Mario Grigorov

Last updated
Mario Grigorov
NationalityBulgarian
OccupationComposer
Website https://www.mariogrigorov.com/

Mario Grigorov is a Bulgarian composer for film and television and a concert pianist. He performs on the piano and improvises in the styles of jazz, classical and world music.

Contents

Mario Grigorov's father was a concert trumpeter, and his mother was a concert pianist. [1] In 1968, the Sofia Conservatorium suspended its age requirement of seven years of age to allow a 5-year-old Grigorov to begin his classical studies. [2] In 1969, Mario’s father took the opportunity to play in the Shah’s handpicked orchestra, and the family relocated for 6 years. Mario’s tutelage in classical piano continued, and he was exposed to the sounds of the new culture he found himself surrounded by.

In 1976, again for Mr. Grigorov’s symphony career, the family relocated to East Germany. While finishing out the 1970s with a classical regimen, Grigorov and his family moved to Vienna, where Mario studied under renowned 20th-century composer Thomas Christian David at the Vienna Conservatorium. In the early 1980s, Mario moved to Sydney, Australia, where he took electronic music and Jazz studies classes with Don Burrows. He worked with many Australian rock groups. He has lived in Iran, Austria, Australia, Bulgaria, Germany, and the USA, and now resides between Berlin and London. [2]

Career

Personal Music

Grigorov began composing for television, commercials, and film in Sydney, Australia. In 1992, Miles Goodman, a film composer, helped Mario relocate to the United States. [3] Three days after Grigorov's move to Los Angeles, an A&R executive from Warner Brothers Records, Bob James, heard him improvising in a music store and signed him to his first major-label recording contract. [4] Grigorov then recorded his debut album, Rhymes with Orange. [5] Grigorov toured the album in Europe and North America, supporting musicians such as Wynton Marsalis, [6] Joshua Redman, [6] Charlie Haden, and Béla Fleck. [7] [8]

Astor Place Records released his second album, Aria, a collaboration with Paul Schwartz, on 14 October 1997. Aria was a darker crossover with funk along with operatic themes from Carmen , The Magic Flute , Madame Butterfly and Dido and Aeneas . The album reached No. 4 on Billboard’s Top Classical Crossover chart.

Music for the Screen

In 2000, Grigorov began composing music for screen in the United States. He is most recognized for his musical scores on films by director Lee Daniels. They worked together on Shadowboxer (2005), Tennessee (2008), Precious (2009) and The Paperboy (2012). [9] In 2005, he opened his own commercial music company, Siblings Music, Inc.. Siblings existed from 2005 - 2010, creating original music for the moving picture. In 2011, he wrote the score for Patang by Indian director Prashant Bhargava which premiered at that year's Berlin International Film Festival. [10]

In 2014 Mario met with director David Yates, and they worked together on Yates' film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them . [11] [12] Mario Grigorov composed and co-wrote an original song, "Blind Pig", with J. K. Rowling, which was performed by Emmi. [13] [14]

Music for Television

As a television film composer, he wrote the musical score for Lifetime’s 2014 made-for-television films, Flowers in the Attic and Petals on the Wind . He continued to work with Lifetime on several other television movies, including Harry and Meghan: A Royal Romance. [15]

Mario also has provided the music for several documentaries, including Third Wave: A Volunteer Story, presented by Sean Penn, the Anna Halprin biographical film Breath Made Visible by filmmaker Ruedi Gerber, and the war documentary Taxi to the Dark Side by Alex Gibney, which won a 2008 Academy Award for Best Documentary. [16] [17]

Art Work

As well as being a composer and performer, Mario Grigorov is also an artist and creates two-handed symmetrical drawings. [2] He combined his drawing style with his piano playing to develop an experimental type of keyboard play known as Mirror Tones. [8]

Awards and recognition

In 2013, he won 'Best Music Feature' at the Massachusetts Independent Film Festival for his work on Susan Seidelman's Musical Chairs. [18]

Filmography

Discography

Notable Concerts

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References

  1. ↑ "Mario Grgiorov on Piano Jazz". Jazz 24. October 28, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 "MarioGrigorov". Enter Art Foundation.
  3. ↑ "Artist of the Week — Mario Grigorov • Public Republic".
  4. ↑ Farrell, Maureen (January 19, 2010). "In Pictures: How 17 Stars Got Their Big Breaks". Forbes.
  5. ↑ Burnett, Ralph. "Mario Grigorov". My Sonic Island. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
  6. 1 2 Watrous, Peter (June 23, 1995). "JVC Jazz Festival, With the Old and the New". New York Times .
  7. ↑ Shattuck, Kathryn (May 14, 1995). "Classical Music; Symphonies and Solos, and Crickets Join In". New York Times .
  8. 1 2 "Mario Grigorov". High Res Audio.
  9. ↑ S., Andre (2010). "Mario Grigorov Q&A: Composer Discusses His 'Precious' Music". Alt Film Guide.
  10. ↑ Shedde, Meenakshi (February 18, 2011). "Prashant Bhargava's 'Patang' in Berlin". The Economic Times .
  11. ↑ "MarioGrigorov composes song with J. K. Rowling for 'Fantastic Beasts'". Cool Music. November 18, 2016.
  12. ↑ Broxton, Jonathan (November 20, 2016). "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them". Movie Music UK.
  13. ↑ "Exclusive:Pottermore debuts jazz song from the Fantastic Beasts soundtrack". Pottermore. November 17, 2016.
  14. ↑ Savage, Mark (November 15, 2016). "Singer wins big break in Fantastic Beasts". BBC.
  15. ↑ "'Harry & Meghan: A Royal Romance' Soundtrack Released &#124". Film Music Reporter.
  16. ↑ ""Taxi to the Dark Side": Exposé on US Abuses in "War on Terror" Wins Oscar for Best Documentary". Democracy Now. February 26, 2008. Retrieved August 3, 2019.
  17. ↑ "The 80th Academy Awards". Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences . Retrieved August 2, 2019.
  18. ↑ "2013 Films Massachusetts Independent Film Festival". Massachusetts Independent Film Festival. 2013.
  19. ↑ "PERFORMING ARTS : Music in All the Right Places : Da Camera Society founder MaryAnn Bonino is a nonstop cheerleader for chamber music--in the proper venue". Los Angeles Times. November 5, 1995.
  20. ↑ "ShowTime". Stereophile.com. November 14, 2007.
  21. ↑ "Clifford Brown Jazz Festival". June 21, 2019 – via Wikipedia.
  22. ↑ "The Gazette from Montreal, Quebec, Quebec, Canada on May 13, 1995 · 92". Newspapers.com.
  23. ↑ "- The Washington Post" – via www.washingtonpost.com.
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