The second Grammy win for CSO audio engineer Charlie Post ‘was a blast’

If not for a last-minute change, Charlie Post would have missed out on the second Grammy of his career. 

His latest Grammy experience Feb. 5 was all in “stark contrast” to his first victory two years ago. “Actually, my wife and I went to the Grammys with the intention of celebrating the last win and with no or low expectations of winning this year,” says Post, longtime audio engineer for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. “So that was quite the surprise.”

Back to the last-minute change: In 2021, just two days before the CSO and conductor Edwin Outwater were set to begin recording Mason Bates’ Philharmonia Fantastique: The Making of the Orchestra, Post was asked to take the place of a colleague in what he calls “the hot seat.”

That meant all the set-up and execution for the recording, made at Orchestra Hall, was his responsibility.

He’d be in charge of, among other things, positioning a host of expensive microphones — from DPA, Schoeps, Neumann, Royer Labs, Sennheiser — at just the right distance from each section of instruments to capture the most naturalistic sound possible. It’s both an art and a science that requires years of training, along with lots of trial and error.

The stakes were high. Philharmonia Fantastique, the multimedia concerto about a magical sprite as it journeys through the inner workings of an orchestra, was commissioned by the CSO and five other classical-music powerhouses. Eventually the soundtrack would be released by Sony Classical, and the film streamed on Apple TV. The 25-minute work by Bates, formerly the CSO’s Mead Composer-in-Residence, accompanies an animated film directed by Oscar winner Gary Rydstrom and written by Bates and Rydstrom, with animation direction by Oscar nominee Jim Capobianco.

If Post failed at this stage (unlikely though that was, given his track record), even the most talented post-production team could do only so much to deliver a finished product that would do justice to the piece, as well as the world-class players. Post also operated the sophisticated hardware and software that’s standard at these sorts of top-tier sessions — and way too complicated to explain in terms that aren’t at least somewhat dizzying.

As if the pressure weren’t high enough, COVID protocols mandated that each orchestral section had to be recorded separately onstage when typically the whole ensemble plays together. That aural isolation threatened to adversely affect the cohesiveness of the over-all performance, due to small but significant shifts in dynamics, pitch and phrasing (especially the latter) that would need to be adjusted throughout the process. There were also last-minute technical issues that had to be ironed out. Oh, and a huge snowstorm hit just as they were setting up.

When it rains, it pours — so to speak.

But talent and dedication ultimately won the day. Post traveled to Los Angeles to claim his second gold-plated gramophone trophy — for Best Engineered Album, Classical. He shared the honor with fellow engineers Gary Rydstrom and Shawn Murphy, along with Michael Romanowski. In 2021, Post won a Grammy in the same category, for the CSO’s recording of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 13 (Babi Yar). That award came before COVID vaccines were prevalent and everything was still online (he accepted his first Grammy via satellite video).

“It was a blast!” says Post of the Grammy ceremony Feb. 5. “It was my first trip to L.A., even though I’ve worked in the music industry exclusively for nearly 25 years.” Before coming to Chicago, he spent 10 years in commercial studios in New York City and three years as a free-lance audio engineer for venues in the Miami area, including the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts and the Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theatre.

While in Los Angeles, Post “saw many friends and colleagues and made new acquaintances throughout five events over two days. The positive energy backstage after the win was palpable,” he says. “It was not a difficult task to smile for all of the photos.”

Meanwhile, the Philharmonia Fantastique soundtrack is available digitally and at retail outlets, including the CSO’s Symphony Store, and the film itself can be viewed via Apple TV.