Who won Best Contemporary Classical Composition at the most recent Grammys?

Gabriela Ortiz won at the 2025 Grammys.

Who won Best Contemporary Classical Composition in 2025?

Gabriela Ortiz — Revolución Diamantina.

Who won Best Contemporary Classical Composition in 2021?

Christopher Rouse — Symphony No. 5.

Who has won Best Contemporary Classical Composition the most times?

Jennifer Higdon, John Adams, John Corigliano and Samuel Barber are tied with 3 wins each.

How many different winners has Best Contemporary Classical Composition had?

35 different winners across 46 ceremonies, 1961–2025.

A visual history · Grammys

The winners who defined Contemporary Composition.

46 ceremonies, 1961–2025. 35 different winners.

Who won most recently?: Gabriela Ortiz in 2025 for Revolución Diamantina.
Who has won the most?: Jennifer Higdon, John Adams, John Corigliano and Samuel Barber, tied on 3 wins each.

2025Revolución DiamantinaGabriela Ortiz
2024RoundsJessie Montgomery
2023ContactKevin Puts
2022Narrow SeaCaroline Shaw
2021Symphony No. 5Christopher Rouse
2020Harp ConcertoJennifer Higdon

Years explored: 1961–2025
Different winners: 35
Category leader: Jennifer Higdon · 3

About this record

Best Contemporary Classical Composition was first awarded in 1961, so it does not run the full 1959–2025 window.

It was previously known as Best Classical Contemporary Composition.

The words were reordered in the 2012 restructuring; the award itself did not change.

2000–2025

26 ceremonies

19612025

01 / The reigns

22 winners shaped this category.

The timeline turns the 2000–2025 record into a sequence of reigns. Longer bands reveal sustained runs; color shows the credited label.

01
Jennifer Higdon3 wins
02
Christopher Rouse2 wins
03
Michael Daugherty2 wins

One band per year, because no winner has gone back-to-back in the years on record. Colored by label; scroll sideways for the full run.

Pierre Boulez'00

George Crumb'01

Christopher Rouse'02

John Tavener'03

Dominick Argento'04

John Adams'05

William Bolcom'06

Osvaldo Golijov'07

Joan Tower'08

John Corigliano'09

Jennifer Higdon'10

Michael Daugherty'11

Robert Aldridge'12

Stephen Hartke'13

Maria Schneider'14

John Luther Adams'15

Stephen Paulus'16

Michael Daugherty'17

Jennifer Higdon'18

Aaron Jay Kernis'19

Jennifer Higdon'20

Christopher Rouse'21

Caroline Shaw'22

Kevin Puts'23

Jessie Montgomery'24

Gabriela Ortiz'25

03 / The near misses

The names that kept coming back without the ending they wanted.

Counting nominations in this category only, 2000–2025.

Most nominated, never won this award

01
Arvo Pärt
4 noms
02
Andy Akiho
3 noms
03
Thomas Adès
3 noms
04
Andrew Norman
2 noms
05
Christopher Theofanidis
2 noms
06
Derek Bermel
2 noms

Most losses in this category

01
Arvo Pärt
4L · 0W
02
Andy Akiho
3L · 0W
03
George Crumb
3L · 1W
04
Jennifer Higdon
3L · 3W
05
Thomas Adès
3L · 0W
06
Andrew Norman
2L · 0W

04 / The archive

Every year.
Every winner.

The complete reference behind the story, showing 2000–2025. Open any year to see the rest of the field when nominee records are available.

Year	Winner	Label
2025	Gabriela Ortiz (Revolución Diamantina) beat 4 others Andrea Cassarubios (Seven for Solo Cello) Valerie Coleman (Revelry) David Lang (Composition as Explanation) Kaija Saariaho (Adriana Mater)	Unrecorded
2024	Jessie Montgomery (Rounds) beat 4 others Thomas Adès (Dante) Andy Akiho (In That Space, In That Time) William Brittelle (Psychedelics) Missy Mazzoli (Dark with Excessive Bright)	Unrecorded
2023	Kevin Puts (Contact) beat 4 others Andy Akiho (Ligneos Suite) Derek Bermel (Intonations) Sofia Gubaidulina (The Wrath of God) Carlos Simon (Requiem for the Enslaved)	Unrecorded
2022	Caroline Shaw (Narrow Sea) beat 4 others Andy Akiho (Seven Pillars) Louis Andriessen (The Only One) Clarice Assad (Archetypes) Jon Batiste (Movement 11)	Unrecorded
2021	Christopher Rouse (Symphony No. 5) beat 4 others Carlisle Floyd (Prince of Players) Ted Hearne (Place) Thomas Adès (Piano Concerto) Richard Danielpour (The Passion Of Yeshua)	Unrecorded
2020	Jennifer Higdon (Harp Concerto) beat 5 others Derek Bermel (Migration Series For Jazz Ensemble & Orchestra) Wynton Marsalis (Violin Concerto In D Major) Andrew Norman (Sustain) Caroline Shaw (Orange) Julia Wolfe (Fire In My Mouth Show)	Unrecorded
2019	Aaron Jay Kernis (Violin Concerto) beat 4 others Jake Heggie (Great Scott) Missy Mazzoli (Vespers For Violin) Mason Bates (The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs) Du Yun (Air Glow)	Unrecorded
2018	Jennifer Higdon (Viola Concerto) beat 4 others Zhou Tian (Concerto For Orchestra) Adam Schoenberg (Picture Studies) Tigran Mansurian (Requiem) Richard Danielpour (Songs Of Solitude)	Unrecorded
2017	Michael Daugherty (Tales of Hemingway) beat 4 others Jennifer Higdon (Cold Mountain) Christopher Theofanidis (Bassoon Concerto) Kip Winger (Conversations With Nijinsky) Mason Bates (Anthology of Fantastic Zoology)	Unrecorded
2016	Stephen Paulus (Prayers and Remembrances) beat 4 others Gerald Barry (The Importance of Being Earnest) Andrew Norman (Play) Joan Tower (Stroke) Julia Wolfe (Anthracite Fields)	Unrecorded
2015	John Luther Adams (Become Ocean) beat 4 others Anna Clyne (Prince of Clouds) George Crumb (Voices From The Heartland) Stephen Paulus (Concerto For Two Trumpets & Band) Roberto Sierra (Sinfonía No. 4)	Unrecorded
2014	Maria Schneider (Winter Morning Walks) beat 4 others Magnus Lindberg (Piano Concerto No. 2) Arvo Pärt (Adam's Lament) Esa-Pekka Salonen (Violin Concerto) Caroline Shaw (Partita for 8 Voices)	Unrecorded
2013	Stephen Hartke (Meanwhile - Incidental Music To Imaginary Puppet Plays) beat 4 others Tania León (Inura For Voices, Strings & Percussion) Uģis Prauliņš (The Nightingale) Einojuhani Rautavaara (Cello Concerto No. 2 Towards the Horizon) Steven Stucky (August 4, 1964)	Unrecorded
2012	Robert Aldridge (Elmer Gantry) beat 4 others George Crumb (The Ghosts Of Alhambra) Jefferson Friedman (String Quartet No. 3) Steven Mackey (Lonely Motel - Music From Slide) Poul Ruders (Piano Concerto No. 2)	Unrecorded
2011	Michael Daugherty (Deus ex Machina) beat 4 others Hans Werner Henze (Appassionatamente Plus) Magnus Lindberg (Graffiti) Arvo Pärt (Symphony No. 4) Rodion Shchedrin (The Enchanted Wanderer)	Unrecorded
2010	Jennifer Higdon (Percussion Concerto) beat 4 others George Crumb (The Winds Of Destiny) Arvo Pärt (In Principio) Roberto Sierra (Missa Latina 'Pro Pace) Yehudi Wyner (Chiavi in Mano)	Unrecorded
2009	John Corigliano (Mr. Tambourine Man: Seven Poems Of Bob Dylan) beat 4 others Marc-André Dalbavie (Flute Concerto) Michael Gandolfi (The Garden Of Cosmic Speculation) George Tsontakis (Violin Concerto No. 2) Chris Walden (Symphony No. 1, The Four Elements)	Unrecorded
2008	Joan Tower (Made In America) beat 4 others Joan Albert Amargós (Northern Concerto) David Chesky (Concerto For Bassoon And Orchestra) Jennifer Higdon (Zaka) Peter Lieberson (Neruda Songs)	Unrecorded
2007	Osvaldo Golijov (Ainadamar) beat 4 others Elliott Carter (Boston Concerto) Christopher Theofanidis (The Here And Now) David Del Tredici (Paul Revere's Ride) James MacMillan (A Scotch Bestiary)	Unrecorded
2006	William Bolcom (Songs Of Innocence And Of Experience) beat 4 others Carlos Franzetti (Corpus Evita) Ned Rorem (Nine Episodes For Four Players) Osvaldo Golijov (Ayre) Peter Boyer (Ellis Island: The Dream of America)	Unrecorded
2005	John Adams (On the Transmigration of Souls) beat 4 others Jennifer Higdon (Concerto For Orchestra) Tigran Mansurian (... and then I was in time again) André Previn (Violin Concerto) Valentyn Silvestrov (Requiem For Larissa)	Unrecorded
2004	Dominick Argento (Casa Guidi) beat 4 others George Rochberg (Symphony No. 5) José Serebrier (Symphony No. 3) György Kurtág (Signs, Games And Messages) Benjamin Lees (Symphony No. 5 "Kalmar Nyckel")	Unrecorded
2003	John Tavener (Lamentations & Praises) beat 4 others John Adams (Naïve and Sentimental Music) Osvaldo Golijov (Yiddishbbuk Inscriptions For String Quartet) Sofia Gubaidulina (Johannes-Passion) Arvo Pärt (Orient & Occident)	Unrecorded
2002	Christopher Rouse (Concert de Gaudí) beat 3 others Poul Ruders (The Handmaid's Tale) John Tavener (Total Eclipse) Pierre Boulez (Sur Incises)	Unrecorded
2001	George Crumb (Star-Child) beat 4 others Heiner Goebbels (Surrogate Cities) Nicholas Maw (Violin Concerto) Ned Rorem (Evidence Of Things Not Seen) Rodion Shchedrin (Concerto Cantabile)	Unrecorded
2000	Pierre Boulez (Répons) beat 4 others Aaron Jay Kernis (Air For Violin) John Tavener (Eternity's Sunrise) Thomas Adès (Asyla) Andrew Imbrie (Requiem)	Unrecorded
1999	Krzysztof Penderecki (Violin Concerto No. 2 "Metamorphosen")unverified beat 4 others John Adams (Gnarly Buttons) Elliott Carter (90+) Arvo Pärt (Kanon Pokajanen) George Tsontakis (Ghost Variations)	Not listed
1998	John Adams (El Dorado)unverified beat 4 others Lowell Liebermann (Concerto No. 2 For Piano And Orchestra) Per Nørgård (Symphony No. 5) Richard Danielpour (Concerto For Orchestra) Aaron Jay Kernis (Second Symphony)	Not listed
1997	John Corigliano (String Quartet No. 1)unverified beat 4 others John Adams (Violin Concerto) Colin Matthews (Fourth Sonata) Einojuhani Rautavaara (Symphony No. 7: "Angel of Light") Gunther Schuller (Four Soundscapes)	Not listed
1996	Olivier Messiaen (Concert à quatre)unverified beat 4 others Gunther Schuller (Of Reminiscences and Reflections) Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (Symphony No. 3) John Adams (Chamber Symphony) György Ligeti (Violin Concerto)	Not listed
1995	Stephen Albert (Cello Concerto)unverified beat 4 others György Ligeti (Piano Concerto) Witold Lutosławski (Symphony No. 4) Olivier Messiaen (Éclairs sur l'au-delà...) Tōru Takemitsu (Fantasma/Cantos)	Not listed
1994	Elliott Carter (Violin Concerto)unverified beat 4 others Donald Erb (Cello Concerto) Tōru Takemitsu (A Way A Lone) Michael Tippett (Byzantium) William Bolcom (Orphee-Serenade)	Not listed
1993	Samuel Barber (The Lovers)unverified beat 4 others Anthony Davis (X, The Life and Times of Malcolm X) Witold Lutosławski (Piano Concerto) John Tavener (The Protecting Veil) Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (Flute Concerto)	Not listed
1992	John Corigliano (Symphony No. 1)unverified beat 4 others Elliott Carter (Oboe Concerto) Nicholas Maw (Odyssey) Arvo Pärt (Miserere) Dominick Argento (Te Deum)	Not listed
1991	Leonard Bernstein (Arias and Barcarolles)unverified beat 4 others John Adams (The Wound-Dresser) Henri Lazarof (Tableaux (After Kandinsky) For Piano And Orchestra) Terry Riley (Salome Dances For Peace) Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (Symphony No. 2)	Not listed
1990	Steve Reich (Different Trains)unverified beat 4 others Sofia Gubaidulina (Offertorium) Witold Lutosławski (Chain 2) Witold Lutosławski (Partita) Arvo Pärt (Passio)	Not listed
1989	John Adams (Nixon in China)unverified beat 4 others Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Wadsworth (A Quiet Place) William Bolcom (Symphony No. 4) Ned Rorem (String Symphony) Karlheinz Stockhausen (Amour)	Not listed
1988	Krzysztof Penderecki (Cello Concerto No. 2)unverified beat 5 others John Adams (The Chairman Dances) Milton Babbitt (Piano Concerto) Joseph Schwantner (A Sudden Rainbow) Roger Sessions (Symphony No. 5) Michael Tippett (The Mask Of Time)	Not listed
1987	Witold Lutosławski (Symphony No. 3)unverified beat 4 others Robert Beaser (Mountain Songs: A Cycle Of American Folk Music) Chick Corea (Septet) Philip Glass (String Quartet No. 2, Company) Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (Symphony No. 1)	Not listed
1986	Andrew Lloyd Webber (Requiem)unverified beat 4 others John Adams (Harmonium) Philip Glass (Satyagraha) George Perle (Serenade No. 3 For Piano And Chamber Orchestra) Robert Starer (Violin Concerto)	Not listed
1985	Samuel Barber (Antony and Cleopatra)unverified beat 4 others Morton Gould (Apple Waltzes) Joseph Schwantner (Magabunda "Four poems of Agueda Pizarro") Frank Zappa (The Perfect Stranger) Vincent Persichetti (Winter Cantata)	Not listed
1966	Charles Ives (Symphony No. 4)unverified beat 5 others Leonard Bernstein (Chichester Psalms) Benjamin Britten (Cantata misericordium) David Diamond (String Quartet No. 4) Morton Gould (World War I Suite) William Walton (Variations on a Theme by Hindemith)	Not listed
1965	Samuel Barber (Piano Concerto)unverified beat 4 others Darius Milhaud (A Frenchman In New York) Charles Ives (A Symphony: New England Holidays) Igor Stravinsky (A Sermon, a Narrative and a Prayer) Leonard Bernstein (Symphony No. 3 "Kaddish")	Not listed
1964	Benjamin Britten (War Requiem)unverified beat 5 others Samuel Barber (Andromache's Farewell) John La Montaine (Concerto For Piano) Heitor Villa-Lobos (Cello Concerto No. 2) Dmitri Shostakovich (Symphony No. 4) William Schuman (Symphony No. 8)	Not listed
1963	Igor Stravinsky (The Flood: A Musical Play)unverified beat 6 others Edgard Varèse (Arcana) Aaron Copland (Connotations) Benjamin Britten (Noye's Fludde) Lukas Foss (Song Of Songs) William Walton (Symphony No. 2) Lukas Foss (Time Cycle)	Not listed
1961	Aaron Copland (Orchestral Suite from The Tender Land)unverified beat 7 others Easley Blackwood Jr. (Symphony No. 1) Paul Hindemith (Sonata For Cello And Piano) Charles Ives (Symphony No. 2) Francis Poulenc (La voix humaine) Roger Sessions (Symphony No. 1) Igor Stravinsky (Threni) Edgard Varèse (Density 21.5)	Not listed