| Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition | |
| Awarded For: | quality instrumental compositions |
| Presenter: | National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences |
| Country: | United States |
| Year: | 1960 |
| Holder: | John Williams, "Helena's Theme" (2024) |
| Website: | grammy.com |
The Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition (including its previous names) has been awarded since 1960. The award is presented to the composer of an original piece of music (not an adaptation), first released during the eligibility year. In theory, any style of music is eligible for this category, but winning compositions are usually in the jazz or film score genres.
The Grammy is awarded to the composer(s) of the music, not to the performing artist, except if the artist is also the composer. There have been several minor changes to the name of the award:
Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were presented, for works released in the previous year.
| Year | Composer(s) | Work | Performing artist(s) | Nominees Performers are in parentheses | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Nelson Riddle | "Cross Country Suite" | Nelson Riddle | |||
| 1959 | Duke Ellington | Anatomy of a Murder | Duke Ellington | |||
| 1962 | Galt MacDermot | "African Waltz" | Cannonball Adderley | |||
| 1963 | "A Taste of Honey" | Eddie Cano | ||||
| 1964 | Norman Newell, Nino Oliviero & Riz Ortolani | "More" - Theme from Mondo Cane | Vic Dana | |||
| "The Pink Panther Theme" | Henry Mancini | |||||
| 1966 | Not awarded | |||||
| 1967 | Neal Hefti | "Batman Theme" | Neal Hefti | |||
| 1968 | Lalo Schifrin | Lalo Schifrin | ||||
| 1969 | "Classical Gas" | Mason Williams | ||||
| 1970 | Theme from Midnight Cowboy | John Barry | ||||
| 1971 | "Love Theme" from Airport | Alfred Newman | ||||
| 1972 | Theme from Summer of '42 | Michel Legrand | ||||
| 1973 | Theme from Brian's Song | |||||
| 1974 | Theme from Last Tango in Paris | Chuck Mangione and also Herb Alpert | ||||
| 1975 | "Tubular Bells" – Theme from The Exorcist | Mike Oldfield | ||||
| 1976 | "Images" | Michel Legrand & Phil Woods | ||||
| 1977 | "Bellavia" | Chuck Mangione | ||||
| 1978 | "Main Title" from Star Wars | John Williams | ||||
| 1979 | "Theme" from Close Encounters of the Third Kind | |||||
| 1980 | Main Title Theme from Superman | John Williams | ||||
| 1981 | "The Empire Strikes Back" | |||||
| 1982 | Theme from Hill Street Blues | Mike Post | ||||
| 1983 | "Flying" – Theme from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | John Williams | ||||
| 1984 | "Love Theme" from Flashdance | Various artists (Helen St. John) | ||||
| 1985 | Tie | |||||
| "The Natural" | Randy Newman | |||||
| "Olympic Fanfare & Theme" the official music of the XXIII Olympiad | John Williams | |||||
| 1986 | "Theme" from Miami Vice | Jan Hammer | ||||
| 1987 | "Out of Africa" | John Barry | ||||
| 1988 | "Call Sheet Blues" | Various artists | ||||
| 1989 | Theme from L.A. Law | Mike Post | ||||
| 1990 | Danny Elfman | Theme from Batman | Sinfonia of London Orchestra | |||
| 1991 | "Change of Heart" | Roy Haynes, Dave Holland & Pat Metheny | ||||
| 1992 | "Basque" | James Galway | ||||
| 1993 | "Harlem Renaissance Suite" | Benny Carter | ||||
| 1994 | "Forever in Love" | Kenny G | ||||
| 1995 | "African Skies" | Michael Brecker | ||||
| 1996 | "A View From the Side" | The Bill Holman Band | ||||
| 1997 | Herbie Hancock & Jean Hancock | "Manhattan (Island of Lights and Love)" | Herbie Hancock | |||
| 1998 | "Aung San Suu Kyi" | Herbie Hancock & Wayne Shorter | ||||
| 1999 | "Almost 12" | Bela Fleck and the Flecktones | ||||
| 2000 | "Joyful Noise Suite" | Don Sebersky | ||||
| 2001 | John Williams | Theme from Angela's Ashes | John Williams | |||
| 2002 | Cast Away – "End Credits" | Alan Silvestri | ||||
| 2003 | Six Feet Under "Title Theme" | Thomas Newman | ||||
| 2004 | "Sacajawea" | Wayne Shorter | ||||
| 2005 | "Merengue" | Yo-Yo Ma | ||||
| 2006 | "Into The Light" | Billy Childs Ensemble | ||||
| 2007 | "A Prayer for Peace" | John Williams | ||||
| 2008 | "Cerulean Skies" | Maria Schneider Orchestra | ||||
| 2009 | "The Adventures of Mutt" | John Williams | ||||
| 2010 | "Married Life" | Michael Giacchino | ||||
| 2011 | "The Path Among The Trees" | Billy Childs Ensemble | ||||
| 2012 | Béla Fleck & Howard Levy | "Life in Eleven" | Béla Fleck and the Flecktones | |||
| 2013 | "Mozart Goes Dancing" | Chick Corea & Gary Burton | ||||
| 2014 | Clare Fischer | "Pensamientos for Solo Alto Saxophone and Chamber Orchestra" | Clare Fischer Orchestra | |||
| 2015 | John Williams | "The Book Thief" | John Williams |
| [1] | |
| 2016 | "The Afro Latin Jazz Suite" | Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra featuring Rudresh Mahanthappa |
| [2] | ||
| 2017 | "Spoken at Midnight" | Ted Nash Big Band |
| [3] | ||
| 2018 | Arturo O'Farrill | "Three Revolutions" | Arturo O'Farrill & Chucho Valdés |
| [4] | |
| 2019 | Terence Blanchard | "Blut und Boden (Blood and Soil)" | Terence Blanchard |
| [5] | |
| 2020 | John Williams | "Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge Symphonic Suite" | John Williams |
| [6] | |
| 2021 | Maria Schneider | "Sputnik" | Maria Schneider Orchestra |
| [7] | |
| 2022 | Lyle Mays | "Eberhard" | Lyle Mays |
| [8] | |
| 2023 | Geoffrey Keezer | "Refuge" | Geoffrey Keezer |
| [9] | |
| 2024 | John Williams | "Helena's Theme" | John Williams |
| ||
| 2025 | Winner TBA on 2 February 2025 |
| [10] | |||
| Wins | Composers |
|---|---|
| 12 | |
| John Williams | |
| 3 | |
| Michel Legrand | |
| Wayne Shorter | |
| 2 | |
| John Barry | |
| Billy Childs | |
| Bela Fleck | |
| Herbie Hancock | |
| Arturo O'Farrill | |
| Mike Post | |
| Maria Schneider | |