I first saw Mak Grgic (pronounced ger-gich<\/i>), in N\u00fcrtingen, Germany, during an unprecedented heatwave. While the thermometer was reading an impressive 104 degrees (40\u00b0C), Mak looked unaffected. He had short, dark, slightly tousled hair, wore aviator sunglasses, and sported a clean-cut shirt with the crispest of collars\u2014like someone from Hollywood dropped into medieval Germany.<\/p>\n
Appropriately, perhaps, the 31-year-old guitarist resides in Los Angeles. Born to a Bosnian father and Slovenian mother, his homeland is in the Balkans. He studied music at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna under Uruguayan virtuoso Alvaro Pierri. A bit later he made his move to the U.S., ending up in L.A. studying at the University of Southern California with William Kanengiser and Scott Tennant (of LAGQ fame).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Three months on from our meeting in Germany, we sit in a caf\u00e9 in central London. Mak is hungry for life. With several albums due to come out this year, teaching commitments, a career as a solo guitarist, and being artistic director of the Zagreb Guitar Festival, as well as the growing EuroStrings Festival Collaborative, it\u2019s a wonder he finds any time for sleep.<\/p>\n When we meet in London he is just back from touring with Canadian pop and country star k.d. lang. \u201cMost of the halls we played in were the big, old vaudeville ones,\u201d Mak says, \u201cthe Paramounts and Majestics of the American South, plus some symphony halls. This showcased a great quality of the classical guitar\u2014even though it\u2019s classical, it can transmit to huge audiences who don\u2019t know anything about the instrument. The most fun thing was that I experienced the audience the way a rock artist might\u2014they swayed during the slower tunes, shouting out during the faster ones; there were even proclamations of love! It\u2019s a nice change from the formality of classical music audiences. In the classical environment, the formal silence is OK, but sometimes it\u2019s unnecessary because the artist wants<\/i> affirmation beyond respectful silence.\u201d<\/p>\n As a solo artist, Mak plays 80 to 90 concerts a year.\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI\u2019ve been lucky in my career so far,\u201d he says. \u201cI have agents in New York City, Europe, and China, and this is a completely functional touring career that was not built through competitions. I rarely do a \u2018recital\u2019\u2014most concerts have thematic programs.\u201d With no fewer than four album projects slated for imminent release, it is easy to see why this is the case. Although he is still excited about his 2018 release on MicroFest records, MAKrotonal<\/i> (reviewed favorably in Classical Guitar<\/i>\u2019s Summer 2018 issue), he\u2019s also looking down the road.<\/p>\n