Solo Work
The Absence of Presence
The Presence of Absence
Selected Works
SOUNDTRACK RELEASES
Harry & Meghan: A Royal Romance (2018)
‘Blind Pig’ - Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them (2016)
Squatters (2014)
Patang (2011)
War Against the Weak (2009)
‘Letters’ - Precious (2009)
ABOUT
Mario Grigorov is a Bulgarian-born film composer and pianist. A musical prodigy from the age of five, he became one of the youngest students ever admitted to the Sofia Conservatory. He went on to study music in Tehran, Vienna, Berlin, Sydney before the age of eighteen, becoming an accomplished pianist and improviser.
Mario has lived in the United States for 20 years, between New York and Los Angeles. Whilst there, in addition to composing for films, Mario was signed to Warner Brothers Records and extensively toured North America and Europe as a solo pianist, supporting icons such as Wynton Marsalis, Roy Hargrove, Joshua Redman, Charlie Haden and Béla Fleck. Mario now resides in London.
In 2014 Mario met with Harry Potter director David Yates, and went on to co-wrote an original song with J.K. Rowling for Warner Brothers’ Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
Some of his most recognisable film work comes from his long-standing collaboration with Academy Award-winning director Lee Daniels, scoring Shadowboxer, Tennessee, the Academy Award-winning Precious, and The Paperboy (starring Nicole Kidman). Other film scores include supernatural thriller, Beyond, starring Academy-award nominee Jon Voight, who went on to say “Mario is a master at his craft and delivered a score that elevated the movie to another level”. Acclaimed director Susan Seidelman said of Mario’s score for her dramatic romance, Musical Chairs, “Not only is he a brilliant composer and musician, but he is a great collaborative partner, always putting the artistic and emotional needs of the movie first without compromising his own vision”.
Forays into television film work saw the creation of an eerie yet gorgeous score to Lifetime’s Original Movie series cult classic, Flowers in the Attic, based on the all-time best selling novel of the same name, and its sequel Petals on the Wind, starring Heather Graham and Ellen Burstyn.
International scores include Patang by Indian director Prashant Bhargava, The Hopes and Dreams of Gazza Snell by New Zealand director Brendan Donovan, Uruguayan director Leonardo Ricagni’s films 29 Palms, Feathers to the Sky and The Life Jacket Is Under Your Seat for which Mario was awarded Best Original Score at the Hamptons Film Festival.
Mario’s documentary credits include the Cannes festival favourite Third Wave: A Volunteer Story presented by Sean Penn, the Anna Halpern biographical film Breath Made Visible by filmmaker Ruedi Gerber, and the war documentary Taxi to the Darkside by Alex Gibney, which won a 2008 Academy Award for Best Documentary.
In addition to composing, Mario indulges in ambidextrous creative outlets such as his simultaneous two-handed symmetrical drawings. He has also developed an experimental type of keyboard playing known as Mirror Tones™, a creative interpretation of the fundamental structure of the piano keyboard.
Mario collaborates with German composer Steven Schwalbe and a team of versatile musicians who bring thier unique talents and voices to each project.
