Ola Gjeilo (pronounced Yay-lo) was born in Norway in 1978, and moved to the United States in 2001 to begin his composition studies at the Juilliard School in New York City.
Ola’s concert works are performed all over the world, and his debut recording as a pianist-composer, the lyrical crossover album Stone Rose (2L, 2007) was followed by its 2012 sequel, Piano Improvisations. Many of Ola’s choral works are featured on Phoenix Chorale’s bestselling Northern Lights album (Chandos, 2012), which is devoted entirely to his music for choir.
He especially enjoys writing music for choir, orchestra/symphonic winds, and the piano, while as a pianist, his main passion is improvisation, either solo or over his own ensemble works.
Presently a full-time composer based in the US, Ola is also very interested in film, and his music draws a lot of inspiration from movies and cinematic music.
Ola’s choral works are published by Walton Music/Edition Peters, wind band works by Boosey & Hawkes/Hal Leonard, piano pieces by Edition Peters. The Northern Lights, Piano Improvisations and Stone Rose albums are available at amazon.com and iTunes.
