Board of Directors

Croatian pianist Ivana Grubelic Malo received her Bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy 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, 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 has 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.

Ms. Malo is the Vice-President of the American Liszt Society SoCal Chapter, the President of the CAPMT San Fernando Valley Chapter, and CAPMT Contemporary Competition State Chair. She was the MTNA Senior Performance Coordinator for two years and was the Chair of the CAPMT Romantic/Impressionistic Competition for eight years.

Ms. Malo has developed a strong private piano studio, and her students won many prizes at competitions (Nashville Internation Chopin Piano Competition, Los Angeles International Liszt Competition, Palm Beach Atlantic University Young Artists Piano Competition, CAPMT State Honors Competitions, Contemporary Competition, Romantic/Impressionistic Competition, Sonata/Sonatina Competition, Scholarship Competition, Glendale Piano Competition, Southwestern Youth Music Festival, the Southern California Junior Bach Festival). She is dedicated to inspiring her students with a lifelong love of music and also a solid foundation to develop healthy technique and musicality. Ms. Malo serves as adjudicator for various events and competitions, and she teaches on the faculty of the Colburn Community School of Performing Arts.