Adele, Foo Fighters and USF

That first edit is sent to me and Patrick (Quigley, artistic director of Seraphic Fire) and we go through all the edits and make notes. We go through this process three times, and then finally we get to the final edit. Then Patrick and I flew to Los Angeles to put the recording through what we call "the sound." We sit in this cockpit and get it so it sounds how we want.

So it's literally hundreds of hours of post-work after you've sung. And most people don't realize that.

O:What does this mean for the students involved on the recording?

JB:Everyone on the disc, which includes seven current USF students, are Grammy nominees. Not formal nominees in the Academy's eyes, but if their name is on that disc, it's legitimate and identifiable. The idea that these students from all over the country can come together over the period of two weeks and make something that's in the top five globally in that category, is something that is obviously inspirational.

It validates what we do at USF. It validates our program. I can walk into a high school tomorrow and tell them, "Come to USF, we have Grammy-nominated performances" and not be lying.

O:Any hopes for another shot at taking home the gramophone?

JB:This has been one of our goals, and we're going to try again. It may not be this year because of finances. We are definitely doing another Professional Choral Institute, but we're changing it a bit. This year we're not doing a recording. We're going to space those out every two or three years because those recordings cost about $80,000.

So we'll wait to gain some more support and funds and we'll be back. Somehow, someway, we'll be back.