About
Joe Galuszka was born in 1991 in Buckinghamshire, into a mostly non-musical family, but it was his grandfather who arguably inspired him most from a young age, with Joe watching him play the organ at his Derby home from as young as 3. Teaching himself piano, Joe would go on to get lessons in trumpet, horn, and tuba. His mother and father, both with their own love of classical and film music, would too go onto inspire his own work.
Studies and Awards
Joe gained his first degree in music performance at Canterbury Christ Church University, where he conducted and composed for the university string orchestra, brass ensemble and symphonic wind band. As a tubist, and percussionist, Joe has performed with some of the countries finest brass bands, including the Rothwell Temperance Band, Filton Concert Brass and the Besses O' The Barn band. Later studying his MA in Composition of Music for Film and Television at the University of Bristol, Joe has worked with several groups across the UK. Amongst his works for brass, his work for tuba quartet 'Pandemic' claimed 1st Prize in When Tuba Come One’s International Composition Competition in 2021 and in 2022, his work for brass quartet 'Ukraine:2022' made the last six in the A4 Brass Quartet composition competition. In conjunction with Arts Council England this year, Joe was commissioned to write a new piece to celebrate 100 years of Bristol-based Longwell Green Orchestra.
Works and Projects
Joe is currently published with the American based publisher Brookwright Music.Writing music for several short films and television, his soundtrack for Australian wildlife documentary 'Firekeepers of Kakadu' won the London Independent Film Awards in October 2020, and received a Bronze Medal at the Global Music Awards 2021.
Awards and accolades
When Tuba Come One - Composition Competition 2020- Winner
Global Music Awards 2021 - Bronze Medal
London Independent Film Awards - October 2020 - Gold Medal
Conductor, Teacher, Performer
Joe is currently teacher of music at the Merchants Academy, conductor of the Westbury Park Orchestra and the Winterbourne Wind Band. Since 2017, Joe has been a tutor, support staff member and arranger, for the National Children’s Orchestra of Great Britain, and he is currently timpanist with the Bristol Symphony Orchestra. In addition, Joe has played percussion with the Flowers Band, where he most recently represented them at the Royal Albert Hall in the National Brass Band Championships.
Freelance Composer
In addition to his conducting and performing work, Joe regularly judges on the Preliminary Panel in the Best Original Score category for both the Wildscreen and Jackson Wild wildlife documentary Festivals. Joe has studied with some of the countries' most eminent composers in television music including Martin Kiszko, William Goodchild, and Martin Phipps and in classical and band music; Gavin Higgins, Christopher Bond, and the late Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. He is a member of the IVORS Academy, NEU, and currently serves on the Education committee for the Musicians’ Union.
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