Croatian pianist Ivana Grubelic Malo received her Bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance at the Music Academy in Zagreb, where she studied with Sretna Mestrovic and graduated with top honors.
She continued her studies at the London College of Music, where she completed a Master’s degree in Piano Performance studying with Raphael Terroni. While living in London she also had the opportunity to study with Philip Mead and Martino Tirimo, and to assist Carola Grindea, founder of EPTA and ISSTIP, in the International Society for the Study of Tension in Performance. Ms. Malo pursued doctoral work in Piano Performance at the USC Thornton School of Music, studying piano with Antoinette Perry. During her studies, Ms. Malo had the privilege to learn from many prominent pianists including Malcolm Binns, Peter Feuchtwanger, Marina Horak, Tatiana Orloff-Tschekovsky, Edith Picht-Axenfeld, Alberto Portugheis, and Penelope Roskell.
Ms. Malo has performed in England, Austria, Portugal, Croatia, and the United States. She has been featured as a soloist on film soundtrack recordings with the Budapest Symphony, the Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra, the Budapest Strings, and the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, released on Varese Sarabande Records, MovieScore Media, and Quartet Records.
Her students have received top awards at the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition, the Nashville International Chopin Piano Competition, the Piano Island International Piano Competition in Bangkok, the Palm Beach Atlantic University Young Artists Piano Competition, as well as at CAPMT State Honors Competitions, the CAPMT Concerto Competition, the CAPMT Contemporary Competition, the CAPMT Romantic/Impressionistic Competition, the CAPMT Sonata/Sonatina Competition, the MTAC Scholarship Competition, the Glendale Piano Competition, the Southwestern Youth Music Festival, the Southern California Junior Bach Festival, and MTAC VOCE. She is dedicated to inspiring her students with a lifelong love of music and a solid foundation to develop healthy technique and musicality. In recognition of her teaching, she was awarded the 2023 Top Piano Teacher Award by Steinway & Sons.
Ms. Malo is the Vice-President of the American Liszt Society SoCal Chapter and the CAPMT Contemporary Competition State Chair. She is also an adjudicator for various events and competitions, and she teaches on the faculty of the Colburn Community School of Performing Arts, where she is the Chair of the Piano Department.