Alexis Agrafiotis
Composer:
Important Greek composer, pianist and orchestra conductor of the new generation who lives permanently in Germany, with international awards and collaborations.
Biography
Born 1970 in Salzburg from Greek parents.
In Athens studies in piano at the Conservatory “Athenaeum”. He continued at the “Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst” in Vienna studies in orchestral conducting with Prof. Uros Lajovic and composition with Prof. Erich Urbanner. He received the diplomas “magister artium” (1995 and 1996). Courses with Roland Seiffarth, Prof. Peter Eötvös and Prof. Karl Österreicher. He was assistant conductor of Gunther Schuller, Prof. Rüdiger Bohn and Hans Drewanz. He was music coach (solorepetitor) and conductor at the operas in Görlitz (1997), Lübeck (1998-2002), Contemporary Opera of Berlin (2002-2006) and Opera of Bern (2007/2008). In the years 2006 and 2007 he was principal conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of Volos in Greece. He continued as music coach and conductor at the Opera fo Bielefeld from 08/09 until 10/11.
Since the season 11/12 he is engaged at the Opera of Würzburg as head of music studies (studienleiter) and kapellmeister.
Also he was lecturer at the Music Academies (Musikhochschulen) in Weimar and Bremen from 04 to 06 and again from winter 07 until summer 11.
As guest conductor he worked with the following orchestras: Tonkünstler Vienna, Symphonie Orchestra of Karlovy Vary (Czeque Rep.), Philharmonic Orchestra of Györ (Hungary), Prussian Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonic Orchestras of Lübeck and Ulm. He is currently guest conductor of all major orchestras in Greece: State Orchestras of Athens and Thessaloniki, Radio Orchestra of Athens and National Opera of Athens (productions of Puccini: Madama Butterfly and Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia)
He conducted concerts with the Ensemble for contemporary music of the HdK Bern, the German-Polish Ensemble of the German Music Council, the Greek Ensemble for Contemporary Music and the Sisifos Ensemble Berlin.
As pianist soloist he played concertos of Mozart, Beethoven, A.Scriabine, R. Strauss (Burleske). He conducted the piano concertos of Schumann and Honegger (Concertino) by the piano. He is also active as accompanist.
Amongst his compositions are chamber music (quintets for wood winds and brass, music for violoncello and 7 players, string quartet [3rd price in Dragatakis Competiton, Athens], “Erinnerung II” for ensemble), vocal music (song cycles after poetry of Paul Celan, Manolis Anagnostakis and Amal Al-Jubouri, and choir a-capella pieces after poetry of Elke Erb and Christian Filips), works for orchestra (piano concerto [commissioned by radio Athens], chamber concerto for piano and 12 players [commissioned by megaron mousikis of athens], 5 Greek dances and symphony in one movement) and incidental music.
He attended in 2004 the summer courses of contemporary music in Darmsatdt. In Baden Baden he was invited in 2006 for a stay at the “House of Brahms”.
Since 1996 he is member of the Greek Composers Union.
Fergus Currie
Composer:
A well-known composer, author, conductor, orchestrator, arranger from Edinburgh with various important collaborations all over the world.
Biography
Fergus Currie was born in 1961 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He studied musical composition and double bass at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He has played with many of Britain’s leading symphonic and chamber orchestras, including the BBCSSO, the RSNO, Scottish Opera Orchestra, the Amati Ensemble and the City of London Chamber Orchestra. In 1991 he moved to Greece to work in the newly founded Kamerata, resident chamber orchestra at the Athens Concert Hall. Since 2010, Fergus has been acting as sub-principal double bass in the orchestra of the Greek National Opera.
His compositions include many works for chamber ensembles, and his two major works for string orchestra, Serenade for Strings and Sinfonietta, were recorded by Christopher Warren-Green and the London Chamber Orchestra and released in 2006. His setting of the Stabat Mater was performed by the Greek National Opera in 2014. His string quartet, Quadrature, and the duet for double bass and alto flute, The Riddle of the Sphinx, were performed in 2018. His recent work for large chamber ensemble, After the Rain, will be performed in 2019 in Birmingham, and his Romanza for double bass and piano will be recorded by Academy of St. Martin’s principal bassist, Leon Bosch in 2020.
Fergus is also an active author. He has written two novels, Murder in the Doghouse and the Grangemouth Conspiracy, and the libretto for Christos Papageorgiou’s musical Onassis Callas. He is currently completing postgraduate research on the music of Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu at the University of Birmingham.
As a conductor, orchestrator and arranger, Fergus has collaborated with major Greek artists such as Mikis Theodorakis, singer Alexia Vasiliou, and film composers Eleni Karaindrou and Panagiotis Kalantzopoulos. He is an accomplished jazz musician both as a player and as a composer/arranger. The album Timeless Visions was recorded by his own trio Full Circle in 2000. He was also a member of the Minas Alexiadis Trio from 1992 until 1999, and has acted as director and arranger for various big bands including the Greek National Radio Big Band between 1994 and 2009.
Nestor Taylor
Composer
Australian born composer, with a strong presence in the field of opera, and important collaborations and commissions worldwide.
His compositional work has a distinct post romantic orientation with intense lyricism, virtuosic orchestration and dynamism.
Biography
Nestor Taylor was born to a very prominent Greek family, in Melbourne, Australia.
He studied piano, harmony and counterpoint at the Athens Conservatory with George Diamantis and composer, Menelaos Pallantios. He continued his studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama under Francis Shaw and Robert Saxton, where he was awarded the following diplomas: ALCM in Conducting, LGSM in Composition, LGSM and GSMD in Choral Composition & Orchestration. He completed his M.Mus and M.Phil degrees in Composition at Royal Holloway under the supervision of John Woolridge and Peter Wiegold. In 2005, Taylor was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship, which enabled him to carry out research as a composer at Yale University.
Taylor has held the posts of lecturer in Harmony and Composition in the Department of Music Studies of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, teacher of Music History at the State School of Dance & the Greek National Opera Ballet School; and Artistic Director at the Central Conservatory of Music in Athens.
He has also served as Head of International Relations, Casting Director and Artistic Advisor to the Director at the Greek National Opera between 2009 and 2016, whereas now he teaches music history and analysis to the Professional Ballet School at the same organization, allowing him to pursue a professional career as a freelance composer.
Taylor’s music has been extensively performed throughout Greece: Megaron Concert Halls in Athens and Thessaloniki, Greek National Opera, etc., and abroad: Purcell Room, Conway Hall in London as part of the Composers’ Ensemble, Kioi Hall in Tokyo with the NHKSO, the Great Philharmonic Hall in Odessa with the National Philharmonic, etc.
He has collaborated with the State Orchestras of Athens and Thessaloniki, the Orchestra of Colors, the Camerata Οrchestra of Friends of Music, the Greek Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Nuova Orchestra Ferruccio Busoni, Tokyo Ensemble, Chicago a Capella and the Lindsay Quartet, among others.
As a conductor of his own works he has appeared with the Greek National Radio Orchestra and the orchestra and chorus of the Greek National Opera.
Taylor’s concert music includes two piano concertos: “C o n c e r t o R o m a n t i c o” & “Jigsaw” , music for large and medium-sized orchestras: “Pandemonium” , “Vocalise” ,” The Path of the Archangel” , chamber & choral music: “On a Ray of Winter Sun” , “And then it is Dusk” , “So Fades a Summer cloud away”, several song cycles, and music for solo piano and harp recorded for the Puzzle-Musik.
His work “A n d t h e n i t i s D u s k” for mezzo-soprano and ensemble earned him first prize in the Mediterranean Composers’ Competition in 2002. “Voyage with Hesperus” received second prize in the National Chamber Music Competition of Greece in 2004.
Οne of his most recent creations, is the opera-oratorio “Eleni” (2019, libretto by Fergus Currie, based on the best-seller of Νicholas Gage) which was commissioned by MidAmerican Productions for Carnegie Hall (due to premiere on March 25, 2021 followed by a series of performances worldwide).
Christos Papageorgiou
Composer
An internationally acclaimed Greek composer, pianist, arranger with great talent.
He has collaborated with the largest orchestras in the world and has been honored with significant awards.
Restless spirit, without musical prejudices.
Biography
Christos Papageorgiou is a composer, concert pianist and also producer of Classical Music Programs for TV ET 1&2 and Radio 3 National Channels. His other activities include conducting, lecturing and teaching.
He has performed in venues such as Berlin Philharmonic, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kensington Palace and collaborated with ensembles such as the Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre Symphonique du Capitole de Toulouse, Czech Radio Symphony, München Sinfoniker, Orquestra Sinfonica “Ciudad de Malaga”, N.H.K. Danyu Orchestra(Japan), Odessa Philharmonic ,Orchestra Sinfonica-del Emilia Romagna-“Arturo Toscanini”, Buffalo Philharmonic Oxford Philomusica. N.Y. Phil Soloists.
He has received awards including the First Prize at the “5th International Competition for Composition “2 Agosto” (Italy) , also top prizes in five International Piano Duo Competitions in U.S.A, Japan, Italy, Czech Republic and Switzerland, the “Young Artist of the Year” award for 1998 by the “National Society of Critics for music and drama” and as Radio 3 Director the Cultural Award of the “Foundation for the Building of the “Maria Callas” Lyric Academy”.
He has been Director of the National Classical Radio 3 and Counsellor to the Hellenic National Broadcasting Corporation for the Music Ensembles and Classical Radio 3, Professor of Music at the National School of Dance, Associate Lecturer at the Ionian University and Artistic Director of the National Conservatory Department in Kifissia.
Christos Papageorgiou has led a career in three musical fields: Composer performer and producer. He has collaborated with distinguished musicians and ensembles such as the : Philharmonia Orchestra, Orchestre Symphonique du Capitole de Toulouse Czech Radio Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Muenchen Sinfoniker, Orquestra Sinfonica “Ciudad de Malaga”, N.H.K. Danyu Orchestra(Japan), Odessa Philharmonic ,Orchestra Sinfonica-del Emilia Romagna- “ArturoToscanini”, Oxford Philomusica, New England Symponic Ensemble, Athens State Orchestra, Hellenic Radio Sympony and Modern Radio Sympony, Thessaloniki State Orchestra, Hellenic National Radio Symphony , Camerata of the friends of Music ,Orchestre Symphonique de Neuchatel, Odessa Chamber Orchestra, Opava Chamber Orchestra, Patras Chamber Orchestra, Volos Symphony Orchestra the N.Y.Phil. Chamber Soloists, contralto Maria Farandouri guitarist Oscar Ghiglia, Saxophonist Theodor Kerkezos and conductors Michel Plasson, Phillipe Entremont, Pedro Calderon , Hobart Earle, in important venues such as the: Berlin Philharmonie, Barbican Hall, Carnegie (Weil) Hall, Wigmore Hall, Queen Elisabeth Hall, Kensington Palace, St.James Palace, , Casals Hall –Kioi Hall – Kodaira Hall(Tokyo), Rudolfinum Dvorakhall, Basler Konzerthaus, BernKulturkasino, Athens Megaron, Thessaloniki Megaron etc.
His other activities include productions of numerous radios and tv programs, giving solo piano recitals and concerts, lecturing and teaching, also conducting, all with equal critical and public acclaim. He is widely known in his country, as producer of Classical Music Programs for TV and Radio.
Between June 2014-15 he has been the Director of the National Classical Radio 3. Since September 2015 Christos Papageorgiou is the Artistic Director of the National Conservatory Kifissia.
From 2016 to the present is appointed “Program’s Special Cultural Advisor” in ERT where he also broadcasts weekly on National TV and Radio.
In 2015 on a televised anniversary concert performed and conducted from the piano Prokofieff’s 3rd Piano Concerto 85 years after Dimitris Mitropoulos in Berlin thus becoming the fourth after Prokofieff and Van Cliburn to do so.
Nikos Xanthoulis
Composer
Artistic Consultant at the Greek National Opera
Associate Researcher with the Academy of Athens
Correspondent Member at the Archaeological Institute of America
Biography
Dr. Nikos Xanthoulis is a composer, ancient lyre player and researcher.
He is Professor of Trumpet, Harmony and Counterpoint at the Conservatory of Athens, Greece. He is also an Assistant Researcher of the Academy of Athens and a Tutor at the Greek Open University. For twenty-five years (1983-2008) he served as the principal trumpet player in National Greek Opera Orchestra.
As a composer and soloist, he has presented his music in Greece and Internationally (USA, Australia, Canada, China, Russia, Sweden, Italy, Bulgaria, Turkey etc.) Xanthoulis has written and mastered incidental music for tragedies using reconstructed ancient instruments (lyre, aulos, tympanon and salpinx) trying to approach the prosody of the ancient Greek language. He has composed four children’s operas; two of them had been presented by the Greek National Opera.
Dr Xanthoulis was awarded the Kress Lectureship by the Archaeological Institute of America for the year 2012-2013 and an extension for 2017-2018. From 2014 to 2015 he was the Artistic Director of Public Broadcasting Orchestras and Choir (ERT).
The last six years he revived the technique of the ancient Greek lyre through his research based on the depictions of pottery and the ancient Greek literature.