Paul Grabowsky : Represented Artist
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Random Audio Sample: Strange meeting : orchestra by Paul Grabowsky, from the CD Ringing the bell backwards |
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Artist website: http://www.paulgrabowsky.com.au
Paul Grabowsky is a pianist, composer, arranger, conductor, and
one of Australia's most distinguished artists.
Born in Lae, Papua New Guinea in 1958, Paul Grabowsky was raised
in Melbourne where he attended Wesley College. During the late
1970s he became prominent in the music scene in Melbourne,
working in various jazz, theater and cabaret projects.
He lived and worked in Europe and the US in 1980-85, during which
time he performed with many jazz luminaries, including Chet
Baker, Art Farmer and Johnny Griffin. He returned to Australia in
1986 and established a reputation as one of Australia's leading
jazz musicians with bands such as his own trio and sextet, the
Wizards of Oz, and as musical director for singer Vince Jones. He
was musical director of Tonight Live with Steve Vizard
from 1990-1992.
A lot of Paul Grabowsky's time is spent composing and arranging
for various projects. He has been commissioned by the Melbourne
Symphony Orchestra, Opera Australia, the Queensland Music
Festival, the Australian National Academy of Music, and by
various other organisations. His work for the concert stage
includes orchestral and chamber music, a song cycle and works for
the Australian Art Orchestra. He has written three major stage
works, and is currently working on a fourth one. In his
large-scale works, Grabowsky integrates influences from many
different kinds of music and musical cultures.
Grabowsky has written the scores for over twenty feature films in
Australia, the UK and US, including The Eye of the Storm
and Last Orders (Fred Schepisi), Innocence
(Paul Cox), and Shiner (John Irvin). Among the many
other filmmakers he has worked with are Gillian Armstrong, Nadia
Tass and Clara Law. His television credits include the series
Phoenix and Janus and the Emmy-winning
Empire Falls. His works for the theatre include two
operas and various multimedia works.
He is the founder and artistic director of the Australian Art
Orchestra, with which he tours both nationally and
internationally. Recent AAO projects have concentrated on
collaborations with traditional and contemporary indigenous
performers, something which Paul passionately advocates.
Among his numerous CD releases are two for the Hush
series (for which he is artistic director), designed to assist in
the healing environment of Melbourne Children's Hospital.
He has won four ARIA awards, two Helpmann awards, several Bell
Awards and a Deadly award. He was the Sydney Myer Performing
Artist of the Year in 2000, and received the Melbourne Prize for
Music in 2007.
He was artistic director of the Queensland Music Festival from
2005-2007 and the 2010 Adelaide Festival, and is currently
artistic director of the 2012 Adelaide Festival.
Paul Grabowsky regularly performs with his trio, quartet and
sextet, mainly performing his own compositions.
Biography provided by the composer
Awards & Prizes
Year | Award | Placing | Awarded for |
---|---|---|---|
2017 | Art Music Awards: Work of the Year: Jazz | Finalist | Moons of Jupiter |
2016 | Art Music Awards: Work of the Year: Jazz | Winner | Nyilipidgi |
2016 | Art Music Awards: Work of the Year: Jazz | Finalist | Spiel |
2015 | Art Music Awards: Work of the Year: Jazz | Finalist | Love like a curse |
2015 | Art Music Awards: Work of the Year: Instrumental | Finalist | The Nightingale and the rose |
2014 | Art Music Awards: Work of the Year: Jazz | Winner | Tall tales |
2007 | Melbourne Prize for Music | Winner - Melbourne Prize for Music 2007 |
Selected Commissions
Work | Commission Details | |
---|---|---|
|
Cythera : orchestra | Commissioned by HUSH Music Foundation. |
|
The company of lovers (soprano with string quartet) | Commissioned by Katie Noonan. |
The Nightingale and the rose : chamber ensemble (2014) | Commissioned by Flinders Quartet. | |
Tall tales : large chamber ensemble (2009) | Commissioned by Australian Art Orchestra. |
Analysis & Media
- Article: Untamed melodies at the frontiers of sound