Mario Grigorov

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.

Mario Grigorov's father was a concert trumpeter and his mother 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, this time to East Germany. While finishing out the 1970s with a classical regimen, Grigorov and 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 classes in electronic music and Jazz studies with Don Burrows. He worked with many Australian rock groups. He has lived in Iran, Austria, Australia, Bulgaria, Germany and USA, now resides between Berlin and London.[2]

Career

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 at Europe and North America supporting musicians such as Wynton Marsalis,[6] Joshua Redman,[6] Charlie Haden and Béla Fleck.[7][8]

His second album, Aria, a collaboration with Paul Schwartz, was released on 14 October 1997 by Astor Place Records. 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.[9]

In 2000, Grigorov began composing music for screen in 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).[10] In 2005 he opened his own commercial music company called Siblings Music, Inc. Siblings existed from 2005 - 2010 creating original music for the moving picture. For its duration, Mario has selected immensely talented musicians to compose on behalf of the company.[11] In 2011 he wrote the score for Patang by Indian director Prashant Bhargava which premiered at the same year Berlin International Film Festival,[12] The Hopes and Dreams of Gazza Snell by director Brendan Donovan and three films by Leonardo Ricagni’s: 29 Palms, The Life Jacket is Under Your Seat and El Chevrolé, for which Grigorov received 'Best Original Score' at the Hamptons International Film Festival.

In 2013, he won 'Best Music Feature' at the Massachusetts Independent Film Festival for his work on Susan Seidelman's Musical Chairs.[13]

In 2014 Mario met with director David Yates and they worked together on Yates' film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.[14][15] Mario Grigorov composed and co-wrote an original song, "Blind Pig", with J. K. Rowling, which was performed by Emmi.[16][17]

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.[18]

Mario also has provided the music 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.[19][20]

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 to his piano playing to develop an experimental type of keyboard play known as Mirror Tones.[8]

Filmography

2020 Lair (pre-production)

Penumbral (Short) (post-production)

White Knight (post-production)

2019 Line of Descent (post-production)

2019 Spides (TV Series) (8 episodes) (post-production)

- Episode #1.8 (2019)

- Episode #1.7 (2019)

- Episode #1.6 (2019)

- Episode #1.5 (2019)

- Episode #1.4 (2019)

Show all 8 episodes

Kill Chain (completed)

2019 The Dare (completed)

2019 Harry & Meghan: Becoming Royal (TV Movie)

2019 Escaping the Madhouse: The Nellie Bly Story (TV Movie)

2019 Totengebet (TV Movie)

2018 Wheels

2018 Look Away

2018 No Shame (Short)

2018/VI The Conversation

2018 Harry & Meghan: A Royal Romance (TV Movie)

2017 Gnaw

2017 Another Mother's Son

2017 The Evil Within

2016 The Best Democracy Money Can Buy (Documentary)

2016 Harry Benson: Shoot First (Documentary)

2015 P.O.V. (TV Series documentary) (1 episode)

- Out in the Night (2015)

2014 Seasons of Love (TV Movie)

2014 Out in the Night (Documentary)

2014 Flowers in the Attic 2: Petals on the Wind (TV Movie) (music by)

2014 Squatters (Video)

2014 Flowers in the Attic (TV Movie) (music by)

2013 Dracula: The Dark Prince

2013 Our Boys

2013 Stay at Home (Short) (co-composer)

2013 Crazy Kind of Love

2012 Trauma Team

2012 59 Middle Lane (Documentary)

2012 The Anderson Monarchs (Documentary)

2012 The Paperboy

2012/II Beyond

2011 Off-Ramp (Short)

2011 Musical Chairs

2011 Untitled Jersey City Project (TV Series) (5 episodes)

- Episode #1.1 (2011)

- Episode 5 (2011)

- Episode 3 (2011)

- Episode 2 (2011)

- Episode #1.4 (2011)

2011 Patang

2010 Seniors Rocking (Documentary short)

2010 The Hopes & Dreams of Gazza Snell

2010 Malice N Wonderland (Video short)

2010 A Precious Ensemble (Video documentary short) (original score music)

2010 From Push to Precious (Video documentary short) (original score music)

2010 Oprah & Tyler: A Project of Passion (Video documentary short) (original score music)

2010 Devoted to Dance (Documentary)

2009 Jackson Parish (Short) (original music by)

2009 Breath Made Visible: Anna Halprin (Documentary)

2009 War Against the Weak (Documentary)

2009/II Precious

2008 Ten: Thirty One (Short)

2008 Accelerating America (Documentary)

2008 Tennessee

2007 The Attic (Video)

2007 Feathers to the Sky (Short)

2007 The Third Wave (Documentary)

2006 The Insurgents

2005 Shadowboxer

2004 Rescue? (Short)

2004 The Americans (Short)

2002 The Life Jacket Is Under Your Seat

2002 Grasp (Short)

2002 29 Palms

2001 Here (Short)

1999 Razor's Edge (Short)

1998 Edge City

1994 Young at Hearts

1993 A Song for You (Short)

1993 This Won't Hurt a Bit

1992 Fear in America (TV Movie documentary) 1989 Glass

Recordings

Squatters, 2019

The Absence of Presence, 2019

Hello Big Shot, 2019

War Against the Weak, 2019

Harry and Meghan: A Royal Romance, 2018

Ragtime to Shine, 2018

The Presence of Absence, 2018

Atomic Lounge, 2017

Rhymes with Orange, 1994

Notable Concerts

"Chamber Music in Historic Sights" Los Angeles, CA[21]

Stereophile Show Waldford Astoria New York, NY[22]

Clifford Brown Jazz Festival[23]

Quebec Jazz Festival[24]

Toronto Jazz Festival

Edmonton Jazz festival, Shocton Theatre Edmonton, Alberta

Victoria Jazz Festival Art Gallery of Greater Victoria

Saskatoon Jazz Festival Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Saratoga Jazz Festival Saraoga, NY

Montreal Jazz Festival Dy Maurier Hall Montreal, Quebec

Newport Jazz Festival

San Jose Jazz Festival San Jose Museum of Art San Jose, CA

Santa FE Chamber Festival Santa FE, NM

Contemporary Arts Center New Orleans, LA

Performing Arts Center Calgary, Alberta

Hirshorn Museum Washington, Dc[25]

References
  1. "Mario Grgiorov on Piano Jazz". Jazz 24. October 28, 2016.
  2. "MarioGrigorov". Enter Art Foundation.
  3. http://www.public-republic.net/artist-of-the-week-mario-grigorov/
  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. 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. "Mario Grigorov". High Res Audio.
  9. Inc, Nielsen Business Media (March 21, 1998). "Billboard". Nielsen. p. 59. Billboard march 21 1998 top classical cross. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  10. S., Andre (2010). "Mario Grigorov Q&A: Composer Discusses His 'Precious' Music". Alt Film Guide.
  11. https://sonicscoop.com/2013/01/30/butter-music-sound-adds-mario-grigorov-west-coast-creative-director/
  12. Shedde, Meenakshi (February 18, 2011). "Prashant Bhargava's 'Patang' in Berlin". The Economic Times.
  13. "2013 Films Massachusetts Independent Film Festival". Massachusetts Independent Film Festival. 2013.
  14. "MarioGrigorov composes song with J. K. Rowling for 'Fantastic Beasts'". Cool Music. November 18, 2016.
  15. Broxton, Jonathan (November 20, 2016). "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them". Movie Music UK.
  16. "Exclusive:Pottermore debuts jazz song from the Fantastic Beasts soundtrack". Pottermore. November 17, 2016.
  17. Savage, Mark (November 15, 2016). "Singer wins big break in Fantastic Beasts". BBC.
  18. "'Harry & Meghan: A Royal Romance' Soundtrack Released &#124". Film Music Reporter.
  19. ""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.
  20. "The 80th Academy Awards". Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
  21. "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.
  22. "ShowTime". Stereophile.com. November 14, 2007.
  23. "Clifford Brown Jazz Festival". June 21, 2019 – via Wikipedia.
  24. "The Gazette from Montreal, Quebec, Quebec, Canada on May 13, 1995 · 92". Newspapers.com.
  25. "- The Washington Post" – via www.washingtonpost.com.
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