In addition, Musical Theatre graduate Alex Joseph Grayson, ’14, was nominated for a GRAMMY in the category of Best Musical Theater Album, for his performance in the lead role of Jim Conley in the Broadway show, “Parade.” The production won a TONY Award last spring.

The nominations were announced Friday.

In the category of Record of the Year, Merrill was nominated as mastering engineer for “Vampire,” by Olivia Rodrigo, and for “Anti-Hero” by Taylor Swift.

In the category of Album of the Year, Merrill was nominated as mastering engineer for Rodrigo’s “Guts,” and for Swift’s “Midnights.”

Alumni Randy Merrill (left) and Charlie Post at the 2023 GRAMMYs (photo courtesy of Charlie Post).

Merrill graduated from Falconer Central High School in 1992, went on to study at Jamestown Community College and graduated from Fredonia’s Sound Recording Technology program in 1997. To date, he has 25 GRAMMY nominations and eight wins.

Mr. Post, who majored in Sound Recording Technology and in Music-Applied while at SUNY Fredonia, was nominated as an engineer with David Frost in the category of Best Engineered Album, Classical, for “Contemporary American Composers,” by Riccardo Muti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Dean of the Fredonia School of Music David Stringham commented on the nominees’ achievements: “Earlier today, we were thrilled to learn that School of Music alumni Randy Merrill (’97) and Charlie Post (’98) — as well as Alex Joseph Grayson (’14), who studied voice while pursuing his Musical Theatre degree — have been collectively nominated for six GRAMMY awards. Randy, Charlie, and Alex have worked alongside collaborators such as Jason Robert Brown, Micaela Diamond, Olivia Rodrigo, Riccardo Muti, Ben Platt, and Taylor Swift to produce art that people across the world have enjoyed. We are so proud to count them among our many alumni who are leveraging their creativity, humanity, and skills to connect people through music, and congratulate them on this tremendous accomplishment.”

There’s another connection to SUNY Fredonia among the nominees. Nicole Zuraitis, who recently was lead artist for the Fredonia Jazz Festival in October, and performed with the Fredonia Jazz Orchestra in Rosch Recital Hall, was nominated in the category of Best Jazz Vocal Album for “How Love Begins.”

The GRAMMY awards broadcast is scheduled for Feb. 4 in Los Angeles.