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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Grigorov then recorded his debut album "Rhymes with Orange". Grigorov toured the album at Europe and North America supporting musicians such as Wynton Marsalis, Joshua Redman, Charlie Haden  and Béla Fleck. 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. 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). 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. In 2011 he wrote the score for "Patang" by Indian director Prashant Bhargava which premiered at the same year Berlin International Film Festival, "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". In 2014 Mario met with director David Yates and they worked together on Yates' film "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them". Mario Grigorov composed and co-wrote an original song, "Blind Pig", with J. K. Rowling, which was performed by Emmi. 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". 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. As well as being a composer and performer, Mario Grigorov is also an artist and creates two-handed symmetrical drawings. He combined his drawing style to his piano playing to develop an experimental type of keyboard play known  as Mirror Tones.