Biography page

Name: Jorge Grundman Isla

Born: July of 1961

The composer

Jorge Grundman is a New Age and Classical composer born in 1961 in Madrid, Spain; his birth name is Jorge Grundman. After composing initial pieces for a school contest at age 14, he later studied at the Royal Advanced Conservatory of Music in Madrid. His piano training was with Carmen Ledesma, while music theory (sol-fa) and choral group instruction came under the professorship of Joaquín Soriano. This classical training laid the foundation for the rest of Grundman’s musical career.

By age 17, he had become a key member of power pop groups ETC and Fahrenheit 451, as both a singer and a keyboardist. Shortly thereafter, Fahrenheit 451 was recognized as one of the most promising of the bands critics called "Movida Madrileña". Together with other famous touring bands -- Nacha Pop, Secretos, Mamá, Alaska y Los Pegamoides, Pistones and others -- they launched the most celebrated music show of that time in Madrid, called ”The Spring Concert at the Architectural School in Madrid.“

Jorge Grundman subsequently recorded with Fahrenheit 451 for independent labels, and collaborated with other bands like Pistones and Episodio. In 1980, he joined Fahrenheit 451’s drummer Oscar Bergón and renowned film composer Mario de Benito to form the first power pop group called Trópico de Cáncer; they recorded the notable album "Detrás del Espejo" for Virgin Records in Spain.

Jorge Grundman sang, played keyboard and composed some of the tracks on the album, which was recorded and mixed at Air Studios in London by Nigel Walker. However, by the time the single "Yo lo Intentaría una Vez Más" went to #1 on Spain’s FM radio playlists, Grundman had already exited the band seeking new directions and freedom from the major label marketing machine.

Distancing himself from the pop music industry, he began his University teaching career in 1985 and started to privately compose music at home. While there were some dark periods during Grundman’s transition to composing more personally-meaningful music, they were lifted by moments of light and inspiration. First, in the joyous birth of his first daughters, Sara and Rebeca, and, second, in famed New Age radio DJ Ramón Trecet’s decision to air Grundman’s new compositions despite the fact that they were simply on tape and not professionally formatted.

While continuing to teach, he composed the celebrated "Los Hijos del Frío" ("The Sons of the Cold") which is acclaimed as one of the most famous electronic tunes of MP3.com, where it was published in January 2001. It was #1 in the New Age charts 27 times, remaining in the Top 40 for six months alongside other leading New Age artists like Enya and Suzanne Ciani.

Jorge Grundman resides in Spain with his family, continuing to compose music and teach at the university. He founded Non Profit Music to facilitate donating proceeds from his music sales to Doctors Without Borders in Spain. In June 2004, the U.S. version of his first solo album, ”We Are the Forthcoming Past, Take Care of It,“ is being released through Los Angeles-based Only New Age Music. (www. newagemusic.com). For more press info, contact beth@theBcompany.com.

The teacher and scientific

Since 1985 Jorge Grundman is teaching at the Telecomunication Technical Engineer University School in the Politechnical University of Madrid. He is actually teaching the following subjects: Audio Systems and Audio Production and PostProduction.

Jorge Grundman is an acoustic investigator who has published in several international congress on acoustics, and has been member of the Audio Engineering Society (AES). He has patented two audiometers by computer and published several books as "MIDI Systems: Devices, Specifications and Synchronization" or "Sound field study by means of computer". He has participated in the translation to spanish of the famous Polhman book "Principles of Digital Audio"

As a software developer he has developed a PC World awarded program for drugstores named "FarMac" for Windows an Apple computers. Also, he has developed shareware utilities like "Mrs. Broom" or "WWW-VFP" for protect Microsoft Visual Foxpro applications.

Actually Jorge Grundman belongs to ADDA, a university research group for develop digital applications in acoustics.

The family man

Jorge Grundman has married with Mar Bañón in July of 1987 and he has three daughters: Sarah, Rebecca and Eve. He is now living in Madrid. Sarah, Rebecca and Eve are now learning piano.

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