May 2020
Episode 1: Featuring Michael Grebla, 2016 Zelman Cowen John Monash Scholar and composer
Born in Perth, Michael is an international freelance composer based primarily in Manhattan. He focuses principally on concert music, working chamber music groups internationally and filmmakers. His music endeavours to create meaningful and inclusive cultural experiences, drawing influences from tradition and the present with an emphasis on audience engagement.
Michael is a curious composer with interests also in Mechanical Engineering and Acoustics in which he holds a bachelor degree as well as photography – each have inspired previous compositions. His first solo concert/exhibition titled “Portraits of UWA” was a mix-media event exploring historical landscapes, sculptures and wildlife through both photography and musical portraits. His work “Euler’s Music” with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra’ Chamber Orchestra explored the mechanical principals of gyroscopic precession. In 2018, he premiered a work for the Australian Youth Orchestra in Adelaide and his first string-quartet at the Zodiac Festival in Nice, France where he was awarded the Composition Prize. In 2019 he was awarded runner up in the New York Composer’s Circle John Eaton Memorial competition and also completed his first two featuring appearances in Connecticut Summerfest, Atlantic Music Festival and Charlotte New Music Festival. In May 2020 he will be writing for the Borromeo String Quartet at Alba Music Festival, Italy.
Michael recently completed a Master of Music with Honours at the New England Conservatory where he studied with Kati Agocs with the support of the General Sir John Monash Foundation. Prior, he completed a Bachelor of Music at the University of Western Australia with First Class Honours studying with Christopher Tonkin and James Ledger and was award the University’s Matilda Prize for Cultural Excellence. While in Perth, he founded and directed Music at St George's College, a chamber music organization that put on some 55 concerts to 13,500 audience members and raised significant support for scholarships, endowments and instruments for promising young artists.