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This version of NSU News has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of NSU News, visit news.nova.edu.
This version of SharkBytes has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of SharkBytes, visit sharkbytes.nova.edu.
NSU Alumni Spotlight: Griffin Occhigrossi, B.S. (’07)
Griffin Occhigrossi, B.S. (’07)
Griffin Occhigrossi, B.S. (’07), is an independent singer/songwriter, composer, and recording artist who has written hundreds of original songs, many of which have been featured on his own albums. He also has been commissioned to compose, arrange, and produce scores for HBO, BMI, Getty Music Publishing, Amurco Music UK, and Big Eyes Records. Occhigrossi is proud of his charitable work with the
Catskill Mountainkeeper and SPCA animal rescue efforts, which included documentary film projects. He has also been actively involved with Toms Shoes and Lululemon Athletica.
His honors include being nominated for Independent Music and Entertainment Association’s 2013 Songwriter of the Year, receiving the Gold Award of Excellence for package design (Crazy Ways) from the 16th Annual Communicator Awards, and being named best vocalist at the International Music Festival 2010. He was a finalist for Best original Music at the 2013 New York Festivals International Television and Film Awards, recognized for Nobody Loves Like You, which was featured in the SPCA documentary film, “I was lucky enough to encounter artistic culture prior to my experience at NSU, but it wasn’t until I was a Shark that I gained the insight, conviction, and knowledge needed to put the wheels in motion,” Occhigrossi said. “NSU provided vital opportunities, as well as challenges, to find a better sense of myself.”
Highlights from his years at NSU include the Honors Society luncheon with author Salman Rushdie; attending a lecture with neuroscientist Daniel Levitin, who was promoting his book This is Your Brain on Music; performing in the 2008 South Florida International Blues Festival with his band on the NSU campus; and “all the great times I had on the baseball field with my teammates as a Shark pitcher,” he said. Occhigrossi remains a big baseball fan, and enjoys fishing, hiking, and spending time with his
family. His intellectual hobby is studying the relationship between psychology, sociology, and music.