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Paul Atherstone Grabowsky , born 27 September 1958, is an Australian pianist and composer, founder of the Australian Art Orchestra.
Grabowsky grew up in Glen Waverley, Melbourne, Australia, and began piano lessons when he was five years old. He studied the classical repertoire with Mack Jost, senior lecturer in piano at the Conservatorium of Music at the University of Melbourne from the age of seven until his university years. He attended Wesley College and it was that school's jazz band which introduced him to the genre.
After his return to Australia in 1986, he played in various jazz ensembles. Grabowsky produced Vince Jones' ARIA Award-winning album It All Ends Up In Tears. In 1987, Grabowsky formed the Wizards of Oz with Saxophonist Dale Barlow, bassist Lloyd Swanton and drummer Tony Buck. Wizards of Oz recorded Soundtrack and won the ARIA Award for Best Jazz Album at the ARIA Music Awards of 1989. During this time, he also wrote the score to the film The Last Days of Chez Nous and for television shows Phoenix, Janus and Fast Forward.
In 1990 he was commissioned to write several pieces for the Munich-based jazz/contemporary-music group Die Konferenz. One group of these was based on songs of Édith Piaf ("Et les Affaires Piaf"), while a second group was based on songs from German UFA films from the 1920s to 1940s ("Es wird einmal ein Wunder"). With the support from its artistic director Richard Wherrett, this led to the formation of the project Ringing the Bell Backwards at the Melbourne International Arts Festival and eventually to the Australian Art Orchestra in 1994. That year, Grabowsky wrote a piano concerto for Michael Kieran Harvey.
He is married to Margot Salomon and in 1991 their first child was born; Isabella Grabowsky. Their son Guy Grabowsky was born in 1995..
In 1995, the Australian Art Orchestra toured Europe, and later India in 1996. Grabowsky directed the Victorian Arts Centre's Summer Music programme. Late that year he was commissioned to front the 14-part ABC TV series Access All Areas. As Commissioning Editor for ABC Television Arts and Entertainment (1996–1998), he commissioned the documentary series Long Way to the Top. During the late 1990s, Grabowsky concentrated on writing music for film and television: (1999) and Innocence (2000) by Paul Cox, Siam Sunset by John Polson, the NBC mini-series Noah's Ark, the UK production Shiner. Northern Rivers Performing Arts (NORPA) commissioned his first opera, The Mercenary with a (libretto by Janis Balodis).
In 2004, Grabowsky visited the remote community in the Northern Territory called Ngukurr, in order to meet the traditional songmen. He met with the local Aboriginal elder and, after hearing two Wagilak songmen sing, asked permission to bring his orchestra on a return visit. When he returned in 2005, he brought singer-songwriters Archie Roach and his wife Ruby Hunter, along with 10 members of his Australian Art Orchestra. After working together for five days, the musicians staged a concert in the town. The European musicians learnt about the manikay (song cycles) and were led to experiment with whole new ways of exploring sound.
The resulting project, called Crossing Roper Bar, toured the Northern Territory, played at the Birrarung Marr park in Melbourne, the National Gallery of Victoria, Apollo Bay Music Festival and the Sydney Opera House. When the group travelled to Gulkula to play at the 2006 Garma Festival, the Yolngu songmen from nearby regions were amazed, thinking that those songs had been lost long ago. In 2010 a Crossing Roper Bar album was released.
In 2005, Grabowsky was appointed Artistic Director for the Queensland Music Festival 2007. His song cycle Before Time Could Change Us, lyrics by Dorothy Porter and featuring Katie Noonan, was commissioned by the Queensland Music Festival and released in 2005 by the Warner Music Group. The album peaked at number 65 on the ARIA Charts and number 3 on the ARIA Jazz chart. He recorded an album of original jazz compositions, Tales of Time and Space, with Branford Marsalis (soprano sax), Joe Lovano (tenor sax), Scott Tinkler (trumpet), Ed Schuller (bass) and Jeff "Tain" Watts (drums). In 2007 he was appointed inaugural patron of the National Film and Sound Archive's project Sounds of Australia.
On 4 January 2008, the prestigious Adelaide Festival of Arts appointed Grabowsky as its artistic director for the 2010 festival, its 50th anniversary year. He was then asked to stay on and direct the 2012 Adelaide Festival.
In 2014 Grabowsky was awarded the Order of Australia (AO) for services to music as an educator, a mentor composer and pianist. He won his 5th Aria Award in 2014 for his sextet recording of original compositions The Bitter Suite.
In 2015/2016 he wrote the music and songs for theatre work Last Man Standing performed by the Melbourne Theatre Company, words and play by Steve Vizard; the two teamed again to write another new music theatre work, Banquet of Secrets, performed by the Victorian Opera company.
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| 2008
| Lost and Found
| Best Independent Jazz Album
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| 2010
| On a Clear Day
| Best Independent Jazz Album
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| 2014
| The Bitter Suite
| Best Independent Jazz Album
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| 2017
| Provanance (with Vince Jones)
| Best Independent Jazz Album
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| 2020
| Tryst
| Best Independent Jazz Album or EP
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| 1989 || "Disappearing Shoreline" || Most Performed Australasian Jazz Work ||
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| 1990 || "Tonite I'm Alive with You" || Most Performed Australasian Jazz Work ||
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|rowspan="2"| 1993 || Phoenix (Series 2) || Television or Film Theme of the Year ||
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| "Welcome to the World of Major Crime" || Jazz Composition of the Year ||
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| 1996 || Mushrooms || Best Film Score ||
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| 2000 || Siam Sunset || Best Film Score ||
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| 2001 || Innocence || Best Film Score ||
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| 2004 || "Stars Apart" || Most Performed Jazz Work of the Year ||
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| 2005 || Art of War || Best Music for a Television Series or Serial ||
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|rowspan="2"| 2006 || "Silverland" || Most Performed Jazz Work of the Year ||
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| || Best Music for a Documentary ||
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| 2009 || "Raindrop" || Jazz Work of the Year ||
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| 2013 || "Falling" || Instrumental Work of the Year ||
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| 2014 || "Tall Tales" || Jazz Work of the Year ||
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|rowspan="2"| 2015 || "Love Like a Curse" || Jazz Work of the Year ||
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| "The Nightingale and the Rose" || Instrumental Work of the Year ||
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|rowspan="2"| 2016 || "Nyilipidgi" ||rowspan="2"| Jazz Work of the Year ||
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| "Spiel" ||
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| 2017 || "Moons of Jupiter" || Jazz Work of the Year ||
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| 2018 || Comeclose and Sleepnow: Six Liverpool Love Songs || Vocal / Choral Work of the Year ||
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| 1990 || Six by Three ||rowspan="3"| Best Jazz Album || || ARIA Award previous winners.
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| 1991 || The Moon & You || ||
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|rowspan="2"| 1993 || Tee Vee || ||
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| The Last Days of Chez Nous || Best Original Soundtrack/Cast/Show Album|| || ARIA Award previous winners.
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| 1996 || When Words Fail ||rowspan="2"| Best Jazz Album || ||
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| 1998 || Angel || ||
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| 2000 || Siam Sunset || Best Original Soundtrack Album || ||
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| 2001 || Three ||rowspan="7"| Best Jazz Album || ||
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| 2004 || Tales of Time and Space|| ||
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| 2005 || Before Time Could Change Us || ||
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| 2006 || Always || ||
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| 2014 || The Bitter Suite || ||
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| 2015 || Solo || ||
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|rowspan="2"| 2016 || Provenance || ||
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| Nyilipidgi || Best World Music Album||
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| 2019 || Tryst ||Best Jazz Album|| ||
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| 2020 || Please Leave Your Light On ||Best Jazz Album|| ||
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| 2006
| Paul Grabowsky
| Australian Jazz Artist of the Year
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| 2007
| "Five Bells" – Paul Grabowsky
| Australian Jazz Composition of the Year
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| 2009
| Lost and Found (as Oehlers, Grabowsky, Beck)
| Best Australian Contemporary Jazz Album
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| 2001
| The Theft of Sita (with I Wayan Gde Yudane)
| Best Original Score
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| 2003
| Love in the Age of Therapy (with Joanna Murray-Smith)
| Best Original Score
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| 2005
| Tales of Time and Space
| Best Performance in an Australian Contemporary Concert
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| 2017
| Torrio! (With Mirko Guerrini & Niko Schäuble)
| Best Jazz Album
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| 2001 || Paul Grabowsky || Individual Award ||
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2010s
In June 2012, Grabowsky was appointed Vice-Chancellor's Professorial Fellow in the School of Music at Monash University and in July 2012, he was appointed Executive Director, Performing Arts, Academy of Performing Arts, Monash University.
Awards and nominations
AIR Awards
The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector.
APRA Awards
The APRA Awards (Australia) are annual awards to celebrate excellence in contemporary music, which honour the skills of member composers, songwriters and publishers who have achieved outstanding success in sales and airplay performance. They commenced in 1982. Paul Grabowsky has won seven awards from twenty nominations.
ARIA Awards
The ARIA Music Awards are annual awards, which recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987. Paul Grabowsky has won seven awards from seventeen nominations.
Australian Jazz Bell Awards
The Australian Jazz Bell Awards, (also known as the Bell Awards or The Bells), are annual music awards for the jazz music genre in Australia. They commenced in 2003.
Helpmann Awards
The Helpmann Awards is an awards show, celebrating live entertainment and performing arts in Australia, presented by industry group Live Performance Australia since 2001. Note: 2020 and 2021 were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Music Victoria Awards
The Music Victoria Awards are an annual awards night celebrating Victorian music. They commenced in 2006.
Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards
The Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards commenced in 1984 and recognise outstanding achievements in dance, drama, comedy, music, opera, circus and puppetry.
Other Awards
Discography
+ List of albums, with selected chart positions
! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:14em;" Title
! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:20em;" Album details
! scope="col" colspan="1" Peak chart positions Before Time Could Change Us (with Katie Noonan)
65
On a Clear Day (with Jamie Oehlers)
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The Bitter Suite (as Paul Grabowsky Sextet)
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Further reading
External links
Categories: Official Website, 1958 Births, 21st-century Australian Pianists, 21st-century Australian Male Musicians, Living People, Juilliard School Alumni, Apra Award Winners, Aria Award Winners, Australian Film Score Composers, Australian Jazz Composers, Australian Male Jazz Composers, Australian Jazz Pianists, Australian People Of Polish Descent, Helpmann Award Winners, Officers Of The Order Of Australia, Australian Male Film Score Composers, Academic Staff Of Monash University, Musicians From Melbourne, People Educated At Wesley College, University Of Melbourne Alumni, Male Jazz Pianists, Paul Grabowsky Trio Members, Wizards Of Oz Members, People From Glen Waverley, Victoria
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