Paul Grabowsky
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Paul Grabowsky AO |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Paul Atherstone Grabowsky |
| Born |
27 September 1958 Lae, Papua New Guinea |
| Origin | Melbourne, Australia |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician and composer |
| Instruments | Piano |
| Website | paulgrabowsky |
Paul Atherstone Grabowsky AO (born 27 September 1958) is an Australian pianist and composer.
Paul Grabowsky is a pianist and acclaimed composer of Film, Theatre and Opera who was born in 1958 in Lae, Papua New Guinea; his father Alistair had lived in Papua New Guinea with his wife Charlotte since the 1930s working on oil rigs, building roads, flying planes. Grabowsky described his ancestry as "failed Polish aristocracy". His older brother Michael took great interest in the young composer and later worked with Paul co-ordinating and producing many of his television and film scores in the 1990s.
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.
Immersing himself in jazz, Grabowsky left the conservatorium in 1978 to pursue musical studies at the Juilliard School in New York and then embarked on extensive travel in Europe. 1980 he worked in the Melbourne cabaret/comedy scene where he began his relationship with Steve Vizard and Robyn Archer. He flew in 1980 to London where he travelled via Spain to Germany; he lived there in Munich until 1985. He had been back in Australia for Christmas 1982 when, on the invitation of Red Symons, he co-composed his first film score, the first of many. In Europe he played with many musicians including Chet Baker, Art Farmer and Johnny Griffin as well as influential European artists.
After his return to Australia in 1986, he played in various jazz ensembles, including Vince Jones, The Wizards of Oz and the Groovematics. He also founded The Paul Grabowsky Trio with Gary Costello (bass) and Allan Browne (drums), which won ARIA Music Awards for its first CD (Six By Three) and in 1996 for its second CD, When Words Fail. 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.
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