Long Bio (380 words)
Philip Graulty is a Los Angeles-based guitarist, composer, and educator whose musical world lies at the intersection of classical, jazz, and folk music traditions. His artistic practice explores music as a form of memorial, offering, and healing, and his unique approach to the guitar is informed by myriad styles including classical guitar, contemporary jazz, and fingerstyle blues.
Philip’s latest album, Still Life, released in May 2024, is a collection of pieces for solo guitar, each one dedicated to a different person in the artist’s life. As such, the album explores themes of friendship, longing, nostalgia, and love. The album’s title references our collective stillness during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the artist’s practice of finding stillness through playing the guitar during times of grief.
Philip’s debut solo EP, Won’t You Help To Sing?, released in 2021, was created in response to the murder of George Floyd. Inspired by the African proverb “When you pray, move your feet,” this collection of hymns and protest songs is meant to serve as both a call to prayer for victims of police violence and a call to action for racial justice.
In addition to his work as a solo artist, Philip is a co-founder of Bridge to Everywhere, a new music collective that explores connections between diverse musical traditions, and the guitar ensembles Los Angeles Electric 8 and Ikat Quartet. He is also a regular collaborator with the chamber group Salastina and the experimental opera company Four Larks.
Performance highlights include national and international presentations such as BBC Proms (with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales), Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Minimalist Jukebox Festival (with Glenn Branca’s electric guitar orchestra), Angel City Jazz Festival, the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Boston Court Pasadena, Oakland Museum of California, Strathmore Guitar Festival, World Festival of Sacred Music, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, MicroFest, and the Solo International Performing Arts Festival in Surakarta, Indonesia.
Outside of performing and composing, Philip is a dedicated educator and social justice advocate. He is on the music faculties of Mount Saint Mary’s University and Cal Poly Pomona and is a teaching artist with Street Symphony, an arts nonprofit that utilizes music to create opportunities of human connection to homeless and incarcerated communities in Los Angeles.
Short Bio (100 words)
Philip Graulty is a Los Angeles-based guitarist, composer, and educator whose musical world lies at the intersection of classical, jazz, and folk music traditions. His artistic practice explores music as a form of memorial, offering, and healing, and his unique approach to the guitar is informed by myriad styles including classical guitar, contemporary jazz, and fingerstyle blues.
Philip is a co-founder of Bridge to Everywhere, a new music collective that explores connections across diverse musical traditions, and the guitar ensembles Los Angeles Electric 8 and Ikat Quartet. His new solo album, Still Life, was released in May 2024.