illi News - NYC Public School Music Teacher & Singer-Songwriter Craig Klonowski Submits Five Songs for GRAMMY® Consideration

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From Cleveland roots to a New York classroom and Grammy voting, Klonowski pairs education impact with emotionally charged folk-rock

NEW YORK - illiNews -- Singer-songwriter Craig Klonowski announces five of his recent releases are eligible for GRAMMY® first round voting consideration. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Craig is currently a New York City public-school music teacher in his 16th year. Known for "melancholy but hopeful" storytelling through music, Klonowski's work bridges the rehearsal room and the classroom, with songs shaped by the resilience he sees in students and himself every day. He has burst onto the music scene, achieving over 100,000 Spotify streams in his first year on the platform.

"I teach kids music all morning and make music all night," says Klonowski. "These songs were written in the middle of big life changes—about loss, rebuilding, and choosing to move forward. That's what I try to model for my students, too."

For Your Consideration — 2024–25 eligibility

"Milestones" — Best Americana Performance
"One Last Night" — Best Alternative Music Performance
"I Disappear" — Best Rock Song
"Wreck of a Man" — Best Country Solo Performance
"Makin' Promises" — Best Country Song

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Education & Community Impact (NYC)

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Working with producer Nick Anton, Craig distilled the emotion of his divorce, loss of his dog, and into melancholy but hopeful Grammy contenders. For over a decade, Crais has been principal double bass with the United Nations Symphony Orchestra. In 2010 Klonowski moved to NYC and founded the music program at Esperanza Preparatory Academy in Spanish Harlem. He currently directs eight orchestras at Middle School. Klonowski founded The Half Full Institute, a nonprofit that puts instruments into young musicians' hands.

Cleveland/Ohio Roots

Klonowski began at the Cleveland Institute of Music and The Music Settlement, with degrees from The Ohio State University (B.M.E.) and Cleveland State University (M.M.Ed.). Klonowski served as Assistant Education Director at Cleveland Play House, and performed with orchestras across Ohio and the Midwest. While finishing his master's at CSU, he also worked as a flight attendant, the twist that ultimately helped him land his first NYC teaching role. Craig's next destination - Los Angeles for the Grammy Awards.

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