Greta Gertler is a

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

, singer, and songwriter. She was Born in Boston, Massachusetts and grew up in

Sydney, Australia Sydney is the capital city of the state of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about 80 km (50 mi) from the Pacific Ocean ...

, and got her start there as a songwriter, performing and penning hits for other artists. She is co-leader of

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

l pop collective, The Universal Thump, with Adam D Gold.

Early career

She self-released Little Sins, and toured the country with her chamber pop combo, Peccadillo. She then moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and her career developed. In 2001, she took home the grand prize in N.Y.C.'s Indie Band Search Competition for her song "Everyone Wants to Adore You." The song became the first track on Gertler's May 2003 release
The Baby That Brought Bad Weather

Debut release

Her debut solo release "The Baby That Brought Bad Weather" was described as "one of those hoped-for revelations that emerged from the never ending pile of new releases" by

Vin Scelsa Vincent Anthony Scelsa (born December 12, 1947, in Bayonne, New Jersey) is an American broadcaster who was at "the forefront of the FM radio revolution" as the host of several freeform radio programs, the best-known titled ''Idiot's Delight''. ...

(WFUV) and "a sonic revelation and lyrical treat" by John Rhodes (Headliner Magazine, Radio City Music Hall). Her next album
Greta Gertler & The Extroverts: Edible Restaurant
(2007), featured members of

Slavic Soul Party! Slavic Soul Party (often stylized Slavic Soul Party!) is an American Balkan brass/jazz band. The band borrows from Balkan brass, dixieland, Second line (parades), New Orleans Second Line, funk, klezmer, and Roma music. The band has performed on s ...

and the song 'Veselka' (NPR Song of the Day) about the much-beloved Ukrainian diner on 9th/2nd.

Other accomplishments

In Australia, she is a multi-platinum-selling hit songwriter, having co-penned the 'classic rock' hit, "Blow Up the Pokies" (performed by

The Whitlams The Whitlams are an Australian Indie rock band formed in late 1992. The original line-up was Tim Freedman on keyboards and lead vocals, Andy Lewis on double bass and Stevie Plunder on guitar and lead vocals. Other than mainstay Freedman, the ...

), which was ranked 11th in a popular vote as one of the country's Top 20 Best Songs of All Time. Her song, "Charlie # 3" (also co-written with Tim Freedman and a track on the breakthrough album, "Eternal Nightcap") was performed at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...

and the

Sydney Symphony Orchestra The Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is an Australian symphony orchestra based in Sydney. With roots going back to 1908, the orchestra was made a permanent professional orchestra on the formation of the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1932. ...

in December 2009. She has performed and recorded with a diverse range of artists such as

Sufjan Stevens Sufjan Stevens ( ; born July 1, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has released ten solo studio albums and multiple collaborative albums with other artists. Stevens has received Grammy and Academy Award nomina ...

("All Delighted People" EP), Sarah Blasko, Noe Venable, Clare & The Reasons, John Wesley Harding, Missy Higgins, Matt Kanelos, Martha Wainwright, Glenn Tilbrook (Squeeze), Glenn Patscha (Ollabelle), Joan As Policewoman, The Last Town Chorus and Madeleine Peyroux, Elysian Fields and was cited as one of NYC's Top 20 Orchestral Pop artists (

the Deli Magazine ''The Deli'' was a Brooklyn-based independent music magazine, with both print and online editions, as well as a blog (still active) that covers local music scenes and their emerging artists. Magazine In its print version, ''The Deli'' was a qua ...

). In 2009 a successful Kickstarter campaign raised funds fo
The Universal Thump
a band co-led by Adam Gold and album loosely inspired by Moby Dick, performed by an orchestral pop collective and initially released in 4 chapters. In 2012 the album was released, along with music videos for the songs 'Flora', 'Darkened Sky' and 'Honey Beat'. In 2015, after a European tour, The Universal Thump release
Walking the Cat: The Abbey Road EP
Subsequently, they released a series of Digital Singles: 'Seder-Masochistic' (along with
popular music video
directed by Greta Gertler Gold), 'Middle Life' and 'Hard to Hope'.

Musical Theater

Greta Gertler Gold is also a composer, lyricist and producer of musical theater. A Yaddo Fellow, Jonathan Larson Grant and NY Women's Fund Finalist, she was awarded a Create NSW Grant with playwright Hilary Bell to write a musical adaptation of Joan Lindsay’
"Picnic at Hanging Rock"
directed by Jo Bonney. She produced the first 29-hour reading of “Picnic” in November 2023 at Open Jar Studios, NYC following a music workshop at Ars Nova and a developmental workshop at the Hayes Theatre, Sydney earlier in the year. She composed music for psychedelic rock musica
"The Red Tree"
(based on Shaun Tan's book) in collaboration with Hilary Bell for seasons at Sydney Opera House, Arts Centre Melbourne and National Theatre of Parramatta. Gertler Gold and Bell also received a Cultural Grant from the City of Sydney and Create NSW Grant to develop a musical adaptation of Bell & Antonia Pesenti’
"Alphabetical Sydney: All Aboard"
which toured Riverside Theatre, Sydney Opera House, The Joan and The Concourse. Greta and playwright Alexandra Collier were awarded residencies and workshops to develop rock musica
“Triplight”
at Ucross Foundation (Wyoming), Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, Space at Ryder Farm, New Musicals Australia and The Tank (NYC) culminating in a concert season starring Kristen Sieh and Tony Torn at Joe's Pub at The Public Theater, NYC. Greta was a composer in Ars Nova's "Uncharted" Program and Polyphone Festival (Philadelphia), where she developed the musical "The Real Whisper" with playwright Akin Salawu. She and Stew (Tony Award winning creator of "Passing Strange") were granted a residence at The Orchard to begin development of their musical "Anna Hit". Greta was also a composer in the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. In early 2023, Greta made her Lincoln Center debut with her show ‘Characters’ merging an orchestral pop ensemble with guests from the musical theater world. Greta is also composed music fo
Dr. Seuss Tonies
characters Cat in the Hat, The Lorax, The Grinch and others, in collaboration with LA-based actor-producer, Bill Kates and Adam Gold.

Personal life

Greta is married to drummer, audio engineer/producer Adam Gold. They have two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gertler, Greta Living people Musicians from Sydney Australian composers Musicians from New York City Australian theatre managers and producers Year of birth missing (living people)