Karl Grohmann is a composer/songwriter, performing musician, and an educator from Boston, MA. As a composer, Mr. Grohmann's orchestral work, Levis Gravis, was selected as the Longy Chamber Orchestra Composition Competition winner and performed in May 2011. While studying many instruments and genres, Mr. Grohmann has experimented with jazz, minimalism, West African kora and percussion, and avant-garde new music, using found objects to create a unique sound. He has studied with David Rosenboom, Steve Reich, and Larry Polansky as a guest composer/percussionist with the Chosen Vale Percussion Seminar. His music is an amalgam of modern contemporary styles, art rock, jazz, world, and 20th-century classical techniques. His music has been performed at festivals, universities, and featured in short films. Furthermore, Mr. Grohmann is the founder, performer, and composer for the Now Playing Ensemble, a modern new music ensemble that performs sound design pieces and traditional modern repertoire, using traditional and untraditional instruments in atypical performing environments.

He has performed, recorded, and toured with such national acts as Kieran Ridge Band, Copal, Beantown Swing Orchestra, Brad Byrd, and Lovewhip, and is a sought after musician and musical director for professional theater productions. He is currently the drummer for the Boston Baby Dolls musical production of "Unlucky In Love." As a drumset artist and educator, Karl is endorsed by Vic Firth, Prologix, Cympad, and Kickport.

As an educator, he is on the faculty of two private schools in the Boston area where he teaches music theory and ensembles, and holds a private teaching practice. Karl received his BM from Berklee College of Music and his MM in Composition from Longy School of Music where he studied with Paul Brust.

Back Story:

I was born and raised in New Jersey where I began my musical instruction on both the alto saxophone and bassoon at an early age. Classically trained, the roots and desire to become a composer began while performing with the New Jersey Youth Symphony at Carnegie Hall in NYC. I would often improvise my own bassoon parts to classic works by the likes of Stravinsky and Mozart, much to the chagrin of my fellow musicians. There was always a desire to try something different and use my own voice, much like the times I would switch from my tenor voice to my falsetto soprano voice in choir practice with the Kinhaven Music School. This seed of experimentation may have raised some eyebrows during rehearsals, but it was this experience that led me to picking up the drumset, an instrument I had a calling to since I was a young tyke. Improvisatory in nature, the drumset allowed me to not only find the rhythms of many styles that permeate the soul, but also to play and feel liberated. I worked with NYC area percussion ensemble, Teonanacatl and studied with Russ Moy.

Moving to Boston to study at Berklee College of Music, I began my journey studying composition in the film scoring department long fulfilling my desire to marry music with film/media. Having worked with local production team Midnight Chimes Productions and numerous college thesis film projects, my style is best described as "music that deals with the undercurrents of the American experience." In 2011, I completed my MM in composition from Longy School of Music where I am studied with Paul Brust. As a professional drummer I perform and record regularly with the Kieran Ridge Band and Copal.

Contact Karl Grohmann if you are interested in private lessons or clinics.

Karl holds a BA in Film Scoring from Berklee College of Music and an MM in Composition from Longy School of Music. He has studied with drummers Russ Moy, Steve Wilkes, Larry Finn, and composition with Paul Brust.

He is on the faculty of a private school in the Boston area, runs a private drumset lesson studio, and for the past five years has been Music Head for Maine Teen Camp during the summer months.

Check video section for Karl's lesson topics.

Tue. Apr. 24

Dan Baker Band

Radio Club, Somerville

Thur. Feb. 16

Now Playine Ensemble

Pickman Hall, Cambridge, MA

8pm

Boston BabyDolls "Unlucky In Love"

Three week residency

Jan. 27-Feb. 14

Davis Square Theater

Fri July 2 2011

Copal

Joe's Pub NYC

11pm

Thur. May 13

Copal

TT the Bears

Cambridge, MA 11pm

Sat. May 8

Copal

ArtRages Event

Sat. Jan. 9.

Beantown Project-drums

The Asgard. Cambridge MA

10pm

Sat. Feb. 13

Beantown Project-drums

The Asgard-Cambridge, MA

10pm

I am endorsed by the following companies. Check out their websites for product information. Great stuff!!!

Vic Firth Sticks www.vicfirth.com

Prologix Percussion www.prologix.com

Cympad www.cympad.com

Kickport www.kickport.com

Music and More

Copal: www.copalmusic.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/people/Karl-Grohmann/712609

Myspace: www.myspace.com/karlphillip

Craviotto: www.craviottodrums.com

Shop coming soon.