Logger alumni win 2020 Grammys for choral, classical works

Sam Faustine ’13 likes to say he has four feet. A freelance musician based in San Francisco, he uses the metaphor to explain how he juggles his varied interests as a musician. “I have one foot in the choral community, one in sacred music, one in musical theater, and one in the San Francisco Symphony and San Francisco Opera,” he says.

It was Puget Sound School of Music’s own Dawn Padula, associate professor and director of vocal studies, who taught Faustine and classmate Patrick Schneider ’13 to be multitalented. As students, both men were “gunning for the opera world, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed,” Faustine recalls. “Dr. Padula told us to be a sponge and try to be as versatile as we could be in terms of singing, musicianship, and professional resumes,” he says. “She helped us find success in other avenues.” Now, that versatility is paying off as both men were recognized earlier this year for their work on two different Grammy Award-winning projects.

Faustine was one of 16 singers on Kronos Quartet’s Sun Rings album, which won the Grammy for Best Engineered Classical Album.