Emily Lazar '93 scores history-making Grammy nomination

Emily Lazar '93 is no stranger to musicians known for chart-topping hits. As president and chief mastering engineer of The Lodge, Lazar has been nominated for the 58th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. Lazar worked as mastering engineer on the album Recreational Love by American indie pop duo The Bird and the Bee. She is the first female mastering engineer has been nominated in this category.

This Grammy nomination is not the first for Lazar; in 2012 she was the first female mastering engineer nominated for the Foo Fighters' Wasting Light, up for Album of the Year. She was also the first female mastering engineer nominated for Record of the Year for Sia's hit "Chandelier” in 2014.

Lazar, with over 2,000 albums on her resume, has received not only multiple Grammy nominations, but honors such as the TEC Foundation's Technical Excellence and Creativity award in the "Record/Production Album” category. 

Lazar has worked with a range of groundbreaking music from platinum-selling artists such as David Bowie, Beck, Lou Reed, Destiny's Child, Jeff Buckley, Wu-Tang Clan, The Prodigy, Madonna, Garbage, Missy Elliot, The All-American Rejects, The Donnas, The Shins, and Nada Surf. In addition, she has mastered original sound tracks for feature films including Hedwig, Annie,Training Day, Pokemon: The 1st Movie, Boys Don't Cry, the NBC series Heroes, Lucky Number Slevin, Six Feet Under,The Punisher, and video game, Grand Theft Auto V.

The Lodge opened in 1997, with Lazar serving as founder and president. According to an interview with billboard.com, "There weren't that many mastering studios or mastering engineers at the time” Lazar explained. "Although I had studied and earned degrees and worked really hard to be on top of my technical game, it's not really my focus. I don't like sitting around and talking about gear or plug-ins or settings on gear. I use the whole thing as a more artistic and creative experience.” Lazar earned a B.A. in English with a minor in music at Skidmore. She spent her free time writing music, playing in bands, and worked as a freelance engineer, producer, and mixer.

Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical is one of 83 categories to be awarded at the Grammy Awards on February 15.