Lights, music, and awards: Inside FTC’s 4th annual Grundy Awards
FTC celebrates student talent with awards and performances during its annual “in-house Grammys.”
By Brian Klukosky, Brandon McAteer, Jesse Gaynor, and Kevin Schwartz
Additional reporting by Daniel Garcia and Stephen Cooney
The 4th annual Grundy’s Audio Awards gathered Five Towns students and staff from all departments in the Performing Arts Center on March 11th to celebrate the audio side of everything the college does. Often described as the “Five Town’s Grammys,” the Grundy’s aim to recognize students’ achievements with awards ranging from best Vocal Performance and Best Songwriting to Best Mix. In typical Five Towns fashion, the 2026 show, overseen by Audio Division Chair John Machado, was packed with musical performances, fun, and this year…….pyrotechnics. 🔥 Machado stressed how the Grundy’s continues to grow as a collaborative event, saying, “All the department have the ability to submit (entries) because there’s audio attached to all of it.”
Mass Comm student Max Rappaport hosted this year’s event, saying, “The Grundy’s is really awesome, really everything goes down at the Grundy’s.”
WATCH: Reporter Brian Klukosky Grundy’s 2026 recap.
Take a look at this year’s creative category winners:
While the main event was happening in the Performance Arts Center, FTC Mass Comm students were hard at work behind the scenes to broadcast the event. Producing live campus events tests the skills that students learn in the classroom in a real-time, unpredictable television environment.
WATCH: Reporter Brandon McAteer heads to the Studio 400 Control during the 2026 Grundy’s.
PICS: Making of the Grundy’s
