Best New Artist Grammy Nominee Esperanza Spalding to Perform at the 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards

ESPERANZA SPALDING to perform at the GRAMMY Awards

Best New Artist GRAMMY nominee ESPERANZA SPALDING will perform on the 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards. The show will take place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California from 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, February 13, 2011. The GRAMMY Awards will be broadcast live on the CBS Television Network from 8 – 11:30 p.m. ET/PT.

 ESPERANZA SPALDING also to Co-Host GRAMMY Pre-Telecast Ceremony

 The 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards Pre-Telecast Ceremony will take place on Sunday, February, 13 from 1 – 4 p.m. PT at the Los Angeles Convention Center and will be streamed live internationally on www.grammy.com/live and www.youtube.com/thegrammys beginning at 1 p.m. PT. Well-attended by nominees and industry VIPs, the star-studded ceremony with be co-hosted by current GRAMMY nominees ESPERANZA SPALDING and Bobby McFerrin, and will feature performances by nominees including Afro-Colombian hip hop trio ChocQuibTown, blues musician Buddy Guy, singer/songwriter Cyndi Lauper, American roots interpreter Maria Muldaur, contemporary blues artist Kenny Wayne Shepherd, trombone and trumpet player Trombone Shorty, legendary gospel singer Mavis Staples, jazz musician Kirk Whalum, and R&B singer/songwriter Betty Wright. Presenting the first GRAMMY Awards of the night in 98 categories will be current nominees Laurie Anderson, Sara Bareilles, BT, Kathy Griffin, and Wayne Wallace.

SPALDING is the first jazz artist to receive a GRAMMY nomination for Best New Artist in 35 years. She was nominated along with Justin Bieber, Drake, Florence & the Machine, and Mumford and Sons. Her inclusion in this mainstream category signifies her considerable appeal to a broad audience.

In January 2011, SPALDING’s current release Chamber Music Society hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz Albums chart. Esperanza, her 2008 release, spent over 70 weeks on the Billboard‘s Contemporary Jazz Albums chart and was the most successful internationally selling debut that year.