Rapid City Native Wins Grammy Award For Ensemble
RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — A Rapid City native and his fellow ensemble members have won a Grammy award for their musical endeavors.
Nicholas Terry is a longtime member of the Los Angeles-based percussion quartet Partch Ensemble. The group earlier this month earned the recognition for Best Classical Compendium for their album “Harry Partch: Plectra and Percussion Dances” during the 57th Grammy Awards.
Terry said the quartet has spent the past decade investing time and money into an obscure genre pioneered by American microtonal composer Harry Partch, whom the group is named after, the Rapid City Journal ( ) reported. Terry said he and his fellow bandmates have created unique instruments to produce a sound that’s never been recorded before.
Two previous Grammy nominations came for Terry in 2012, for both the Partch Ensemble and the Los Angeles Percussion Quartet, which he helped found. The latter group performed recently with the Black Hills Symphony Orchestra.
Terry attended Stevens High School. He performed in the All-State Band in 1996 and 1997, as well as the All-State Orchestra in 1996.
Growing up in South Dakota didn’t hinder his music career, Terry said.
“There are a lot of people who went to some of the top music conservatories in the world,” he said. “But you just have to free your mind from the obvious differences in location and apply yourself and go for musical excellence.”
Opportunities seem to happen, Terry said, “as long as you have a sense of hard work and determination.”
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Information from: Rapid City Journal,
