Alumnus musician celebrates third Grammy

University of Queensland graduate Tim Munro is celebrating his third Grammy win, after taking out the 2016 Award for Best Chamber Music Performance for his work in the sextet ‘eighth blackbird’.

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Acting Executive Dean Professor Joanne Tompkins said Mr Munro graduated in 1999 with a Bachelor of Music with first-class honours and had enjoyed extraordinary success as a musical artist.

“The Faculty and the School of Music are so proud of Tim and his achievements,” Professor Tompkins said.

 “We congratulate him on his third Grammy and look forward to following his career onwards from here.”

The 37-year-old former Brisbane boy was eighth blackbird’s flautist and co-artistic director from 2006 to 2015.

He left the group in June 2015 “to wander more diverse creative avenues”and to spend more time at home in Chicago.

As a member of eighth blackbird, Mr Munro performed at large concert venues in 40 US states and abroad, worked as a soloist with America’s finest orchestras, curated three music festivals, and premiered more than 100 works, including Steve Reich’s Double Sextet.

Mr Munro won his second Grammy Award as a member of eighth blackbird in 2013, for the Cedille Records album Meanwhile.

In October 2014, he released his first solo album one two three, billed as “a funny, terrifying, and unpredictable journey that casts Munro as flautist, singer, amateur mathematician, and supervillain”.

At the end of 2015, Mr Munro was music director of John Luther Adams’ monumental Sila at the Brisbane Festival, acted as a sabbatical replacement for Molly Barth at the University of Oregon, guest-lectured at universities around Australia, and was a featured artist at the Australian Flute Festival.

Mr Munro has upcoming collaborations with Chicago composer Dave Reminick and Pulitzer prize-finalist Chris Cerrone. He is also set to co-direct a large-scale musical project in 2017, involving more than 1000 performers.

As a member of eighth blackbird, he held faculty positions at the Curtis Institute of Music, University of Chicago and University of Richmond, and has appeared as a guest lecturer at more than 50 universities across America.

Mr Munro was also a 2013 UQ Alumni Awards recipient.

Watch a video here of Mr Munro talking about his time at UQ. 

Contact: Tim Munro (currently in Los Angeles), timcmunro@gmail.com; Australian contact - Craig Munro (Tim’s father), stetit@hotmail.com, 0408 336525.