About
Ola Gjeilo is a Norwegian composer and pianist, living in the United States.
He writes choral music, and has written for piano and wind symphony, publishing through Walton Music, Edition Peters, and Boosey and Hawkes.
Ola Gjeilo was born on May 5, 1978, to Inge and Anne-May Gjeilo, and grew up in Skui, Norway. He began playing piano and composing when he was five years old and learned to read music when he was seven years old. Gjeilo studied classical composition with Wolfgang Plagge. In his undergraduate career, Gjeilo studied at the Norwegian Academy of Music (1999–2001), transferred to the Juilliard School (2001), and studied at the Royal College of Music, London (2002–2004) to receive a bachelor's degree in composition.He continued his education at Juilliard (2004–06) where he received his master's degree in 2006, also in composition. From 2009–10, Gjeilo was composer-in-residence for Phoenix Chorale.
He currently resides in Manhattan, working as a freelance composer. He is currently composer-in-residence with DCINY and Albany Pro Musica.