Berklee Alumni Win Big at 16th Annual Latin Grammy Awards

Four Berklee alumni took home seven gold-plated gramophones from the 16th annual Latin Grammy Awards, held November 19, 2015, in Las Vegas. Dominican singer-songwriter Juan Luis Guerra ’82 received three awards: Album of the Year and Best Contemporary Tropical Album for Todo Tiene Su Hora and Best Tropical Song for "Tus Besos."

Recording engineer Sebastián Schon ’85 won two awards: Best Engineered Album for Natalia Lafourcade’s Hasta La Raíz, and Record of the Year for the title track from that album. Singer-songwriter Marta Gómez ’02 won Best Recording Package for her art direction on Este Instante. Ben Gundersheimer ’94, who performs as Mister G, won Best Latin Children’s Album for Los Animales. Faculty bassist Oscar Stagnaro played on two Latin Grammy-winning albums, Los Animales and Paquito D’Rivera’s Jazz Meets the Classics. Javier Limón, artistic director of Berklee's Mediterranean Music Institute, earned his eighth career Latin Grammy, for Entre 20 Aguas: A La Música De Paco De Lucía, in the Best Flamenco Album category. 

Seventeen alumni were nominated for 25 awards in 10 categories this year. With these recent wins, 31 alumni have won 85 Latin Grammys since the Latin Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences founded the awards in 2000.