# Grammy Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo Honoring outstanding classical instrumental solo recordings, the Grammy Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo covers concertos and works written in a concerto style. The Grammy is awarded to the instrumental soloist(s) and the conductor.[1](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-classical-instrumental-solo/) The category sits in the Recording Academy's Classical Field, alongside Best Orchestral Performance, Best Opera Recording, Best Choral Performance, Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance, Best Classical Solo Vocal Album, Best Classical Compendium, and Best Contemporary Classical Composition.[2](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/) | Key fact | Detail | |---|---| | What it honors | Classical instrumental solo recordings, including concertos and concerto-style works[1](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-classical-instrumental-solo/) | | Recipients | The instrumental soloist(s) and the conductor; producers and engineers other than the artist receive statuettes if they performed on greater than 50% of the winning album[1](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-classical-instrumental-solo/) • [3](https://ra-grammy-media.ncp.consulting/uploads/2026/06/69_Rulebook_06112026-FINAL2.pdf) | | Most recent winner | Yo-Yo Ma and Andris Nelsons (Boston Symphony Orchestra), "Shostakovich: The Cello Concertos," 68th Annual Grammy Awards (2026)[1](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-classical-instrumental-solo/) | | 2026 eligibility window | Recordings released between August 31, 2024 and August 30, 2025[1](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-classical-instrumental-solo/) | | Recent winners | Víkingur Ólafsson (2025, Bach: Goldberg Variations); Yuja Wang and Teddy Abrams (2024, The American Project); Time For Three and Xian Zhang (2023, Letters For The Future)[1](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-classical-instrumental-solo/) | | 2026 nominees | Curtis Stewart and Michael Repper (Coleridge-Taylor selections); Han Chen and John Jeter (Price: Piano Concerto In One Movement In D Minor); Yuja Wang and Andris Nelsons (Shostakovich: The Piano Concertos; Solo Works), among others[1](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-classical-instrumental-solo/) | ## Scope and recipients The award covers a solo instrumentalist's recorded work, whether accompanied by orchestra, as in a concerto, or in other concerto-style settings. Credit follows Recording Academy rules: the soloist and conductor receive the Grammy, and producers or engineers who are not the artist receive statuettes when they worked on more than half of the playing time of a winning album. A composer can also receive a statuette when more than 50% of the playing time on the winning recording consists of world premiere compositions and that composer's music makes up more than 50% of the album; a composer who wins Best Contemporary Classical Composition in the same year cannot receive a second statuette for the same work appearing on a winning recording in another Classical category.[3](https://ra-grammy-media.ncp.consulting/uploads/2026/06/69_Rulebook_06112026-FINAL2.pdf) ## Recent winners and nominees The winners of the last decade show the category's range across instruments and repertoire. Recent winners include: - 2026: [Yo-Yo Ma](https://www.edgepedia.org/yo-yo-ma) and Andris Nelsons, *Shostakovich: The Cello Concertos*[1](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-classical-instrumental-solo/) - 2025: Víkingur Ólafsson, *Bach: Goldberg Variations*[1](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-classical-instrumental-solo/) - 2024: [Yuja Wang](https://www.edgepedia.org/yuja-wang) and Teddy Abrams, *The American Project*[1](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-classical-instrumental-solo/) - 2023: Time For Three and Xian Zhang, *Letters For The Future*[1](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-classical-instrumental-solo/) - 2022: Jennifer Koh, *Alone Together*[1](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-classical-instrumental-solo/) - 2021: Richard O'Neill and David Alan Miller, *Theofanidis: Concerto For Viola And Chamber Orchestra*[1](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-classical-instrumental-solo/) - 2020: [Nicola Benedetti](https://www.edgepedia.org/nicola-benedetti) and Cristian Măcelaru, *Marsalis: Violin Concerto; Fiddle Dance Suite*[1](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-classical-instrumental-solo/) - 2019: James Ehnes and Ludovic Morlot, *Kernis: Violin Concerto*[1](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-classical-instrumental-solo/) - 2018: Daniil Trifonov, *Transcendental*[1](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-classical-instrumental-solo/) - 2017: Zuill Bailey and Giancarlo Guerrero, *Daugherty: Tales Of Hemingway*[1](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-classical-instrumental-solo/) - 2016: Augustin Hadelich and Ludovic Morlot, *Dutilleux: Violin Concerto, L'Arbre Des Songes*[1](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-classical-instrumental-solo/) The 2026 slate, honoring recordings released between August 31, 2024 and August 30, 2025, paired the winning Shostakovich cello concertos with nominees including Coleridge-Taylor selections from "24 Negro Melodies" (Curtis Stewart, Michael Repper), the Florence Price Piano Concerto in One Movement in [D minor](https://www.edgepedia.org/d-minor) (Han Chen, John Jeter), Yuja Wang's recording of the Shostakovich piano concertos with the [Boston Symphony Orchestra](https://www.edgepedia.org/boston-symphony-orchestra), and Adam Tendler's *Inheritances*.[1](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-classical-instrumental-solo/) ## Predecessor categories Before the current name, the Academy honored classical instrumental soloists through a set of separate categories that split recordings by whether an orchestra participated. The with-orchestra category, styled "Best Classical Performance – Instrumental Soloist Or Soloists (With Orchestra)," was won in 1986 by Yo-Yo Ma for *Elgar: Cello Concerto, Op. 85 / Walton: Concerto For Cello & Orch.*, against nominees including [Itzhak Perlman](https://www.edgepedia.org/itzhak-perlman)'s Khachaturian violin concerto and Andras Schiff's Schumann and Chopin concertos.[4](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-classical-performance-instrumental-soloist-or-soloists-with-orchestra/) The parallel without-orchestra category was won the same year by Vladimir Ashkenazy for his Ravel recording.[5](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-classical-performance-instrumental-soloist-or-soloists-without-orchestra/) The with-or-without-orchestra form of the category produced one of its most-cited results: Walter (Wendy) Carlos won in 1970 for *Switched-On Bach*, a synthesizer recording of Bach, against nominees including Henryk Szeryng's Bach solo violin works and [Mstislav Rostropovich](https://www.edgepedia.org/mstislav-rostropovich)'s Dvorak cello concerto.[6](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-classical-performance-instrumental-soloist-or-soloists-with-or-without-orchestra/1970/) The later "Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with Orchestra)" category ran through 2011, when [Mitsuko Uchida](https://www.edgepedia.org/mitsuko-uchida) won for *Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 23 & 24* with the Cleveland Orchestra.[7](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-instrumental-soloists-performance-with-orchestra/) Earlier winners in these lineages include [Isaac Stern](https://www.edgepedia.org/isaac-stern) (Bartok's Violin Concerto No. 1 in 1962)[8](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-classical-performance-instrumental-soloist-with-orchestra/1962/), Artur Rubinstein (Beethoven's Piano Concerto in 1966)[9](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-classical-performance-instrumental-soloist-or-soloists-with-orchestra/1966/), Itzhak Perlman in 1981 and 1991[10](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-classical-performance-instrumental-soloist-or-soloists-with-orchestra/1981/) • [11](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-classical-performance-instrumental-soloist-with-orchestra/1991/), and Vladimir Horowitz in 1968, 1969, and 1987[6](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-classical-performance-instrumental-soloist-or-soloists-with-or-without-orchestra/1970/). ## Context within the classical field The classical categories are announced and awarded outside the main Grammy telecast and receive far less public attention than the general field; a Washington Post column described the classical categories (Field 11, categories 87 through 94) as among the evening's least visible, while noting that a Grammy win or nomination carries significant weight for an artist's career and, cumulatively, helps shape the recorded canon.[12](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/2025/02/05/classical-music-grammy-winners-2025/) The Recording Academy's voting process channels entries through genre-based sorting committees onto the first-round ballot, with members voting only in their areas of expertise, in up to ten categories across three genre fields plus the general field.[13](https://www.grammy.com/awards/faq/) ## References 1. [Best Classical Instrumental Solo Grammy Award Winners & Nominees, Recording Academy](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-classical-instrumental-solo/) 2. [Archives: Award Categories, Recording Academy](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/) 3. [68th Grammy Awards Rulebook, Recording Academy](https://ra-grammy-media.ncp.consulting/uploads/2026/06/69_Rulebook_06112026-FINAL2.pdf) 4. [Best Classical Performance – Instrumental Soloist Or Soloists (With Orchestra), Recording Academy](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-classical-performance-instrumental-soloist-or-soloists-with-orchestra/) 5. [Best Classical Performance – Instrumental Soloist Or Soloists (Without Orchestra), Recording Academy](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-classical-performance-instrumental-soloist-or-soloists-without-orchestra/) 6. [Best Classical Performance – Instrumental Soloist Or Soloists (With Or Without Orchestra) 1970, Recording Academy](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-classical-performance-instrumental-soloist-or-soloists-with-or-without-orchestra/1970/) 7. [Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with Orchestra), Recording Academy](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-instrumental-soloists-performance-with-orchestra/) 8. [Best Classical Performance, Instrumental Soloist (With Orchestra) 1962, Recording Academy](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-classical-performance-instrumental-soloist-with-orchestra/1962/) 9. [Best Classical Performance – Instrumental Soloist Or Soloists (With Orchestra) 1966, Recording Academy](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-classical-performance-instrumental-soloist-or-soloists-with-orchestra/1966/) 10. [Best Classical Performance – Instrumental Soloist Or Soloists (With Orchestra) 1981, Recording Academy](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-classical-performance-instrumental-soloist-or-soloists-with-orchestra/1981/) 11. [Best Classical Performance, Instrumental Soloist (With Orchestra) 1991, Recording Academy](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-classical-performance-instrumental-soloist-with-orchestra/1991/) 12. [In case you didn't hear, classical artists also won a bunch of Grammys, The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/2025/02/05/classical-music-grammy-winners-2025/) 13. [Grammy 101 | Frequently Asked Questions about the Grammy Awards, Recording Academy](https://www.grammy.com/awards/faq/) --- *Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Music institutions and events › Music awards › Grammy Awards › Grammy classical and jazz categories › Grammy classical solo instrumental and concerto performance* *Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026* *Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.* License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license