John Chowning Receives 2026 Technical Grammy Award

Dr. John Chowning (DMA '66), Professor Emeritus in the Department of Music, and co-founder of CCRMA (Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics) will be awarded a Technical Grammy this week for his discovery of FM (frequency modulation) synthesis while he was a doctoral student in composition at Stanford in the late 1960s, and for his pioneering compositions using FM synthesis. 

This Special Merit Award is presented by vote of the Producers & Engineers Wing® Advisory Council and Chapter Committees and ratification by the Recording Academy's National Trustees to individuals and/or companies/organizations/institutions who have made contributions of outstanding technical significance to the recording field. See a list of past recipients here.

John Chowning is a transformative composer and computer-music innovator whose discovery of frequency modulation (FM) synthesis in 1967 revolutionized electronic sound. After studying with Nadia Boulanger and earning his doctorate at Stanford, he launched the university's early computer-music program and developed the first digital algorithm for surround-sound localization. Stanford's licensing of his FM patent to Yamaha led to the most successful synthesis engine in the history of electronic instruments. A co-founder of Stanford's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) in 1974, Chowning helped establish one of the world's leading hubs for computer-music research. Even after retiring in 1996, he continued a teenage interest in exploring reverberant caves. He initiated and assembled experts from relevant disciplines to explore ancient acoustic environments, projects to reconstruct the sound worlds of Peru's Chavín de Huántar, China's Longyou Grotto, and France's prehistoric Chauvet Cave. His honors include election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the French Ordre des Arts et Lettres, multiple honorary doctorates, and the Giga-Hertz Award.

The Recording Academy®'s Special Merit Awards Ceremony celebrating the 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award, Trustees Award and Technical Grammy® Award recipients will be held on Jan. 31, 2026, at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre. For a full list of honorees, please click here.