Two Lawrence University music faculty win GRAMMY award

As part of the 22-member band, Alarm Will Sound, Lawrence professors Michael Clayville and Erin Lesser received the Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance award

Lawrence University professors Michael Clayville and Erin Lesser, members of the acclaimed band, Alarm Will Sound, won Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance at the 68th Annual GRAMMY Awards held on Feb. 1, 2026, in Los Angeles, CA.

"It is an incredible honor for Erin and me to represent Lawrence University and its world-class Conservatory of Music through this GRAMMY win," Clayville said. "The values we carry from Lawrence-artistic rigor, collaboration, and curiosity-are central to everything we do."

Alarm Will Sound won the GRAMMY for its recording of Donnacha Dennehy's Land of Winter. The piece, also nominated for Best Contemporary Classical Composition, reflects the interplay of light throughout the year in Ireland across 12 interconnected movements.

Land of Winterhas been praised on "Best of 2025" lists by The New York Times, Boston Globe, and Gramophone as well as in reviews by The Washington Post, National Public Radio and other notable news organizations.

Michael Clayville, instructor of music in entrepreneurial studies and social engagement at Lawrence, is one of the founding members of Alarm Will Sound, a contemporary chamber orchestra led by Artistic Director and Conductor Alan Pierson. A trombone player, Clayville met some of the group's founding musicians while a student at Eastman School of Music. The experience, he said, reflects the importance of a shared journey with fellow music students that he now encourages through his courses at Lawrence University.

Erin Lesser, who is married to Clayville, joined Alarm Will Sound as a flute player more than a decade ago. An accomplished soloist and chamber musician, Lesser has been a professor of flute at Lawrence since 2011, where she prepares students for the contemporary music landscape, including work by living composers such as Dennehy, and using music to engage with pressing issues.

For both Lawrence professors, their experiences as practicing musicians, and now GRAMMY award winners, show up in their teaching and in their classrooms.

The Lawrence University Conservatory of Music offers four degree options and 28 areas of study with an emphasis on preparing students for the evolving world of music. For more information on programs available in the Conservatory of Music or in Lawrence's College of Arts and Sciences, contact the Office of Admissions at [email protected]or 920.832.6652.