Arts & Entertainment
Nathalie Joachim Makes West Orange Proud At Grammy Awards
"To put it simply: it was one of the very best days of my life," the WOHS alum said. She was nominated for "Best World Music Album."
WEST ORANGE, NJ — The 2020 Grammys was one of the very best days of Nathalie Joachim’s life.
Joachim, who graduated West Orange High School in 2001, ultimately lost her bid for “Best World Music Album” to Angelique Kidjo. But simply appearing at the iconic award ceremony on Jan. 26 was music to her ears.
“Thank you to everyone who made this album and this dream possible,” Joachim wrote on social media the day after the event. “Hope to keep making you proud, and more than anything to keep making music direct from my heart.”
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Joachim and Spektral Quartet earned a nomination for her debut album, “Fanm d’Ayiti.”
The project, whose name translates to “Women Of Haiti,” was inspired by Joachim’s late grandmother and is a tribute to three pioneering Haitian female musicians—Carole Demesmin, Emerante de Pradines and Toto Bissainthe.
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According to administrators at her old alma mater, Joachim was an outstanding flutist and played in the marching band while at West Orange High School. Upon graduation in 2001, Joachim attended Juilliard School of Music and begin to embark upon an extraordinarily successful journey, performing as a member of Eighth Blackbird and co-founding Flutonix, an urban art-pop duo that performs everything from classical to indie music.
Joachim’s skills as a composer are also in high demand; she regularly writes for instrumental and vocal artists, dance and interdisciplinary theater.
View this post on InstagramExactly one year ago today, we finished recording #fanmdayiti. Little did we know that a handful of beautifully intense days would turn into a GRAMMY nominated record. What a dream come true. . Don’t know how many Grammy voters are looking at this, but I hope you’ll consider a vote for @spektralquartet and I in the Best World Music Album category. We put our hearts into this record, hoping to honor the women of Haiti who lent their legacies and voices to this work. What a wonder it would be to bring this prize home for them.
A post shared by Nathalie Joachim (@njoachim) on Dec 19, 2019 at 11:41am PST
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