Professional Bio

Dr. Gregory Kyle Klug (last name with long u as in blue) is a contemporary classical composer and music educator with a doctorate in music from the University of Northern Colorado, where he studied composition with Robert Ehle and R. Evan Copley, and musicology with Jonathan Bellman. He taught music theory at Grand Canyon University and jazz history at South Mountain Community College for two years before accepting the position of middle and high school orchestra director at BASIS Ahwatukee in 2017, where he has since overseen a thriving strings program.

Dr. Klug’s solo piano album Diapason released in 2013 through a successful Kickstarter. As a dedicated teacher, he composes and arranges music for his students and fellow music educators. Dr. Klug’s research and other writings, furthermore, have appeared in various scholarly and online publications: Janus Head, Sacred Science Journal, Search Journal for New Music and Culture, The Journal of the American Liszt Society, The Philosopher Journal, and Philosophical Investigations.

Dr. Klug’s work as composer, writer, and teacher is informed by diverse interests and accomplishments: he studied piano performance with Vergie Amendola at UNC, business entrepreneurship as an undergraduate at Long Island University, creative writing with Bharati Mukherjee at the 2004 Southampton College Writer’s Conference, and graphic art with Pam Capozzola in Westhampton Beach, NY. As a teenager and young adult, furthermore, he worked for Brian V. Klug Landscaper, Inc. as a construction worker and tree-spade operator. A native Long Islander, he is currently based in Phoenix where he shares life with Renee Ronika Bhatti-Klug and their three spirited children. His personal interests include fitness, outdoorsmanship, and literature.

The composer in 2012

Composer, Conductor, Arranger

Guest Conductor | “Father of Life and Life,” original composition for mixed choir | United Methodist Church of Gilbert | September 2023

Junior High School All-State Audition Etudes | Commissioned by Arizona Music Educator’s Association | July 2023

“Fantasy in G minor for Piano and Strings” | Commissioned by Saguaro High School, Scottsdale | March 2023

Choral arranger | Hamilton & Six | Phoenix Country Day School middle and high school choirs | Paradise Valley, AZ | August-September 2021

Composer | Theme for Not Only But Also Podcast | June 2020

Composer | Original solo piano, indie hip-hop album | J. Lehman | March 2016

Orchestrator | “Holy Spirit” by J. Agzobo | August 2015

Arranger | Russian Five Series for String Bass | T. Masiello | June 2015

Composer | Original score, corporate film | Highlands Rehab, Loveland, CO | July 2012

Orchestrator | UNC Indigenous Music Project: wind band orchestration for 13 African, Chinese, & Arabic traditional melodies | September-December 2007

  • Selected pieces performed by Greeley Chamber Orchestra | March 2011

  • Lead sheet transcriptions for performance and/or copyright

Transcriber | 20 songs for producer Michael Nelson Rizzo, independent artists, church worship leaders | November 2005-August 2013

Podcasts, Presentations & Press

“K-12 Composition Pedagogy” | Teaching Composition: A Symposium on Music Composition Pedagogy University of Utah | September, 2023

Dr. Gregory Klug” | Composer interview for All Things Performance Podcast with Josiah Igono, PhD. | April 23, 2020.

“Melting Point Series” | Composer interview for Texas Ranger’s Peak Performance Podcast | May 11, 2017

Guest Lecture on Composition | Arizona State University, School of Music | Undergraduate Composition Studio | March 28, 2015

“Today in Music Education” | Composer interview on PRP Radio with Tony Masiello | January 22, 2015

Guest Lecture on “Classical Music in America” | Arizona State University, American English & Culture Program | March 24-25, 2014.

Publications

Humanity and Imagination | Janus Head | 2023

Featured Review: The Holographic Universe by Michael Talbot | Sacred Science Journal | p. 23 | 2019

Parallelism and Musical Meaning | Search Journal for New Music and Culture | 2015

What is Power? | The Philosopher 103/2 | Fall 2015 | The-philosopher.co.uk

The Power of Man | co-authored with Thomas Scarborough | Philosophical Investigations | Sept. 2015

Business Plan Essentials: A Guide for Entrepreneurs | #Yesphx Stories | Medium.com | June 20, July 3, July 24, 2014

Pain and Pleasure in Liszt’s Dante Symphony | Journal of the American Liszt Society 65 (2014), 37-58

Praise | Dr. Klug’s Music

  • “Wonderful pieces. So much power!”

    Kanako Koyama, pianist

  • “The etudes work very well as stand-alone pieces.”

    Nicholas Young, pianist

  • “[The piano etudes] are incredibly interesting, and incredibly hard too…Diverse, rich, and very pianistic.”

    Alberto Ferro, pianist

Praise | Dr. Klug’s Teaching

  • “If it weren’t for Dr. Klug, I’d still be stuck with a boring life unable to kick-start my dream career as a composer.”

    Alric S.G.

  • “Dr. Klug’s feedback on my piece was very thorough and detailed, which I really appreciated because it showed he was invested in my music and sincere in his comments. ”

    Grace Y.

  • “[Dr. Klug] has a very good ear for harmony and composition technique.”

    Yuriy V.

Praise | Dr. Klug’s Performance

  • “Greg played for my father’s Celebration of Life service, and did a wonderful job…He was on time, and very professional. Most importantly, he played beautifully. We were very happy to have Greg be a key part of my dad’s service.”

    Molly E.

  • "On the wedding day…my guests could not stop commenting how amazing the music was and how it really made them appreciate the moment of the day.”

    Erin H.

  • “My wife and I were married in August 2013…Having the grand piano and a professional at the helm really gave our wedding a touch of class that our guests appreciated. We’re so thankful to have had such a talented man and good friend play at our wedding!"

    David O.

Artist Statement

Dr. Klug on piano

As a composer, writer, and illustrator, I embrace Keats’ simple maxim Beauty is truth, truth beauty. Stylistically, this translates into a pursuit of the classical ideals of coherence, unity-in-variety, and multi-dimensionality. I heed Baudelaire’s exhortation to “always be drunk…on wine, poetry, or virtue as you wish,” personally opting for poetry. My love for Christ, whom I see as the embodiment of wisdom and love, informs my creative work and vision. I see good art not only as an expression of mind and heart, but as a mode of spiritual communion and transcendence. As a creator, I seek to contribute what I can to the rich legacy of human art left by the brilliant individuals of the past, from Ancient Greek architects and Roman sculptors to the Medieval choirmasters, Renaissance painters, Germanic composers, Transcendentalist poets, Indian Pandits, British fantasy writers, and many others living and dead whose work has inspired me.

“True art is the intermediary between man’s ordinary nature and his higher potentialities.”

E.F. Schumacher