Graham Nash Named Surround Music Artist of the Year, as 1st Annual Surround Music Award Nominees Announced

Event to be Held at Surround 2002 Conference, December 13 in Los Angeles

Rock n’ Roll Hall of Famer Graham Nash has been named Surround Music Artist of the Year by the First Annual Surround Music Awards (SMAs) for his breakthrough DVD-Audio disc Songs for Survivors (DTS Entertainment). The recording, his first solo album in more than 15 years, was actually released in the new surround sound format prior to its stereo Compact Disc introduction.

Nash will be formally recognized along with the winners of the 11 other Surround Music Award categories in a ceremony hosted by producer Phil Ramone during the Fourth Annual Surround 2002 Conference & Showcase on the evening of December 13 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. Ramone will also present the First Surround Pioneer Award to “the Godfather of 5.1 Mixing” Elliot Scheiner.

Finalists for the Surround Music Artist of the Year award included Pete Townshend for Music From Lifehouse [Eel Pie Productions/Image Entertainment]; Ringo Starr for The Best of Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band So Far [Image Entertainment]; and Alexandr Jero for Space or Dream of Life [Surround Records].

Other award nominee highlights include:

Live at Royal Albert Hall – The Who & Special Guests, which led the nominations with a total of five including Best of Show (DVD-Video) Nitty Gritty Sound – John McEuen and Jimmy Ibbotson w/Jennifer Warnes, four nominations including Best of Show (DVD-Audio) A Night at the Opera – Queen, also four nominations including Best of Show (DVD-Audio) On the strong showing of A Night at the Opera, DTS Entertainment garnered a total of 10 nominations edging out Image Entertainment, which received nine. 5.1 Entertainment took home eight nominations while Sony Music totaled six. The final nominees in each category were selected by a blue ribbon judging panel of industry professionals from submissions entered by record companies, studios, and recording artists. The Nominees for the First Annual Surround Music Awards are: BEST OF SHOW Nitty Gritty Surround – John McEuen and Jimmy Ibbotson w/Jennifer Warnes [AIX Records] (DVD-Audio) Live at Royal Albert Hall – The Who & Special Guests [Image Entertainment] (DVD-Video) A Night at the Opera – Queen [DTS Entertainment] (DVD-Audio) Opaline – Dishwalla [Immergent Records (5.1 Entertainment)] (DVD-Audio) Ziroq – Ziroq [Silverline Records (5.1 Entertainment)] (DVD-Audio) BEST MIX: NON-ORCHESTRAL Live at Royal Albert Hall – The Who & Special Guests [Image Entertainment] (DVD-Video) A Night at the Opera – Queen [DTS Entertainment] (DVD-Audio) Ziroq – Ziroq [Silverline Records (5.1 Entertainment)] (DVD-Audio) Night Sessions – Chris Botti [Sony (Columbia)] (SACD multichannel) Tiangolo – Michael Camillo [Telarc] (SACD multichannel) BEST MIX: ORCHESTRAL Beethoven Symphony No. 6 / Respighi Pines of Rome – New Jersey Symphony Orchestra – [AIX Records] (DVD-Audio) Handel’s Messiah – Mormon Tabernacle Choir – [DTS Entertainment] (DVD-Audio) Music from Lifehouse – Pete Townshend [Eel Pie Productions / Image Entertainment] (DVD-Video) Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique – Paavo Jarvi / Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra – [Telarc] (SACD multichannel) The Hound of the Baskervilles – Rob Lane [Hear No Evil] MOST ADVENTUROUS MIX Nitty Gritty Surround – John McEuen and Jimmy Ibbotson w/Jennifer Warnes [AIX Records] (DVD-Audio) A Night at the Opera – Queen [DTS Entertainment] (DVD-Audio) Awaken – Various [Electromatrix (5.1 Entertainment)] (DVD-Audio) Concert for NY – Various [Sony (Columbia)] (SACD multichannel) Headhunters – Herbie Hancock [Sony (Legacy)] (SACD multichannel) BEST MADE FOR SURROUND TITLE Nitty Gritty Surround – John McEuen and Jimmy Ibbotson w/Jennifer Warnes [AIX Records] (DVD-Audio) Dig Up the Astroturf – Jeff Trott [DTS Entertainment] (DVD-Audio) In the Flesh Live – Roger Waters [Sony (Columbia)] (SACD multichannel) Space or Dream of Life – Alexandr Jero [Surround Records] (DTS 5.1 Surround) Latin – Los Angeles Guitar Quartet [Telarc] (SACD multichannel) BEST HI-RES STEREO-ONLY PROGRAM Let It Bleed – The Rolling Stones [ABKCO] (SACD Hybrid) Leon Russell – Leon Russell [Hi Res Music] (DVD-A 2-channel) Trio – Monty Alexander, Ray Brown, Herb Ellis [Hi Res Music] (DVD-A 2-channel) Brazilian Soul – Laurindo Almeida and Charlie Byrd [Hi Res Music] (DVD-A 2-channel) BEST STANDARD RESOLUTION TITLE Live at Royal Albert Hall – The Who & Special Guests [Image Entertainment] (DVD-Video) Music from Lifehouse – Pete Townshend [Eel Pie Productions/Image Entertainment] (DVD-Video) Candyman – Steve Lukather [DTS Entertainment] (DTS 5.1 Surround) The White Elephant Sessions – Various [3 Bone Audio] BEST MENU DESIGN Songs for Survivors – Graham Nash [DTS Entertainment] (DVD-Audio) Awaken – Various [Electromatrix (5.1 Entertainment)] (DVD-Audio) Opaline – Dishwalla [Immergent Records (5.1 Entertainment)] (DVD-Audio) Ziroq – Ziroq [Silverline Records (5.1 Entertainment)] (DVD-Audio) Foreigner 4 – Foreigner [Warner Bros.] (DVD-Audio) BEST ADDITIONAL FEATURES Live at Royal Albert Hall – The Who & Special Guests [Image Entertainment] (DVD-Video) Nitty Gritty Surround – John McEuen and Jimmy Ibbotson w/Jennifer Warnes [AIX Records] (DVD-Audio) Songs for Survivors – Graham Nash [DTS Entertainment] (DVD-Audio) Opaline – Dishwalla [Immergent Records (5.1 Entertainment)] (DVD-Audio) Magnification – Yes [Warner Bros.] BEST CONCERT VIDEO Live at Royal Albert Hall – The Who & Special Guests [Image Entertainment] (DVD-Video) Music from Lifehouse -Pete Townshend [Eel Pie Productions/Image Entertainment] (DVD-Video) The Best of Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band So Far – Ringo Starr [Image Entertainment] (DVD-Video) Live in NY – Bruce Springsteen [Sony (Columbia)] (DVD-Video) The Fabulous Thunderbirds Live – The Fabulous Thunderbirds [DTS Entertainment] (DVD-Video) BEST MULTICHANNEL REISSUE A Night at the Opera – Queen [DTS Entertainment] (DVD-Audio) American Beauty – Grateful Dead [Warner Bros.] The Last Waltz – The Band [Warner Bros.] “Who Are You” – CSI – The Who [Hear No Evil] JT – James Taylor [Sony (Columbia)]