"...Grgic is a guitarist to keep an eye on.”

National Gallery of Art recital

WASHINGTON POST

 

Touted as a “gifted young guitarist” by The New York Times and “a guitarist to keep an eye on” by The Washington Post, three-time Grammy®-nominated artist Mak Grgić [GER-gich] is a leading voice of a new generation in classical and contemporary music. His expansive and adventurous repertoire attests to his versatility and wide-ranging interests. From the ethnic music of his native Balkans to extreme avant-garde and microtonal works, his roles as soloist, collaborator, and recording artist are fueled by curiosity, imagination, and boundless energy. In 2018, as a testament to his broad appeal, Mak was invited by legendary singer-songwriter k.d. lang to open the North American leg of her Ingénue Redux tour.

An avid advocate for new music, Mak has commissioned a multitude of works for solo guitar and guitar with ensemble. These include pieces by Michael Gordon, Julia Adolphe, Nina Šenk, Leon First, and Cengiz Eren, among others. In fall 2022, he premiered and toured a newly commissioned guitar concerto by Michael Abels, composer for the Oscar-winning film Get Out. Upcoming concerto commissions include new works by Vito Žuraj, Austin Wintory, and Christopher Tin.

As both soloist and collaborator, Mak averages eighty-five performances a year—nearly two bookings per week. He is a founding member of two duos: the flamenco-inspired Duo Deloro with Adam Del Monte, and the new music-focused FretX Duo with Daniel Lippel of the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE). As Young Artist in Residence with the Da Camera Society of Los Angeles, he founded DC8, an octet hailed as “an inspiring addition to the contemporary music landscape in Los Angeles” (Los Angeles Times). His wide-ranging collaborations include the JACK Quartet, the Assad Brothers, violinists Augustin Hadelich, Curtis Stewart, Martin Chalifour, and Chee-Yun, and cellists Jay Campbell, Joshua Roman, John Sant’Ambrogio, and Clive Greensmith (formerly of the Tokyo String Quartet).

In 2009, at the age of 22, Mak made his professional debut in Russia, performing Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez with the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra under Vladimir Lande. He now tours Asia twice annually and performs in Europe nearly every other month. Recent international engagements include performances and residencies at the Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna; the Konserthuset in Stockholm; venues in Portugal and Slovenia; Teatro Cervantes de Béjar in Castilla y León, Spain; the Sarajevo Music Academy; the Paris Guitar Foundation; Zurich University of the Arts; Taipei National Theater; Shanghai Grand Theater; and the Hong Kong International Guitar Festival.

In North America, Mak has performed at Walt Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles), The Morgan Library (New York), The Kennedy Center, the National Gallery of Art, the NAMM Show (California), Strathmore Hall (Maryland), the New York Classical Guitar Society, Pacific Symphony, Mainly Mozart Festival (San Diego), Beyond Microtonal Music Festival (Pittsburgh), the Dallas Opera (The Lighthouse by Peter Maxwell Davies), Dumbarton Concerts (Washington, D.C.), and the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, among many others.

Highlights of the 2024–25 season include appearances with the Pacific Symphony, Charleston Symphony, Boise Philharmonic, Sedona Symphony, and the East Coast premiere of Borders by Michael Abels with the American Composers Orchestra at Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall.

A dedicated recording artist, Mak’s albums explore the full expressive range of the guitar. His latest release, Entourer, celebrates Slovenian music and features works by Leon First and Nina Šenk. The album, recorded with Ensemble Dissonance, earned a Grammy® nomination and spans classical, ethnic, and avant-garde influences. His other recent recordings include Balkanisms (Naxos), MAKrotonal, and the Grammy®-nominated Mak|Bach (MicroFest Records), which explores early music and microtonal works on re-fretted guitars—including a “zig-zag fretted Bach prototype” enabling a “well-tempered guitar.” He is also featured on La Buena Vida with flamenco guitarist Adam del Monte (Naxos), the Grammy®-nominated A Night in Upper Town – the Music of Zoran Krajacic (Roundtone), and Peaceful Guitar (Symphonic), which marks his debut as a composer. An upcoming all-concerto album will feature Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez, Abels’ Borders, and The Beatz by Leon First with the Slovenian National Radio Symphony.

In addition to performing, Mak is a passionate entrepreneur and educator. He has served on leadership teams for the European Guitar Festival Collaborative (EuroStrings), the Zagreb Guitar Festival, and the Connecticut Guitar Festival. He has taught at Mount St. Mary’s University in Los Angeles and served as director of Elemental Guitar in Santa Monica, a program for young students. In 2022, he founded Notey’s World and Notey Inc., developing a tablet and smartphone game to make music learning more engaging. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, he launched the Virtual Guitar Orchestra, a global initiative that has connected more than 5,000 guitarists from over 50 countries. Recognized by the Library of Congress for its cultural contributions, VGO partners with the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) and the Augustine Educational Foundation to support virtual ensembles.

Born in Ljubljana, Slovenia, in 1987, Mak began his studies in Zagreb with the revered Ante Čagalj at the Elly Bašić Music School. At 14, he was balancing his status as a world karate champion with his growing passion for music. Following a left thumb injury, he committed fully to the guitar and completed his bachelor’s degree with Álvaro Pierri at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. In 2017, he began the Artist Diploma program at USC, becoming the first guitarist admitted to the elite program. He now holds a full-time faculty position at the University of South Carolina.

Mak plays and endorses an array of distinguished concert guitars crafted by Antonius Müller (Germany), Hanson Yao (China), Slavko Mrdalj (Bosnia), Samo Šali (Slovenia), Rafał Turkowiak (Poland), and a 1966 José Ramírez, along with other re-fretted and custom instruments.

Mak Grgić is proud to support the Bosana Foundation, which provides educational resources for Bosnian youth, and regularly awards scholarships to students across South America.

 

www.makgrgic.com

Biography

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