Jakob Gruchmann | Composers

Jakob Gruchmann (* 1991 Salzburg) has been making music (accordion, horn, organ) since he was a child and suddenly became known as a composer at the Musisches Gymnasium after a compositional task in music lessons. As a result, pieces were created for various ensembles, and in 2007 he won first prize in the “Jugend Komponiert” competition. After studying music theory and composition in Graz and Salzburg, the Mozarteum awarded him two master’s degrees with distinction. He had already received the annual scholarship for music from the State of Salzburg and, at the age of 22, won a position as a composition professor at the State Conservatory in Klagenfurt (today Gustav Mahler Private University), where he is currently (2021) Dean. An already very extensive and varied catalog raisonné shows an intensive collaboration with important orchestras and festivals around the world. As a prizewinner in very differently oriented competitions (including the Takemitsu Composition Award of Tokyo Opera City, Music in Motion, Musica Sacra a Roma), his compositional work represents musical diversity. In 2017, the ORF wrote about him in an article: "Gruchmann is one of the great hopes for composition in Europe."