Northport HS Grammy Winners: Senior, Alumna Earn Coveted Awards

NORTHPORT, NY — Kaitlyn Ruiter, a senior at Northport High School, and alumna Stephanie Economou are Grammy winners.

Ruiter was a bassist in the 2020-2021 New York Youth Symphony which recorded the winning album "Works by Florence Price, Jessie Montgomery, Valerie Coleman." The album won "Best Orchestral Performance" at the 2023 Grammy Awards, held Sunday, according to the Northport-East Northport School District.

Class of 2008 graduate Stephanie Economou is celebrating following her win for "Outstanding Original Score for Interactive Media." Economou worked on the soundtrack of "Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarok."

Ruiter spent months practicing as part of the New York Youth Symphony under Conductor Michael Repper. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the group decided to record an album instead of its usual performance at Carnegie Hall. The album garnered the attention of the prestigious recording academy and took home the gold-plated gramophone for the "Best Orchestral Performance" category at the Grammy Awards.

"It feels surreal," Ruiter said via news release.

She said it was an emotional experience to learn of the win while watching the show at home with her family. While hopeful for a win, she emphasized she would have been happy to be nominated alongside such talented musicians regardless of the outcome.

"It just shows the hard work and dedication," she said. "Especially through COVID, that we still came in and worked together and wanted to play."

NHS Orchestra Director Michael Susinno called Ruiter an "outstanding role model" for her classmates and the younger students of the community.

"When we first learned of the nomination, the excitement was palpable," Sussino said. "When her win was announced at the ceremony last night, so many emotions came to light. Having a current student win a Grammy is something we never expected to experience."

Ruiter is enrolled in the Juilliard Pre-College Program and intends to major in string bass after graduation. In addition to loving to perform, she is enjoying teaching younger students as well.

Economou, in her acceptance speech, thanked the many people who fought to create the category, which recognizes music and original scores in video games and other interactive media platforms.

Susinno recognized Economou's success.

"As a distinguished alumnus, Stephanie has been a trailblazer in an entirely new and recently recognized genre of music," he said. "She is gracefully and graciously setting the standard for video game score and soundtrack composition."

The school district congratulated Ruiter and Economou for their "tremendous accomplishment."