Music professor is a 2010 Grammy Award nominee

Wayne — Stephen Bryant, an internationally acclaimed bass-baritone and professor of music at William Paterson University in Wayne, has been nominated for a 2010 Grammy Award in the Best Opera Recording category. Bryant, a bass-baritone, is a soloist on composer Tan Dun’s new recording of his 1996 opera, Marco Polo, which is nominated for Best Opera Recording. Nominations in this category are presented to the conductor, album producer(s) and principal soloists. Bryant is featured in the major role of Danté, which he created for the opera’s world premiere in 1996. This recording is based on a new production of the opera staged for De Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam in 2008. Bryant has performed the opera at the Munich Biennale, the Holland Festival in Amsterdam, the Hong Kong Arts Festival, the New York City Opera, and with the Japan Philharmonic in Tokyo. Bryant is featured on the original Sony Classics recording. He has also collaborated with Tan Dun on the composer’s Water Passion After St. Matthew, a work commemorating the 250 anniversary of Bach’s death. Bryant’s distinguished career in concert and opera has taken him around the world, with acclaimed performances in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. He has sung with the New York City Opera, the San Francisco Opera, the Santa Fe Opera, the Indianapolis Opera, and other companies of renown. In performance with major orchestras from The New York Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestra, to the Israel Philharmonic and Japan Philharmonic, Bryant has performed an extensive repertoire that ranges from Mozart and Verdi to Virgil Thomson and Stewart Wallace. A member of the William Paterson faculty since 1989, Bryant serves as director of choral activities. He directs the university’s concert choir, and established its Opera Workshop program. He resides in Montclair. The recording industry’s most prestigious award, the Grammy Awards will be presented on Jan. 31, 2010.