Mak Grgic


A major new presence in the guitar world with an innovative repertoire spanning classics, film music, and cutting-edge contemporary works

“Grgic is a guitarist to keep an eye on” — Washington Post

Wednesday, November 12, 2014, at 7:30 pm

The Diller-Quaile School of Music
24 East 95th Street
New York City (see map)

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Individual concert tickets now available: Click here to order or call (800) 838-3006.
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Program
Cinema Verismo: A Musical Journey into Cinema
WEISS L’Infidele Suite
BARRIOS MANGORÉ La Catedral
ALBÉNIZ Asturias
BACH Chaconne
EREN Three Portals for Solo Guitar
BERNSTEIN Somewhere and Tonight
GRANADOS Spanish Dance No. 5
MORRICONE Gabriel’s Oboe
LAURO Seis Por Derecho

Mak Grgic is an innovative player, who programs music as far reaching as works from the avant-garde, film music, the great classics of the guitar repertoire, and transcriptions of Brahms and Kreisler.

His new recording on Marquis Music entitled Cinema Verismo focuses on music used in cinema over the last few decades. The CD includes Asturias by Albeniz, for which one critic stated that “Grgic did an excellent job of catering to the expectations of the audience while still make the piece his own.”

As a Young Artist in Residence at The Da Camera Society of Los Angeles, Mr. Grgic is a co-founder of DC8, Da Camera’s contemporary music ensemble, which strives to expand the definition of what a modern music ensemble can be. The group recently premiered a newly-commissioned work from the renowned American composer Michael Gordon, co-founder of Bang on a Can of New York City. As a passionate advocate for new music, Mr. Grgic has premiered numerous new pieces, including the music of Nina Senk, David Crowell, Toby Twining, Michael Harrison, Christian Carey, Julia Adolphe, Thomas Kotcheff, Sven-David Sandström, Hakki Cengiz Eren, and William Harvey.

His collaborators have included Martin Chalifour (concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic), cellist Jay Campbell, Joshua Roman, The Assad Brothers, Ashley Bathgate (cellist of the Bang on a Can All-Stars), John Sant’Ambrogio (former principal cellist of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra), flutist Christopher Matthews, Paul Vasile and Stephen Ackert on the organ, guitarists Christopher McGuire and Taso Comanescu, percussionist Ian Rosenbaum, and guitarist-composer Nejc Kuhar, with whom Mr. Grgic made his first album, sponsored by The National Radio of Slovenia and the Ministry of Culture in Slovenia.

Mr. Grgic recently took first prize at the Guitar Competition “Luigi Mozzani” in Italy and has been honored with highest prizes at the Andrés Segovia International Competition for young guitarists in Velbert, German; the Forum Gitarre Wien International Competition in Vienna, Austria; the International Guitar Competition in Arrenzano, Italy; the Anna Amalia Competition for young guitarists in Weimar, Germany; the International Guitarart Festival and Competition in Belgrade, Serbia; and the European Classical Guitar Competition “Enrico Mercatali” in Italy.

Born in Ljubljana, Slovenia, he studied guitar in Zagreb with the revered Ante Cagalj at the Elly Basic Conservatory of Music and obtained his Bachelor’s Degree with Alvaro Pierri at the Universitaet für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna, Austria. At the moment he is pursuing his Doctoral Degree at the USC Thornton School of Music as a student of William Kanengiser and Scott Tennant of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet. He is also a teaching assistant at USC under the direction of Brian Head. His charitable activities include fundraising for Bosnian children with financial issues, including a recent recital in Zenica, BIH, where funds were raised for a local orphanage. He currently plays a Jose Ramirez guitar MC made in 1966 in Madrid.