Michael Salvatore Grebla

Spreading music described as “a testament to the universal strength and endurance of the human spirit” by CutCommon magazine, Michael is an international award-winning emerging composer from Western Australia based in New York City. With a deep conviction for the role music plays as a unifying mechanism in society, constructing identity and building community, he endeavours to create meaningful and inclusive cultural experiences, bridging tradition and the present. In recent years his works have dealt with ideas of journey, displacement, transience and spirituality, offering his own deeply introspective expressions and examinations of the human experience, touching audiences throughout recital venues in Australia, the United States, Europe and Asia.

His work has been recognised with awards from the New York Composer’s Circle, the Zodiac Music Festival in France, as well as grants from the Australia Council for the Arts and the Australian American Association. In addition to working with institutions to create new music, Michael is entrusted and supported by a diverse community of patrons and co-commissioners to deliver an engaging season of works, projects and appearances each year through his ‘crowd-commissioning’ initiative.

Michael’s compositional interests rest largely with the creation of concert music. He is an avid writer of chamber and orchestral musical and an active contributor to international music festivals. He has presented works at TUTTI Festival, Alba Festival, Connecticut Summerfest, Atlantic Music Festival, Tura New Music’s “Total Huge New Music Festival”, the Australian Youth Orchestra’s National Music Camp, Charlotte New Music Festival and shortly also Indiana State University’s Music Now Festival. At the heart of his career is a joy for collaboration with other artists which has led to projects with international groups including ETHEL, Hub New Music, Beo String Quartet, the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, the Australian Youth Orchestra, Atlantic Contemporary Ensemble and the New England Conservatory Symphony Orchestra.

Knowledge and expertise from other fields have permeated and shaped Michael’s compositions. His sinfonietta “Euler’s Music” was inspired by his study of mechanics while completing his Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Western Australia. Described as “imaginatively constructed” by The West Australian newspaper upon its premiere by the West Australian Symphony Orchestra Sinfonietta, the piece explored the mechanical principles of gyroscopic precession (demonstrated by the science education toy “Euler’s Disk”) as a guiding structure for pitch, harmonic rhythm and form. Music reciprocally inspired his engineering research, earning him a high distinction for his Honours research dissertation: an acoustical examination of interactions of a grand piano’s lid angle with the frequency response of a venue and its implications when accompanying other performers.

In part due to his activities as a photographer, Michael’s earlier works heavily explored the incorporation of extramusical influences – particularly visual art – to create cross-media pieces, with the goal of generating new innovations in musical expression and more engaging, meaningful concert experiences. During this time, he received a commission from the Laurence Wilson Art Gallery to contribute a musical work influenced by the exhibition’s theme “Memento Mori”. His work “Respiration” for solo bass clarinet was recorded and subsequently published on the album “Memento Mori Compositions”, displayed alongside works in the gallery. The work was premiered by Ashley Smith as part of Michael’s first public recital and photography exhibition “Portraits of the University of Western Australia,” a series of musical and photographic portraits of the grounds and wildlife of the iconic Perth campus. One work in the series – titled “Youth”, for solo piano – was a commission from St George’s College to inaugurate their new Fazioli Concert Grand and was premiered by Adam Pinto. Beyond composing, musical intersections with visual art became the subject of his academic writing at the time. His Honours dissertation and research project “Music and visual art in the post-tonal era: a semiotic exploration of Roger Smalley’s Diptych: Homage to Brian Blanchflower” investigated the ability of visual art to provide structure to music, through examination of a work by composer Roger Smalley that was influenced by the visual art of Brian Blanchflower.

His composition collaborations have also extended to film. He has provided soundtracks to documentaries, short films and branded content both in the United States and Australia. Recently he completed the score for the short film “The Statue” in New York, collaborating with director Elina Street, as well as soundtracks of a series of mini-documentaries for French perfumer “Robertet”, collaborating with New York director Louise de Nexon. In Australia, Michael’s work has appeared in the soundtracks for projects with the Australian Square Kilometre Array and the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research.

Michael completed a Master of Music with Honours at the New England Conservatory, where he studied with Kati Agocs and was supported by highly competitive scholarships from the General Sir John Monash Foundation, the New England Conservatory, and American Australian Association. 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 awarded the University’s Matilda Prize for Cultural Excellence and the West Australian Wagner Society’s Bayreuth Prize. During his studies he was a resident at St George’s College where he was the Wolff Scholar (2011, 2012, 2013) and Knight Scholar (2014).

Since 2012, Michael has operated his own audio recording business to service the needs of the classical music community. Originally named “Grebla Media”, he developed a brand of quality, reliability, and professionalism, using his sensibilities as a musician and technical understanding of acoustics to produce tasteful and flattering recordings for artists. This quickly expanded to also offer high quality multi-camera video recording and postproduction. His work is chiefly focused on location recording outside of a studio including the recording of live concerts, auditions and dedicated recording projects for orchestras, chamber groups and individuals.

With 8 years of experience, he has recorded for the Australian Youth Orchestra, Fremantle Symphony Orchestra, Swan Philharmonic, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, University of Western Australia, Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, St George’s College, the Australian Music Examination Board, Perth Rotary Vienna Pops Orchestra and countless individuals and groups throughout Australia and the US. He has recorded in major performing arts venues such as Llewellyn Hall, Government House Ballroom Perth, Perth Concert Hall, Callaway Auditorium,  Winthrop Hall, West Australian Academy of the Performing Arts, St George’s Cathedral Perth, the John Inverarity Music and Drama Centre, St George’s College and more.

In 2016 he was a participant in the Australian Youth Orchestra’s (AYO) National Music Camp Sound Engineering program, where he received intensive mentorship and training from long time Australian Broadcasting Corporation Sound Engineer Andrew Dixon. During this program he was responsible for recording and mastering all performances of the AYO as well as working with producers from the ABC to run live national radio broadcast from National Music Camp.

A passionate educator, Michael has taught both privately and within leading institutions, sharing his knowledge of composition, music theory, piano and voice with aspiring musicians of all ages. Most recently, he was a teaching assistant at the New England Conservatory of Music for graduate music theory under the supervision of Bert Van Herrick. His responsibilities included tutoring students, grading assignments, administering exams and working to address the individual needs of students to ensure they thrived in the conservatory. From 2010-2014 he was a tutor of music at St George’s College which included helping residents with music theory, voice, keyboard and composition and concurrently he also taught beginner and advanced music appreciation classes for music theory and composition to the public. With a very personal and relatable teaching style, he has tutored privately for nearly a decade, breaking down complicated subjects from music to mathematics and chemistry.