College of Music & Dramatic Arts. "The recognition of Champion by the Recording Academy is richly deserved."
Groves has enjoyed an impressive international career, having performed at the world’s leading opera houses and concert halls. Coming to national attention as a winner of the Met’s National Council Auditions in 1991, Groves is a graduate of the Metropolitan Opera’s Young Artists Development Program. In addition to maintaining an active performance schedule, Groves serves as Artist-in-Residence at the LSU College of Music & Dramatic Arts, working with his former instructor, Professor Emeritus Robert Grayson, and the College's voice faculty to guide and mentor a new generation of artists at the Turner-Fischer Center for Opera.
The Turner-Fischer Center, one of the first major university programs in the United States, has produced exceptional singers who have sung on world opera stages such as the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and New York City Opera. LSU annually produces two main stage productions, fully staged, designed, costumed, and accompanied by members of the LSU Symphony Orchestra, alongside smaller, staged shows and numerous outreach performance opportunities.