Humber Music alumni and professor Justin Gray won a Grammy Award Sunday for Best Immersive Audio Album - the first Canadian to win in that category - for his album "Immersed,” which was produced in collaboration with Humber faculty members Drew Jurecka and Jonathan Kay.
Guillermo Acosta, senior dean of the Faculty of Media and Creative Arts at Humber Polytechnic, said he just can’t stop smiling after hearing about the win.
“He’s been always a big part of the faculty, he’s been instrumental in the design of the Humber Cultural Hub because of his expertise in the area of immersive sound and spatial audio has been fundamental in the design of the new studios,” Acosta said.
He said the album was recorded and mixed at the Lakeshore campus itself in three separate spaces: two recording studios and the Recital Hall.
The Gordon Wragg Recording Studio, which, although 15 years old, is still considered one of the top 10 in North America, Acosta said, has not only seen this but many other incredible recordings. The other studio, which is brand new, uses Dolby Atmos technology.
“All our students learn in these facilities, all the Bachelor of Music students in the fourth year use these facilities to record an independent production that they can take away with them when they graduate,” Acosta said.
He said Gray attested to the facilities at Humber being better than at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.
“The album is incredible and you have to listen to it with your headphones and the feeling of being at the centre of the musicians is unbelievable,” Acosta said.
He said he loves listening to that album in his car and loves driving to it.
Jason Merai, associate dean for the Faculty of Music at Humber, said Gray as a professor helped design brand new courses in these studios so students themselves can conceptually think about how they create sound with that immersive aspect.
Merai said that Gray himself is a bassist and learned to play at Humber when he was a student, but then he has added this immense, incredible experience in production.
He said about two years ago, Gray came to them and talked about his idea about creating this album.
Merai said but it was great to bring in all these incredible musicians into their space in the recording studio, they’re all very supportive of it.
“Just for what could come because of it, and inevitably our support for our faculty. And look what that led to, right? Not only it, I remember when he sat in my office in September and saying I might get nominated for the Grammy,” he said.
Merai said they were all shocked at the time and after that they started paying attention to the deadlines and timelines and then he got nominated.
“He started hearing all the hype like him trying to get interviewed and promoting it, and I think we sent probably about a 1,000 finger-crossed emojis on Sunday,” he said.
“And then when he got it, like Guillermo and I texted each other right away, so it’s really just been an incredible journey to see all that he has put together.”
Merai said Gray shared this story where he told his wife when they were back in high school that one day he is going to take her to the Grammys and he not only took her, but won and just in time for Valentine's Day.
