Stan has been obsessed with music since the age of six, when his mother took him to Carnegie Hall and he was astonished and awestruck by a performance of “La Mer.” While that obsession first took the form of playing piano at every possible moment (when not otherwise engaged in activities typical of a kid growing up in the Bronx of the 1950’s and ‘60s), it was Stan’s music theory studies at the Manhattan School of Music that converted that obsession to writing music – and to finding his own musical voice.
He learned the craft from extraordinary musicians: among others – Robert Helps, Leon Kushner, Ursula Mamlok and Joseph Prostakoff. Stan’s passion for medieval and Renaissance music has greatly influenced his writing – a contemporary expression of ageless techniques based on melody, modal harmonies, and contrapuntal, extended, interweaving lines. Two main themes permeate many of his works – music composed in an attempt to translate something about the nature of the physical world, and music composed to inspire and promote world peace.
Stan’s music has been performed the world over – from Ecuador to Poland; Toulouse to Tokyo; Brooklyn to Vienna – by such artists as New World Symphony, Camerata Philadelphia, Camerata Arkos, Duo+ Ensemble, Englewinds, Pandolfis Consort, Umbria Ensemble, Diderot Quartet, the Bronx Arts Ensemble, One World Symphony, violists Brett Deubner and Ralph Farris, and violinist Jorge Avila.
As I see it, as much as we strive to find reason and purpose in our having been born into this amazing, mysterious and awe-inspiring universe, that attempt is largely futile. It is however, the best part of our nature that obliges us to make the attempt, though the most we can hope for is to gain some small degree of understanding of the world around us, and, more importantly, of ourselves. To achieve this, we each approach the problem in our own way, uniquely shaped by our cultural background, innate talents and abilities, education and so on. For some, science may be the window through which they best perceive and interpret the world, for others, religion. For those to whom the world seems to express itself most clearly and beautifully through sound, music is the voice that speaks to us and through which we, in turn, most effectively express ourselves. The best of my music has arrived, rather inexplicably, as part of a personal effort to understand the world and myself. It is, in a way, an act of translation. The world says something, I try to understand it, and then translate it into musical language. The particular musical language which I speak, is, of course, a product of my conservatory training and personal musical tastes, but hopefully, the outcome, imperfect a translation as it may be, will convey to others something of its original intent.
Stanley Grill
Discography
MUSIC FOR THE EARTH. Komorni filharmonie Pardubice conducted by Marek Štilec. Includes three orchestral works from my Music for the Earth series. GLOBAL MUSIC AWARDS Silver Medal Winner. WORLD CLASSICAL MUSIC AWARDS Platinum Award Winner for GAIA’S LAMENT. BERLIOZ INTERNATIONAL MUSIC COMPETITION, Platinum Award for Best Original Composition for SEASON OF RAIN.
AGAINST WAR. Komorni filharmonie Pardubice conducted by Marek Štilec with soprano Lisa Rombach. Includes three orchestral works from my Music for Peace Project. CLOUZINE MAGAZINE, Best Classical Album Award. LIT MUSIC AWARDS, Gold Medal for Best Classical Album.
WE WILL NOT FORGET. New York Classical Players, conducted by Dongmin Kim, with saxophonist Javier Oviedo. Music for saxophone and string orchestra.
DIE ERSTE ELEGIE. Komorni filharmonie Pardubice, conducted by Marek Štilec, with soprano Lisa Rombach. GLOBAL MUSIC AWARDS GOLD MEDAL WINNER. CLOUZINE MAGAZINE, Best Classical Album Award. WORLD CLASSICAL MUSIC AWARDS Platinum Award Winner for SYMPHONY OF SIGHS. LIT MUSIC AWARDS Silver Medal for DIE ERSTE ELEGIE.
THE BRIDGE. Komorni filharmonie Pardubice, conducted by Marek Štilec, with violist Brett Deubner. CLOUZINE MAGAZINE, Best Classical Album Award. GLOBAL MUSIC AWARDS SILVER MEDAL WINNER.
AHIMSA (EP). Komorni filharmonie Pardubice, conducted by Marek Štilec. GLOBAL MUSIC AWARDS SILVER MEDAL WINNER.
UND DAS LIED BLEIBT SCHÖN. Pandolfis Consort. Produced by Richard Winter. Gramola Records. GLOBAL MUSIC AWARDS SILVER MEDAL WINNER.
CANCIONES DE LA TIERRA (EP). Anna Tonna, mezzo soprano and Ralph Farris, viola.
TRANSFIGURATION. Brett Deubner, viola. Produced by Stanley Grill. Navona Records.
REMEMBER. Brett Deubner (viola) and Thomas Steigerwald (piano). Produced by Stanley Grill. Navona Records.
BORDER CROSSINGS (EP). Concerts for Compassion. Mariella Haubs and Jocelyn Zhu, violins. Produced by Stanley Grill.
AFTERWARDS. Camerata Philadelphia. Produced by Ralph Farris. Innova Recordings.
AND I PAINT STARS WITH WINGS. Camerata Philadelphia. Produced by Ralph Farris. Innova Recordings.
RUSTLING FLIGHTS OF WINGS. Nancy Allen Lundy, Stephen Gosling, Ralph Farris. Produced by Ralph Farris. Innova Recordings.
AT THE CENTER OF ALL THINGS. Diderot String Quartet. Produced by Ralph Farris. Innova Recordings.
