Case Study
Awadagin Pratt
Piano
Situation
The concert pianist Awadagin Pratt came to Gold Sound Media seeking to win a Grammy Award for his album STILLPOINT, which was going to be released later in the year (2023).
Strategy
We developed a comprehensive social media strategy and worked with key stakeholders at scale to share album information to the music community; we ran a large paid ad campaign on Meta when the album was released; and provided media relations support to New Amsterdam Records.
Solution
The album ultimately received a Grammy Award in the category of “Best Contemporary Classical Composition” for composer Jessie Montgomery’s Rounds — one of the commissioned works. When the album was initially released, it charted on Billboard — #6 on the Classical Crossover chart and at #13 on the Traditional Classical chart, remaining on both charts for one week.
Further, there were numerous high profile media outlets celebrating the album. Here are just the highlights.
New York Times: “Both of the groups he plays with — the chamber orchestra A Far Cry and the vocal octet Roomful of Teeth — bring their respective A-games”
NPR: “As his musical partners, Pratt tapped the agile, finely honed string orchestra A Far Cry and the experimental vocal group Roomful of Teeth. The result isn’t merely worth the wait; it is perhaps the finest album of his career.”
Boston Globe: “Inspired by patterns in nature, from fractals to the routes of migratory birds, ‘Rounds’ takes the form of nesting Rondos interrupted by a big virtuoso cadenza. [Jessie Montgomery’s] music has a narrative flair and structural clarity that allowed the audience, so it seemed, to follow her every step of the way. Pratt’s imaginative, boldly profiled playing was the icing on the cake.”