Bensalem Native Celebrated 2 Grammy Award Wins

A Bucks County native won two Grammy Awards last weekend.

Aaron Jay Kernis of Bensalem, PA took two Grammys home for his work in classical music in two different categories, 'Best Classical Instrumental Solo' and 'Best Contemporary Classical Composition.' The awards were giving to him for his work on "Kernis Violin Concerto," performed by the Seattle Symphony.

"It's thrilling to receive the (Grammy) Award in 2 categories! James Ehnes is a truly spectacular musician and collaborator, and I'm amazed by the inspiring Ludovic Morlot and the musicians of the Seattle Symphony, who, in a few days played the Concerto as if they'd lived with it their entire lives." said Kernis via patch.com.

Kernis taught himself how to play piano at 12-years-old and studied music in San Francisco, Manhattan and Yale schools of music.

"He is one of the youngest composers to ever win the Pulitzer Prize, which he was awarded in 1988 for his 'String Quartet No. 2 (musica instrumentalis).'" according to patch.com.