BOSTON (WHDH) - Two Berklee College of Music graduates won Grammy awards last week, taking home the coveted gilded gramophone in music’s biggest night.
Saxophonist Yainer Horta won the Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Album, and composer Charlie Rosen won for Best Arrangement Instrumental or A Cappella.
“To sit and reflect, it’s something that’s very emotional,” said Rosen.
Rosen, who graduated from Berklee in 2012, won for his composition of Super Mario Praise Break — a big band arrangement of gaming and Gospel music mixed together.
“Gamers come in all shapes and sizes, people and backgrounds, and we can all celebrate now 40 years of video game music,” Rosen said.
Horta, who graduated in 2002, says music has been part of his life for as long as he can remember.
“I remember I had a picture with a saxophone when I was three-years-old,” he said. “I always knew that I had the passion and I had the love.”
He and his band won their Grammy for the album, “A Tribute to Benny Moore and Nat King Cole.”
Both men credit their years at Berklee for shaping their careers.
“When I had the opporutiny to become a student, it was feeling like how I am feeling after a Grammy winner,” said Horta.
“Berklee played a huge role in my development and continues to through this day,” said Rosen.
This was Horta’s first Grammy win. This was Rosen’s third Grammy award, he won his first in 2022.
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