Sting’s Songs From The Labyrinth is an album of 16th century lute music. Sir Paul is nominated for his classical oratorio, Ecce Cor Meum (Behold My Heart), a recording in English and Latin with members of the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields.

Other contenders for Album of the Year include Welsh singers Katherine Jenkins and Bryn Terfel, mechanic-turned-tenor Alfie Boe and teen violinist Nicola Benedetti.

Benedetti, 19, leads the field with three nominations in total.

Besides Album of the Year, she is in the running for Young British Classical Performer and Instrumentalist of the Year.

She began playing the violin aged four and is a former BBC Young Musician of the Year.

This Morning presenter Fern Britton will host this year’s ceremony from London’s Royal Albert Hall on May 3.

The winner of the Album of the Year will be chosen by Classic FM listeners and Classic FM magazine readers.

Top venues unveiled for Police tour - Feb 13 2007
The Police are reforming for a world tour 23 years after splitting up.

The 80s group, who marked their return to the stage with a rendition of breakthrough hit Roxanne at Sunday night’s Grammy Awards, will play their first date in Vancouver at the end of May.

Other North American shows will include a headline performance at the Bonnaroo Festival near Nashville, an appearance at Boston’s historic Fenway Park and two dates at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

The tour will continue in the autumn in the UK and Europe, including appearances in Holland, Germany, Italy and France, with more countries to be announced.

"We’re going to come clean," Sting told reporters at a press conference in Los Angeles.

"We’re going to go on tour."

Tickets for the North American dates will cost between 50 dollars (£25) and 225 dollars (£115).

The comeback tour marks 30 years since The Police formed and released debut single Fall Out.

They will be supported by Sting’s son Joe Sumner’s band, Fiction Plane.

Dates in Mexico, South America, Japan, Australia and New Zealand are also expected.

Police kick off Grammy Awards - Feb 12 2007
The Police reunited on stage together for the first time in 22 years with a rousing statement of intent at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles last night.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are The Police and we’re back!" bellowed frontman Sting while he was on stage at the Staples Centre, before launching into a stirring rendition of Roxanne with fellow band members, drummer Stewart Copeland and guitarist Andy Summers.

Having undergone something of a makeover for the band’s return, the 55-year-old singer took to the stage sporting a black waistcoat and the bleach-blond spiked crop that became his trademark look with The Police back in the 80s.

The band held hands as they enjoyed a standing ovation in the packed 20,000-seat auditorium.

Those in the front row included the evening’s first two 2007 Grammy winners, Tony Bennett, who picked up the award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for his duet with Stevie Wonder, and Mary J Blige, who scooped Best R&B Album and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.

The Police to confirm world tour - Feb 9 2007
The Police are widely expected to unveil plans for a 30th anniversary world tour next week.

The group will make a "special announcement" in Los Angeles on Monday, the day after reuniting to play at the Grammy Awards.