Nico
Muhly,

Best Adaptation of an Extremely Unlikely Source: Nico Muhly’s The Elements of Style. Composers drew inspiration from French storybooks and the Manhattan Project this year, but a grammar guide? Muhly, a 24-year-old Juilliard graduate, brought a soprano, a tenor, an amateur percussion ensemble, and a few professional musicians into the New York Public Library for the first-ever music performance (scheduled, at least) in the building’s grand main reading room, introducing a work that was not only whimsical but at times even romantic. Maira Kalman, who illustrated the book’s new edition, accompanied them on eggbeater and sugar bowl.