Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) is celebrating a remarkable achievement as a female vocal ensemble and two music educators from Miami Arts Studio 6-12 at Zelda Glazer reach semifinalist status for the GRAMMY® Awards.
The school’s vocal ensemble, Bellarmonia, is on the official first-round ballot in the “Best Choral Performance” category at the 68th Annual GRAMMY® Awards for their live album Bellarmonia National ACDA 2025. If nominated, they would become the first public high school ensemble to earn this distinction.
In addition, Cindy Ellis, Choral Director at Miami Arts Studio 6-12 at Zelda Glazer, and Jennifer Jimenez, Magnet Band Director at South Miami Senior High School, are both semifinalists for the 2026 GRAMMY® Music Educator Award.
Bellarmonia’s submission features their performance of Simon and Garfunkel’s classic “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” alongside four other pieces performed at the American Choral Directors’ Association (ACDA) Conference in Dallas this past March. The 24-member ensemble, whose members range from 14 to 18 years old, performed before an audience of 5,000. Since then, the performance has gone viral, amassing over 40 million views across multiple platforms.
“Their live performance was so inspiring. The audience loved it,” said choir director Ryan Ellis. “They brought the house down with their attention to detail and the harmonies they achieved. People were amazed at how these kids could be singing that well at such a young age.”
Following the conference, the recording was professionally mixed and mastered at the school’s recording studio and released through their nonprofit label, MAS Records. GRAMMY®-winning saxophonist and school advisory board member Ed Calle recommended submitting the performance for consideration. Final nominations will be announced on November 7, 2025.
One of Bellarmonia’s soloists, Gabriella Marquez, received widespread attention and was invited to perform at Carnegie Hall in June. The group has also received invitations to perform at conferences and events across the U.S. through 2027, including an all-expenses-paid performance in South Korea. Recently, they performed at the Raymond F. Kravis Center for Performing Arts in West Palm Beach at the personal invitation of singer-songwriter Jacob Collier, whose harmonized version of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” won a GRAMMY® earlier this year.
Miami Arts Studio 6-12 at Zelda Glazer is part of M-DCPS’s network of 121 schools and over 350 magnet programs, offering specialized education in fine arts, dance, music, language programs, law academies, robotics, and more. Applications for magnet programs are accepted annually through the M-DCPS Parent Portal at dadeschools.net from October 1 to January 15.
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