Nominees for the 2002 Surround Music Awards have been revealed by UE Media, whose ‘Surround Professional’ magazine is organising the event.

At the gala dinner, to be hosted by Phil Ramone, the finest high-resolution DVD-Audio and SACD productions will be recognised alongside standard-resolution (Dolby Digital and DTS) surround projects specifically created for multi-channel presentation.

After the initial round of submissions, preliminary evaluations and voting, the nominees in each category are as follows:

Best of Show

• ‘Nitty Gritty Surround‘ – John McEuen and Jimmy Ibbotson w/Jennifer Warnes [AIX Records]
• ‘A Night at the Opera‘ – Queen [DTS Entertainment]
• ‘Live at Royal Albert Hall‘ – The Who and Special Guests [Image Entertainment]
• ‘Opaline‘ – Dishwalla [immergent Records (5.1 Entertainment)]
• ‘Ziroq‘ – Ziroq [Silverline Records (5.1 Entertainment)]

Best Mix: Non-Orchestral

• ‘A Night at the Opera‘ – Queen [DTS Entertainment]
• ‘Ziroq‘ – Ziroq [Silverline Records (5.1 Entertainment)]
• ‘Live at Royal Albert Hall‘ – The Who and Special Guests [Image Entertainment]
• ‘Midnight Sessions‘ – Chris Botti [Sony (Columbia)]
• ‘Tiangolo‘ – Michael Camillo [Telarc]

Best Mix: Orchestral

• ‘Beethoven Symphony No. 6/Respighi Pines of Rome‘ – New Jersey Symphony Orchestra [AIX Records]
• ‘Handel’s Messiah‘ – Mormon Tabernacle Choir [DTS Entertainment]
• ‘Music from Lifehouse‘ – Pete Townshend [Eel Pie Productions/Image Entertainment]
• ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles‘ – Rob Lane [Hear No Evil]
• ‘Sibelius: Symphony No.2, Tubin: Symphony No.5‘ – Paavo Jarvi/Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra [Telarc]

Most Adventurous Mix

• ‘Nitty Gritty Surround‘ – John McEuen and Jimmy Ibbotson w/Jennifer Warnes [AIX Records]
• ‘A Night at the Opera‘ – Queen [DTS Entertainment]
• ‘Awaken‘ – Various [Electromatrix (5.1 Entertainment)]
• ‘Concert for NY‘ – Various [Sony (Columbia)]
• ‘Headhunters‘ – Herbie Hancock [Sony (Legacy)]

Best Made for Surround Title

• ‘Nitty Gritty Surround‘ – John McEuen and Jimmy Ibbotson w/Jennifer Warnes [AIX Records]
• ‘Dig Up the Astroturf‘ – Jeff Trott [DTS Entertainment]
• ‘In the Flesh Live‘ – Roger Waters [Sony (Columbia)]
• ‘Space or Dream of Life‘ – Alexandr Jero [Surround Records]
• ‘Latin‘ – Los Angeles Guitar Quartet [Telarc]

Best High-Resolution Stereo-Only Programme

• ‘Let It Bleed‘ – The Rolling Stones [ABKCO]
• ‘Leon Russel‘ – Leon Russell [Hi Res Music]
• ‘Trio‘ – Monty Alexander, Ray Brown, Herb Ellis [Hi Res Music]
• ‘Brzilian Soul‘ – Laurindo Almeida and Charlie Byrd [Hi Res Music]

Best Standard Resolution Title

• ‘Candyman‘ – Steve Lukather [DTS Entertainment]
• ‘Music from Lifehouse‘ – Pete Townshend [Eel Pie Productions/Image Entertainment]
• ‘Live at Royal Albert Hall‘ – The Who and Special Guests [Image Entertainment]
• ‘The White Elephant Sessions‘ – Various [3 Bone Audio]

Best Menu Design

• ‘Songs for Survivors‘ – Graham Nash [DTS Entertainment]
• ‘Awaken‘ – Various [Electromatrix (5.1 Entertainment)]
• ‘Opaline‘ – Dishwalla [immergent Records (5.1 Entertainment)]
• ‘Ziroq‘ – Ziroq [Silverline Records (5.1 Entertainment)]
• ‘Foreigner 4‘ – Foreigner [Warner Bros.]

Best Additional Features

• ‘Nitty Gritty Surround‘ – John McEuen and Jimmy Ibbotson w/Jennifer Warnes [AIX Records]
• ‘Songs for Survivors‘ – Graham Nash [DTS Entertainment]
• ‘Live at the Royal Albert Hall‘ – The Who & Special Guests [Image Entertainment]
• ‘Opaline‘ – Dishwalla [immergent Records (5.1 Entertainment)]
• ‘Magnification‘ – Yes [Warner Bros.]

Best Concert Video

• ‘The Fabulous Thunderbirds Live‘ – The Fabulous Thunderbirds [DTS Entertainment]
• ‘Music from Lifehouse‘ – Pete Townshend [Eel Pie Productions/Image Entertainment]
• ‘The Best of Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band So Far‘ – Ringo Starr [Image Entertainment]
• ‘Live at Royal Albert Hall‘ – The Who and Special Guests [Image Entertainment]
• ‘Live in NY‘ – Bruce Springsteen [Sony (Columbia)]

Best Multi-channel Re-issue

• ‘A Night at the Opera‘ – Queen [DTS Entertainment]
• ‘Who Are You – CSI‘ – The Who [Hear No Evil]
• ‘JT‘ – James Taylor [Sony (Columbia)]
• ‘American Beauty‘ – Grateful Dead [Warner Bros.]
• ‘The Last Waltz‘ – The Band [Warner Bros.]

Top Surround Artist of the Year

• ‘Songs for Survivors‘ – Graham Nash [DTS Entertainment]
• ‘Music from Lifehouse‘ – Pete Townshend [Eel Pie Productions/Image Entertainment]
• ‘The Best of Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band So Far‘ – Ringo Starr [Image Entertainment]
• ‘Space or Dream of Life‘ – Alexandr Jero [Surround Records]

The Surround 2002 Conference and Showcase will be the forum for the First Annual Surround Music Awards. Surround 2002 is the premier annual event for surround education and surround industry networking and will take place between December 13th and 14th at the Beverly Hilton, Los Angeles.

Media co-sponsors of the event include Pro Sound News, Residential Systems, Systems Contractor, Creative Planet Communications, Billboard Magazine, Widescreen Review, High Fidelity Review, RPM and CMP United Business Media.

Anyone wanting to attend can register for the event at the link below. Tickets for the Surround Music Awards are priced at $85 each, or entry is free to those who register for the Surround Professional Conference program. Places for this prestigious event are in short supply, so we suggest that anyone wishing to attend register without delay.