Arkai’s genre‑breaking journey lands a Grammy nomination

By Mimi Chen

For the electro-acoustic duo Arkai, the Grammy nomination arrived like a lightning strike they never saw coming.

Comprised of violinist Jonathan Miron and cellist Philip Sheegog, Arkai was named a finalist for Brightside, in the category of Best Contemporary Instrumental Album. It’s an honor drawn from a vast and highly competitive pool. Each year, more than 20,000 submissions enter the Grammy pipeline before a lengthy vetting process narrows the field to just five nominees.

Miron and Sheegog watched the announcement unfold live on YouTube, riding a loop of anticipation as category after category rolled by. They described the wait as “cycling and cycling” until their own moment finally surfaced.

“You’re there waiting for your category to get called,” Miron recalled. “And then our category got called, and Brightside was the first name because it starts with a B. It was just an explosion of emotion. We both screamed. We even have our reaction video up on social media. It was pure elation.”

Although both musicians attended Juilliard at the same time, they never crossed paths as students, despite the school’s relatively small undergraduate population of about 600. Their connection came later, in 2018, when each was selected to represent Juilliard at Artist as Citizen, a national conference bringing together young artists and entrepreneurs. What began as an informal jam session quickly revealed a shared passion for spontaneous musical creation.

That spark became Arkai, a name drawn from a metaphysics class at Juilliard. The Greek word means “leader,” a fitting title for a duo intent on charting its own course.

The Grammy recognition, however, was years in the making. Since that first jam session, Miron and Sheegog have spent the past seven years refining a sound that still resists easy labels.

“We’re in a lane of our own,” Miron said. “We aren’t classical. We aren’t rock. We’re not jazz. We’re not electronic. We’re instrumental, no vocals. Our whole journey has been about playing by our own rules and defining our own path forward.”

That unclassifiable quality has been both a strength and a challenge. On one hand, Arkai’s sound tends to linger in the memory of listeners who discover it. On the other, the music industry’s habit of organizing artists neatly into genres and streaming playlists makes them harder to market.

Sheegog sees a deeper parallel between their music and their identities. “That’s kind of true of our broader identities too,” he noted. “Both Jonathan and I are half Asian. We’ve always existed between worlds, trying to navigate what our identity is and what our story is. We’re neither one nor the other. It’s this third path. That’s exactly who we are musically. So that nomination moment, being recognized by your peers in the industry, meant a lot.”

The duo released their debut album Crossroads in 2024, followed by extensive touring across Europe, the United States, and Asia. While they describe audiences everywhere as “amazing” and the response as “in the rafters,” certain performances stood out. Playing in Japan and Taiwan carried special resonance, as Miron is half-Taiwanese and Sheegog half-Japanese.

“We might be a little biased,” Sheegog laughed, “but I think objectively those places are awesome.”

Looking ahead, Arkai sees collaboration as the heartbeat of their future. “That idea is at the heart of what we do,” Miron said. “The nomination was validating, and I hope it opens the door to new collaborations across genres and with incredible artists.”

Though they have largely operated as independent artists, Arkai is embracing new possibilities. With expanded management and a new touring agent, the duo is focused on growth, connection, and scale.

“It’s about getting bigger in a meaningful way,” Miron added, “finding new ways to connect, and hopefully building deeper relationships with audiences on a broader scale.”

For a group that thrives between categories, the path forward may be undefined, but Arkai seems perfectly at home there.