Joseph Gramley
Encyclopedia
Joseph Gramley is an American
multi-percussionist, teacher and composer
, and a founding member of the Silk Road Ensemble. As a solo performer he each year commissions and premieres new works from such emerging composers as Kojiro Umezaki and Justin Messina. His first solo recording, American Deconstruction, featuring performances of five milestone works in multi-percussion’s modern repertoire, appeared in 2000 and was reissued in 2006. His second CD, Global Percussion, was released in 2005.
and was named a Presidential Scholar in the Arts while at senior at the Interlochen Arts Academy in 1988. He did his undergraduate work at the University of Michigan
, where he was a student of Michael Udow and Salvatore Rabbio and was a recipient of the Albert A. Stanley Medal. He also attended the Tanglewood Institute and Salzburg Mozarteum.
Gramley made his concerto debut in 1992 with the Houston Symphony Orchestra
and music director Christoph Eschenbach
after winning their National Soloist Competition. His solo debut followed in 1994 at Carnegie Hall
’s Weill Recital Hall. He did his graduate studies at the Juilliard School
in New York where he studied with Gordon Gottlieb and Daniel Druckman. Upon receiving his M. Mus., Gramley performed and recorded with the Ethos Percussion Group throughout the U. S. and Europe.
to join the Silk Road Ensemble, which, as part of Mr. Ma’s Silk Road Project, became one of the best-selling classical music group in the world. In addition to participating in the group’s extended residencies in American cities, Gramley has toured with the Ensemble throughout Europe and Asia. In the course of his involvement with the group, Gramley has studied percussion styles and instruments from around the globe, and collaborated with musicians from India
, Iran
, China
, Japan
, Korea
and Central Asia
. He has performed on five Silk Road albums on the SonyBMG label, as well as the group’s Grammy-nominated CD with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Transitions and Transformations (CSO Resound, 2008). He also performed on Yo-Yo Ma’s Grammy-winning Songs of Joy and Peace (Sony Classical, 2008). Most recently, Gramley can be heard on the Silk Road’s CD Off the Map (World Village Classical, 2009).
In October 2008, Gramley and Yo-Yo Ma jointly appeared as guest artists with the Nashville Symphony.
in the duo Organized Rhythm. The pair’s first recording, Beaming Music, was issued in 2008.
Gramley has performed with the Metropolitan Opera
(on stage in Tan Dun with Placido Domingo), and accompanied Pierre-Laurent Aimard
on his 2007 United States tour. He has performed with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s as well as The Knights. Festival appearances include Tanglewood, Marlboro, Spoleto and Caramoor. He has also performed with orchestras for the Broadway productions of Miss Saigon
, Jekyll and Hyde, Phantom of the Opera, and The Color Purple
, and has accompanied Elton John
at Radio City Music Hall
.
and the Juilliard Summer Percussion Seminar, an intensive program for high-school students held annually at Lincoln Center in New York City. Gramley’s own compositions have been performed at the Art Institute of Chicago, Dallas' Meyerson Symphony Center Concert Hall and San Francisco's Davies Symphony Hall.
Global Percussion (2005)
Towerhill (6-64457-20032-3).
Beyond the Horizon (2004), Sony Classical (8-2796-93962-2)
New Impossibilities (2007), Sony Classical (8-8697-10319-2)
Off the Map (2009), World Village Music. (7-13746-80952-2)
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
multi-percussionist, teacher and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, and a founding member of the Silk Road Ensemble. As a solo performer he each year commissions and premieres new works from such emerging composers as Kojiro Umezaki and Justin Messina. His first solo recording, American Deconstruction, featuring performances of five milestone works in multi-percussion’s modern repertoire, appeared in 2000 and was reissued in 2006. His second CD, Global Percussion, was released in 2005.
Education and Early Career
Gramley grew up in OregonOregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
and was named a Presidential Scholar in the Arts while at senior at the Interlochen Arts Academy in 1988. He did his undergraduate work at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
, where he was a student of Michael Udow and Salvatore Rabbio and was a recipient of the Albert A. Stanley Medal. He also attended the Tanglewood Institute and Salzburg Mozarteum.
Gramley made his concerto debut in 1992 with the Houston Symphony Orchestra
Houston Symphony Orchestra
The Houston Symphony is an American orchestra based in Houston, Texas. Since 1966, it has performed at the Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts in downtown Houston....
and music director Christoph Eschenbach
Christoph Eschenbach
Christoph Eschenbach , born February 20, 1940, Breslau, Germany is a German-born pianist and conductor. He currently holds positions in Washington, D.C. as music director of the National Symphony Orchestra and music director of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.-Early...
after winning their National Soloist Competition. His solo debut followed in 1994 at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
’s Weill Recital Hall. He did his graduate studies at the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
in New York where he studied with Gordon Gottlieb and Daniel Druckman. Upon receiving his M. Mus., Gramley performed and recorded with the Ethos Percussion Group throughout the U. S. and Europe.
Involvement with Silk Road Ensemble
In 2000, Gramley was asked by Yo-Yo MaYo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma is an American cellist, virtuoso, and orchestral composer. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011...
to join the Silk Road Ensemble, which, as part of Mr. Ma’s Silk Road Project, became one of the best-selling classical music group in the world. In addition to participating in the group’s extended residencies in American cities, Gramley has toured with the Ensemble throughout Europe and Asia. In the course of his involvement with the group, Gramley has studied percussion styles and instruments from around the globe, and collaborated with musicians from India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
and Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
. He has performed on five Silk Road albums on the SonyBMG label, as well as the group’s Grammy-nominated CD with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Transitions and Transformations (CSO Resound, 2008). He also performed on Yo-Yo Ma’s Grammy-winning Songs of Joy and Peace (Sony Classical, 2008). Most recently, Gramley can be heard on the Silk Road’s CD Off the Map (World Village Classical, 2009).
In October 2008, Gramley and Yo-Yo Ma jointly appeared as guest artists with the Nashville Symphony.
Guest Artist, Festival and Chamber Work
In addition to his solo and Silk Road work, as well as his frequent appearances with chamber groups and orchestras, Gramley performs with the British organist Clive Driskill-SmithClive Driskill-Smith
Clive Driskill-Smith is an English organist and the Sub-Organist at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford.- Biography :He was awarded the Sheila Mossman Memorial Prize by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music before winning a Music Scholarship to Eton College in 1990...
in the duo Organized Rhythm. The pair’s first recording, Beaming Music, was issued in 2008.
Gramley has performed with the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
(on stage in Tan Dun with Placido Domingo), and accompanied Pierre-Laurent Aimard
Pierre-Laurent Aimard
Pierre-Laurent Aimard is a French pianist. He was born in Lyon, where he entered the conservatory. Later he studied with Yvonne Loriod and with Maria Curcio....
on his 2007 United States tour. He has performed with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra is a Grammy Award-winning classical music chamber orchestra based in New York City. It is known for its collaborative leadership style in which the musicians, not a conductor, interpret the score....
and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s as well as The Knights. Festival appearances include Tanglewood, Marlboro, Spoleto and Caramoor. He has also performed with orchestras for the Broadway productions of Miss Saigon
Miss Saigon
Miss Saigon is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby, Jr.. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly, and similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed romance involving an Asian woman abandoned by her American lover...
, Jekyll and Hyde, Phantom of the Opera, and The Color Purple
The Color Purple
The Color Purple is an acclaimed 1982 epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker. It received the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction...
, and has accompanied Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
at Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation, and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city...
.
Teaching and Composition
Gramley currently directs both the percussion program at the University of MichiganUniversity of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
and the Juilliard Summer Percussion Seminar, an intensive program for high-school students held annually at Lincoln Center in New York City. Gramley’s own compositions have been performed at the Art Institute of Chicago, Dallas' Meyerson Symphony Center Concert Hall and San Francisco's Davies Symphony Hall.
Solo
American Deconstruction (2000) Reissued 2006 (7-00261-20812-1).Global Percussion (2005)
Towerhill (6-64457-20032-3).
With the Silk Road Ensemble
When Strangers Meet (2002)Sony Classical (ASIN: B0000641CG)Beyond the Horizon (2004), Sony Classical (8-2796-93962-2)
New Impossibilities (2007), Sony Classical (8-8697-10319-2)
Off the Map (2009), World Village Music. (7-13746-80952-2)
Εxternal Links
- Website http://www.josephgramley.com}
- Silk Road Ensemble http://www.silkroadproject.org/MusicArtists/TheSilkRoadEnsemble/PerformersComposersTabbed/JosephGramley/tabid/244/Default.aspx}
- University of Michigan http://www.music.umich.edu/faculty_staff/bio.php?u=&lname=gramley&fname=joseph}